Oklahoma grabs commitment from R100 2019 receiver Trejan Bridges

If Trejan Bridges’ Twitter timeline following Oklahoma’s season-opening win against UTEP didn’t drop enough hints that the Sooners had won him over as well, allow him to definitively state how he feels about the program he chose to commit to on Tuesday afternoon.

“To be honest, I’m not going to continue my recruitment,” he said. “I am going to shut it down. I’m going to be 100-percent committed to OU and that’s what I want to do. I want to go to OU.”

Bridges’ announcement comes on the heels of an impressive Week 1 outing of his own, after opening his season with eight catches for 140 yards and three touchdowns in his game against Plano last Thursday. Although his Hebron team couldn’t come away with the win, he was all smiles by the end of his weekend visit to Norman.

His experience on Saturday solidified what he had been feeling for the Sooners for some time.

“I just felt like after building the strong relationship I have with them, with multiple coaches I have had great talks with, I just love the environment out there,” he said. “I know that deep down, truly that they care about me and really want me and I respect that ... It’s a great scene out there, I love the campus, the football facility, the stadium, I just love everything about OU and what it has to provide for me.”

Sooners fans are still likely to remember earlier in the spring when two high-profile 2019 Texas receivers in Arjei Henderson and Theo Wease committed - and subsequently decommitted - prior to the hiring of new head coach Lincoln Riley. Bridges said that their decision is partly what sparked him to take advantage of his own opportunity to continue his football career in Norman.

Of course, the testimony and urging of his friends that are already part of the Sooner family may have had a little something to do with it as well.

“It was like an open door,” he said. “Theo could still commit, (Henderson) is still committed to Oregon, but we talk every day we’re cool. It’s all about the feel each person has at each school. I knew at the start, Oklahoma was only planning on bringing in three wide receivers, so as soon as I thought they were going to offer I was really going to take it into consideration.

“I have known Austin Stogner for at least eight years and I’ve known Jaylon Robinson for a couple of years now. Charleston Rambo - I have a great relationship with him and train with them a lot. Just the things I have heard about OU and what they have to provide, I couldn’t pass it up.”

In fact, it was Rambo’s words that dropped an early anchor for the Sooners in Bridges’ recruitment. After picking up his offer in July, Bridges spoke with the 2017 Oklahoma signee about his experience there and if it would be the same for him.

“When OU offered me, I went out there and after I left Norman I was happy, I was excited,” he said. “The first thing I said to (Rambo) was ‘does OU really care about you? Do they care about you as more than a football player?’ He told me that yeah - and I needed to go ahead and start the move as quick as I can.”

The inclusion that he’s already had with current and future Sooners is similar to his description of his relationship with the staff. Rather than getting close specifically with Riley, or outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons, Bridges said that his regular weekend communication with the staff frequently turned into conference calls with all the coaches taking time to speak with him.

That kind of attention certainly paid off, and Bridges said that his parents have seen all they needed to agree that his experience at Oklahoma will end with him becoming the most successful version of himself.

“My parents have been to the games, seen the environment, met the coaches - we facetime on a daily basis,” he said. “We came back on Saturday night, we talked - we feel that they will guide me the right direction academically. If it turns out that football is not my future, I’ll find what I want to do. My parents think that they’re great people - every coach - they have a great football program, academics, the dorms, the café, everything is great there.”

Even though it has been years since the last release of the NCAA Football video games, Bridges still talks about playing as the Sooners. He said the exposure the team has had on television has fueled his daydreams of suiting up in the crimson and cream himself, and the long line of players that have gone on to play in the National Football League has created an undeniable aura that he can’t wait to be a part of.

“To have Dede Westbrook go into the league now, to see Baker Mayfield come back this season, what Sterling Shepard has gone on to do, you see guys that are in their offense now and will have the chance to go to the league,” he said. “(Oklahoma) just a great name to have behind what you want to do.”