De'Vante Harris' Decommitment Proof That Coaching Change Is Imminent?
by ccmachine on Jan 8, 2012 12:02 AM CST
in Oklahoma Sooners Football
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PrintWe're clearly not the first site to speculate on this and we obviously won't be the last but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's going on here. There aren't very many pieces to this puzzle and putting them all together is as simple as 1...2...3 and De'Vante Harris was the corner piece.
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables personally visited with Harris on Friday and then one of the top ranked corners of the 2012 recruiting class decommitted from the Sooners. What would make a longtime, once enthusiastic, recruit who used to have OU shaved into his head decommit? The lead recruiter on Harris was none other than defensive backs coach Willie Martinez. Raise your hand if you believe that that Venables confirmed to Harris on Friday that Martinez would not be on the staff next season.
Now the focus must turn to Brandon Beaver who is another highly ranked corner and close friend to Harris. Fortunately he's also closely connected tight end Taylor McNamara and receiver Derrick Woods who are both committed to Oklahoma. Beaver is visiting Oklahoma on January 20th. In what is just another piece of the puzzle, Venables is the lead recruiter on Beaver. Why wouldn't you have your defensive backs coach in on one of the top defensive backs in the nation? Come on! I bet you can figure that one out.
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It's starting to become one of blantently obvious scenarios.
I know martinez is highly though of in coaching circles but OU has had some very big secondary problems in his time here. Nobody knows for sure if M. Stoops is the answer but we know he’s a heck of a motivator and he’s not scared to disagree with Bob. Maybe that alone will be enough to spark big time changes in the program.
"I feel sorry for peple who don't drink, when they wake up in the morning thats as good as they are gonna feel all day long." Frank Sinatra
makes sense,
although the story about he and his brother wanting to go somewhere together sounded pretty strong as well—especially if neither kid’s school was interested in taking them both…any more info on that? shouldn’t be too long before we find out, I bet.
I will tell you this....
I am sick and tired of players committing to a position coach rather than the University. Does not make for a good player, or a loyal one for that matter. Let Harris go, I would slam the door on him, even if he wanted to come back.
I'm a Sooner Born and a Sooner Bred, and when I die I'll be a Sooner Dead!!!
I don't blame the kid
The NCAA and member schools stack the deck against the players (and signees, even before they play a down). A position coach, or entire coaching staff, can depart at their whim or that of the school between signing day and reporting to campus in August, but if the player finds that the new staff’s scheme, attitude or whatever doesn’t work for him, he’s locked in by the NCAA’s transfer rules.
If our coaches still think Harris is a good fit and he wants to show up, I don’t think he’s been doing anything other than looking out for himself. The NCAA certainly won’t do it for him.
by TwoPalePonies on Jan 9, 2012 12:13 PM CST up reply actions
I hope you're right
I’d much rather lose Harris and Martinez and get Stoops back, rather than vice versa.
It does make sense
But what fails to make any sense is why Bob would even let it get to this point. Why even allow for the confusion? Why allow it to get to the point where one of your best defensive players (Jefferson) is hearing all the same talk we are and finds it necessary to publicly question who his position coach will be?
Why not just sack up and make the move? If Martinez is on his way out, just thank him and send him on his way. If you want to blame anyone on this, it’s not Martinez or Venables IMO. It’s Bob Stoops.
at this point
for stoops to “sack up” as you suggest would require that he FIRE someone, and we both know that’s not going to happen. From what is out there, it seems that stoops has done a lot to suggest that Martinez get a job elsewhere, and apparently that’s not possible overnight.
With the invasion of twitter/social media, it is hardly shocking that vulnerables/stoops would be eager to tell players what’s really going on behind closed doors.
If vulnerables actually told harris that Martinez is leaving, this sounds like an emotional reaction that could change if the kid really wants to play at OU
Team FIRST, Effort SECOND, Talent THIRD, Selfish NEVER
I certainly agree with this statement
for stoops to "sack up" as you suggest would require that he FIRE someone, and we both know that’s not going to happen
My issue is that this statement has just come to be accepted. Why, when it is at the moment detrimental to the success of this program, is no one besides we as fans calling Stoops out for this?!?
(I mean I already know the answer to the following question but that doesn’t make it any less ridiculous.) Does the guy have such a free pass that he can do things that negatively effect the program and everyone just looks the other way because he’s Bob Stoops?
It’s not like if he lets Martinez go that he and his family will be forced to live on the streets. The guy will get another job, so why does Stoops have to “arrange” it as is believed before he just does what everybody already know he’s going to do (i.e. replace him with his brother)??????????
i feel you
but it’s just not in the bob stoops genetic pool to fire someone. WHY? who knows. And sadly, I do think that the administration has given Bob a “free pass” – but that doesn’t mean you and I need to.
Team FIRST, Effort SECOND, Talent THIRD, Selfish NEVER
Exactly
This kind of cronyism sends the signal that Stoops is more interested in providing job security for his buddies than with actually winning championships. That kind of crap just ain’t gonna cut it around here anymore.
"Gentlemen we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin
by leatherneck1061 on Jan 8, 2012 3:48 PM CST up reply actions
I wish this were true
That kind of crap just ain’t gonna cut it around here anymore.
You have no idea how much I wish this were true. But nobody at that university has the balls to call Stoops on it. So sadly, this kind of crap is gonna cut it around here.
Well I should be more specific
It ain’t gonna cut it with anyone around this website.
"Gentlemen we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin
by leatherneck1061 on Jan 8, 2012 7:21 PM CST up reply actions
I'm only talking about fan reaction here.
Obviously none of us can comment on what Stoops will do or how much/how long school administration will tolerate it.
"Gentlemen we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin
by leatherneck1061 on Jan 8, 2012 10:55 PM CST up reply actions
Martinez didn't take the hint at UGA...
So they ended uo firing him. It doesn’t look like he is going to go out easily at OU either. Stoops is giving him time to handle it, but I agree… something needs to happen by the end of this week.
by herewegosooners on Jan 8, 2012 7:37 PM CST up reply actions
Rumors were today that Mike would be announced by the end of this week
But pay attention to the word “rumor”
I wonder if Stoops
hasn’t painted himself into a corner here.
What if one of the main things he tells recruits, in order to demonstrate how stable the coaching staff is at OU, is that he’s never fired an assistant coach? “Come to OU. No one has a more stable coaching staff. I’ve never fired anyone.” So now he’s locked in. He can’t fire Martinez — at least not until after signing day — because then he would have lied to all the incoming and prospective recruits.
I don’t know anything. I’m just throwing that out there but it might help to explain why Stoops would allow all this uncertainty to fester when the solution seems so obvious to everyone.
Honestly
I don’t understand much of what he does anymore, either. I’m starting to trust him about as much as I trust the President.
Whoooaaaa....
let’s not get carried away here. Lol…that’s just crazy talk now.
"Gentlemen we must all hang together, or assuredly we will all hang separately."
Benjamin Franklin
by leatherneck1061 on Jan 9, 2012 9:36 AM CST up reply actions
I think it would all make more sense if harris actually made a "statement" or even let his high school coach
Just changing your bio is kind of a passive route to go. If he said “I am opening up my recruitment to have another look at some other schools” or even “I am not sure my talents will fit the scheme”…. anything would be better. Otherwise it is all specualtion.
And I can appreciate a person (not just a kid) feeling loyal to a person in “authority”. It is a commendable trait (your boss goes to a new job & all of a sudden you dont know what that new boss is gonna be like). But in the case of athletics, coaches come & go. You dont committ to a coach, you commit to what his program can do.
OT- but once upon a time we had a 'boss change'
Crap sure got ugly and most of us intelligent people ended up leaving and left they smart-a$$ed lawyer to figure out how the Tech stuff ran. The moron is still in charge but they are light behind and paying dearly to contractors to stay afloat.
Boss changing can be painful for many, luckily I landed fairly close to the top after our changes.
The one thing being a lot older has going for it, most of us older have seen more CFB than most younger people have seen web pages.
Oh I hear ya. I had one of those boss changes too last November.
You gotta draw your line & hold firm. He has since hired 3 people (all of whom have quit now) to do my management job…. Longest one lasted 4 months lol… I went contract & don’t miss it….
by OU JJ on Jan 9, 2012 1:58 PM CST via mobile up reply actions
8-)
Rumor has it that Texas is about to sign a huge corporate sponsorship deal for the Longhorn Network. They just have to decide which brand represents them best: Dyson, Eureka or Hoover.
by It'sTheVoice on Jan 8, 2012 12:50 PM CST up reply actions
Bingo!
I was thinking the same thing. THis kid may be reacting with his young immature heart. oregon is the sexy team in college football. On another site someone said his cousin also decommitted from Texas and they may be looking to go to school together ( the situation about Martinez seems to have pushed that issue).. This youngster may rethink things and decide to come to OU. I think people are reading too much into his character and so forth. He obvioulsy had a lot of trust in Martinez, liked his style and so on. It is not like the OU football program will cease to field a team if he doesnt go to OU or is guaranteed a championship of he does recommit to OU.
"Are you gonna do something or just stand there and bleed?"
And some people here
wouldn’t want him b/c “his heart wasn’t in it!” Best receiver in OU history. I’m glad we got him.
Maybe NateHeupel needs to repost his comments on the Martinez situation
Obviously there are some knowledgeable folks who don’t think keeping Martinez would be detrimental to the program. I imagine if Stoops keeps him he agrees with Nate.
In OU circles
That whole “street agent” talk has really started to pick up. I wouldn’t expect OU to get back involved with Harris.
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