Stoops retires: The recruiting impact
The sudden and surprising news of Bob Stoops' retirement from the University of Oklahoma has sent a ripple through the college football world. One area it is sure it impact is recruiting, but which prospects are most likely to be affected?
We start with a mix of seven commitments and uncommitted targets.
MORE SOONERS: SoonerScoop.com | Stoops steps down | Recruits to watch | Teams that will benefit | 2018 Oklahoma commitment list | Farrell's thoughts
Austin has been committed since before the start of last season, but hasn't seen much movement other than picking up a few offers this spring. He had an up-and-down year last season and his early projection may have been a little optimistic. A change in coach could put some distance between the two sides.
Baldwin just committed, so this must be a bit of a gut-punch for him, but he picked up a good number of other offers this spring after picking one up from Oklahoma. He seems a likely candidate to re-open his recruitment should the others that offered him start things back up again.
There was already buzz that Edwards would be a tough one for the Sooners to hold onto all the way until Signing Day, and now with this news he would seem to be among the commitments most likely to start looking elsewhere. Tennessee was heavily involved prior to Edwards’ commitment to Oklahoma in April, and he had named Louisville a leader last year. Miami did not seem to be pushing hard for Edwards prior to his commitment, but with cornerback Randy Russell recently de-committing they could turn up the heat now.
Mordecai will be interesting to watch, as he's expected to finish as one of the top quarterbacks in the state, so attempts to sway him back from his commitment might be strong. Lincoln Riley played a big role in recruiting him, however, so he should have a good shot at keeping him in the class.
St. Louis is flush with talent and Oklahoma has had a strong presence in the area, offering five prospects in the 2018 class out of the city. If they were not the outright team to beat for Perkins, though, they were certainly top three before the news of Stoops’ retirement came down on Wednesday. The four-star had built a strong relationship with Stoops and his brother, defensive coordinator Mike Stoops, as well as defensive line coach Calvin Thibodeaux, and has been planning to visit Norman this summer.
The Sooners were considered one of, if not the outright, favorites here, with Nebraska being the other school most often mentioned in this recruitment. With that being the case, the timing of Stoops’ retirement is not ideal for the Sooners' pursuit of Redmond. Prospects tend to give the in-state programs more leeway in these situations, though, and hiring from within means many of those relationships Redmond has in Norman will remain intact.
The state's top offensive tackle prospect has been a presumed Oklahoma lean for some time now. In a recent conversation with Rivals, Simpson said that Arkansas, LSU and TCU were also recruiting him hard, so perhaps this is an opportunity for one of the three to take the lead now that the Sooners are in the midst of a head coaching change.
