When it rains it pours Part II…Kyler Murray…
A wise man once said that when a team has two starting quarterbacks, they have no starting quarterbacks. This was the case this past year with Kevin Sumlin and Texas A&M. As so often happens, the Aggies imploded and will lose both star-studded quarterbacks.
Cutting to the chase, Kyler Murray always wanted to be Sooner and now he will be…At this time last year there were two problems with making that happen. First, Josh Heupel was still hanging around Norman and secondly Murray’s dad was a former star at A&M.
Even at the end of the recruiting cycle after Heupel was evicted from the program, it appeared that OU might still get the talented Murray. In the end pulling the trigger with the uncertainty of what was going on in Norman was too much to overcome and Kyler Murray stayed with his year-old A&M commitment.
With the two programs now going in opposite directions, the OU move became an easy one. We can thank both Bob Stoops and Kevin Sumlin for this blessing…Stoops because he does not burn bridges and Sumlin because he can’t make a decision.
To put this major OU recruiting coup into perspective, here is the tale of the tape for Kyler Murray. During his senior year, Murray passed for 4,713 yards while running for 1,495 yards and 79 total touchdowns. As a three year starter at Allen Texas he was 43-0. He led Allen to three consecutive state titles in big boy high school football.
Without the benefit of a spring practice, Murray battled equally talented Kyle Allen for playing time. Kevin Sumlin mismanaged the situation from the get go and it was obvious to anyone with two eyes that it was just a matter of time before the wheels would come off the Aggie cart.
With high school teammate Bobby Jo Evans showing him the way, he left A&M last week and will join the Sooners for spring ball.
Again, when it rains it pours…Now OU will have a Heisman Trophy candidate for a starting quarterback in 2016 and the #1 dual threat quarterback in the country for the 2017 season.
With the experience of a Bob Stoops in dealing with egos I suspect that OU will fare much better than A&M in the end. Lincoln Riley will now have a Baker Mayfield clone to step in at quarterback when Baker hangs it up a year from now.
Sometimes we have to go through a little grief in order to appreciate the good times. Fortunately for the Sooner Nation, it is raining good times in Norman these days.
Boomer Sooner…