Originally Posted by
dankrutka
This is revisionist history in my opinion. NO ONE was talking about OU as having one of the most talented programs in the country during the three straight losing seasons prior to Stoops arrival. Stoops immediately brought in his own key players (e.g., Heupel, Torrance Marshall), moved a number of players into different positions who were not considered talented by recruiting services or the NFL, and brought in an offensive innovator in Mike Leach who created an offense for a team that had less talent on the line (Stoops just said this in a recent interview). It was great that Rocky Calmus (who barely played in the NFL) and Roy Williams were already on the roster, but let's not pretend that a lot of the other key players (e.g., the WRs, Seth Littrell, the entire offensive and defensive lines) were incredibly talented. Few even were invited to a NFL camp after their careers. What Stoops and his staff did with his first couple teams was tremendous.
The narrative that Blake was an amazing recruiter who left the cupboard full for Stoops is simply not true. OU had mediocre talent when Stoops arrived, he brought in key players, and got the most out of a bunch of other guys.
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