Like many of you, I had heard this a few days ago but I was waiting until I could actually read something other than the rumor mills to confirm it. With today (Friday) being the deadline for underclassmen to declare for the NFL draft Oklahoma defensive end Jeremy Beal announced that he'd be returning in 2010.
"Even though it was a good year, I've still got a lot of stuff to improve on becoming a better player," Beal said. "I look at it as a building block for another level I have to get to."
Beal is tied for sixth in school history with 20.5 quarterback sacks and has 140 career tackles. He was chosen second-team All Big 12 after leading the team with 19 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. He finished the season with 70 total tackles.
With Gerald McCoy, Keenan Clayton, Ryan Reynolds, Dominique Franks and Brian Jackson all leaving from the 2009 defense the return of Beal at defensive end will be key in 2010.