Thursday Morning Brews: Oklahoma Opportunities

Happy Thursday, folks. Welcome to this morning’s Brews. Can you feel it? That’s the weekend calling and it feels so good. I’m doing something a little different with the Brews this morning. We’re going to start off with a more in-depth take on a college sports story, followed by the traditional tweets/links/videos with brief descriptions. If you have any thoughts on the this new format, feel free to leave the good, bad, and ugly in the comments. Also, as promised on Tuesday, I have included at least three words, phrases, and/or photos in this morning’s Brews that reference a song. Fire away with guesses in the comments section.

Let’s hit the links:

Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images

Bob Stoops Retires as Oklahoma’s Head Football Coach, Effective Immediately

I’ve never been to Spain, but perhaps that’s just what Oklahoma head man Bob Stoops will do with his recently announced retirement. That’s right, Big Game Bob has stepped down to be replaced immediately by his OC Lincoln Riley. Stoops amassed quite the record at his one and (if this retirement holds up) only head coaching stop, compiling a record of 190-48, the 2000 National Championship, and 10 Big XII Titles over the past 18 years. Riley, the new head man at Oklahoma, is an up and coming HC prospect, and provides a measure of continuity for the Sooners. He has been on staff at Oklahoma since 2015.

How does any of this make a lick of difference for Michigan? Well, let’s take a gander at Oklahoma’s 2018 recruiting class. Sitting atop the list are two gems, 5* OT Brey Walker and 4* APB T.J. Pledger. Both are Top-50 recruits in the 247 Composite and both hold Michigan offers. Will Stoops leaving put Michigan in play for one or both? Perhaps. If I had to hazard a guess, I would say that Pledger is the more likely of the two to be a flip candidate. He attends IMG Academy in Bradenton, FL, which is a school Michigan has recruited well in the past (Jordan Anthony in the 2018 class and Cesar Ruiz in 2017).

Brey Walker seems less likely to flip. He attends Southmoore HS in Moore, OK - which is, almost literally, in the shadow of Oklahoma University located just five miles away. Walker has been committed to OU since 2015 and has nary wavered in his pledge over the past eighteen months. For a top-flight recruit in this day and age of silent commitments, decommitments, and all the recruiting shenanigans that go on, Walker is a rarity - a young man who makes his pledge early and sticks with it. With all that being said, there’s still eight months until National Signing Day so it’s imprudent to completely rule anything out at this point - I’m just not holding my breath.

Moving on to 2019 Football recruiting, Evan Petzold of Scout is reporting ($) that 2019 DE Stephen Herron is planning to visit Michigan soon. The 4* Louisville prospect is ranked #34 in the 2019 class, according to 247Sports. At this early juncture, the Crystal Balls indicate a recruiting battle between Michigan and Ohio State for Stephen’s services. Regarding his visit, Herron told Scout, “I want to get a better understanding of the coaching.” A date for Herron’s visit has not yet been set.

Michigan’s 2017 satellite camp schedule is already paying dividends in recruiting, and one player that caught the attention of Jim Harbaugh’s staff is 2019 RB Joachim Bangda. Scout’s Josh Newkirk is reporting ($) that Coach Harbaugh and Bangda met at the Bowie, MD camp and that Bangda is planning to visit in July. While Bangda doesn’t appear to be ranked by the major recruiting services, his offer list suggests he’s a player to keep an eye on. Alabama, Penn. State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Maryland have all extended scholarship offers so far.

2019 big man Nolan Rumler is planning on visiting Michigan again soon, according to a report ($) from Brice Marich of Scout. The Akron, OH prospect has already visited campus a few times, but he wants to return for more - telling Scout that Michigan is one of his favorites due to, “the atmosphere on game day, the coaches, it’s close to home and I have family in Michigan.” Rumler is a prospect to keep an eye on, as he’s already displaying some college level strength. He recently repped 300lbs 10 times on the bench press and repped 500lbs four times at the squat rack.