The weekend news of Keith Nichol's plan to transfer shouldn't really be a shock to anyone. Despite being extremely athletic and highly touted Nichol wasn't just behind Bradford at the quarterback position, he was way behind. He didn't really gain any ground this spring either.
Keith Nichol leaving tells us two things. 1) He really wants to play and came to the realization that it wasn't going to happen at OU. 2) The coaches are very high on freshman Landry Jones.
Nichol was expected to at least compete for the second-string job this spring but after failing to move up from third-string and being pushed by newcomer Landry Jones the writing was pretty much on the wall. Playing time at Oklahoma was a long way off for Nichol. For those reasons I really don't blame him for looking to find another place to play.
As to where he'll go from here Nichol says that "it's wide open" where he will transfer but I would suggest that he look no further than his home state of Michigan. As it stands right now the Michigan Wolverines would most likely enter the 2008 college football season with a senior walk-on at quarterback.
Michigan head coach Rich Rodriguez was the mastermind behind West Virginia's spread attack that shredded OU in the Fiesta Bowl. For him to achieve the same success in the Big 10 that he enjoyed in the Big East Rodriguez needs two things. He needs speed at tailback and a quarterback who can make quick decisions, find an open receiver and also tuck the ball and run for 10-15 yards. Maybe I'm crazy but if all the hype surrounding Nichol is legit I think he could be that guy. All he needs is the opportunity for more reps. It looks like Michigan is the place for that to happen.
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