With teams like Texas, Michigan, Florida, and Texas A&M racking up the 2013 verbal commitments just a few weeks removed from 2012 signing day, some Oklahoma fans are left wondering why they've yet to secure a single verbal commitment. So the hot button topic for OU fans at the moment is whether or not they should be worried about their slow start to the 2013 class?
First and foremost, outside of Texas' own fanbase nobody knows better the Horns unprecedented history of locking up recruits much earlier in the recruiting process. So using Texas as the measuring stick is kind of like stacking your significant other up against somebody like Kate Upton or someone else who you might find "mildly" attractive. Now don't take that to mean that Texas doing what they do and essentially selecting (as they like to say) who they get doesn't infuriate OU fans because it does, but it's also something we've just begrudgingly come to accept (for the most part).
However, now it's not just Texas. Over the weekend, schools like Michigan, Florida, and Texas A&M received multiple verbal commitments respectively from several highly regarded 2013 recruits. And yet here the mighty Sooners sit without a single verbal commitment.
Now to put this somewhat in perspective, traditionally Oklahoma (at least under Bob Stoops) has never really been a school that filled up their class early. They typically hand out a decent amount of early offers, mostly to national recruits outside their normal areas of focus (i.e. the state of Texas), and then gradually work their way closer to home focusing primarily on Texas and Oklahoma prospects. In addition, Oklahoma has always held spots for kids that are maybe under the radar of most big programs and then bursts onto the scene with a big senior season. Which, for all of Texas' success, is a strategy that many UT fans have been vocal about Mack Brown adopting.
What we've seen in just the last couple of years though from Stoops and company is a growing propensity to focus not as heavily on Texas prospects and instead they've taken a much more national approach to their recruiting. Within Sooner Nation there has been a somewhat mixed reaction to this, but ultimately all any OU fans care about, like every other fan, is winning. If you win, no one is going to care where Player X came from just that they're wearing your team's colors.
So while it's easy to see why some could be concerned, it's just way too early in the process to get that worked up about it (for now). And we say for now because recruiting is very much a 'what have you done for me lately' and even a single class that significantly under performs can cost you dearly (just ask Texas). So is it concerning that several of the players Oklahoma has specifically targeted have already committed elsewhere? Well yeah, there really is no spinning that. That said, it's still very early and there is no reason to believe that Oklahoma won't put together yet another solid recruiting class. But it's also fair to say there is definite sense of anxiousness that really won't go away until the Sooners get a commitment or two under their belt.