Story & Photos
By Michael Kinney
It seemingly came out of nowhere. One day Jaden O’Neal is a highly recruited quarterback living his best life in California. The next, he was running wind sprints in Oklahoma with his new teammates.
That is how quickly the landscape of high school football changed in Oklahoma. When O’Neal, a 4-star signal caller who has committed to the University of Oklahoma, transferred to Mustang (Ok.) last month, he instantly helped raise the title contending prospects for the Broncos heading into the 2025 season.
But for O’Neal, making the move from California to Oklahoma just made sense on all levels. He has been committed to the Sooners since June of 2024.
“When you’re committed to the University of Oklahoma, you kind of just want to be closer,” O’Neal said. “I feel like the move was definitely needed to show the country that I’m willing to move closer to a school and show them how committed I am.”
O’Neal played his entire junior season at Narbonne High School after transferring from Newport Harbor, where he had thrown for 2,475 yards and 27 touchdowns as a sophomore. Mustang will be his third school in three years.
At Narbonne, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound O’Neal threw for nearly 1,800 yards and had 16 TDs. He also had 122 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns.
But it’s O’Neal’s intangibles that Bronco’s coach Lee Blankenship really took notice of when he first arrived at Mustang.
“Jaden, he has instantly came in and just worked on winning the locker room,” said Blankenship. “There’s a ton of press out there about him. He’s got stars beside his name. He’s one of the top high school quarterbacks in the entire country. He’s got offers from literally the entire SEC and everywhere else, but he’s still just a high school kid, man, and it’s been really cool to watch him come in and just be one of the guys and that’s the biggest compliment I can give to him.”
Before O’Neal stepped on the practice field or in the weight room, he had already made an impact. When he announced he was coming to Mustang, other players around the state began inquiring about joining the Broncos as well.
That includes Ryder Murphy. The Norman High wideout immediately announced he would be transferring to Mustang as well for his senior season.
“It feels really good. It makes me go harder in the weight room to know guys are going to come in and be by my side and want to work as hard as well,” said O’Neal. “So that makes me push myself in a weight room to lead by example and just gain their respect because I am new to the state, but I want to show them that I’m able to work and no matter who’s in the building, I just want to make sure I put my best foot forward and lead by example.”
While O’Neal made the move to Mustang to show his commitment to the Sooners, that hasn’t stopped him checking out other programs. He has offers from programs such as Georgia, Colorado, Arizona, Auburn, Florida State, Michigan State, Ohio State, among many others.
Not wanting to burn any bridges, O’Neal was on road taking recruiting trips this week. And has others planned in the future as well.
“I’ll be visiting FSU (April 3) this up-and-coming weekend. Then from there, Auburn (April 5). I have an official visit with Arizona,” O’Neal said. “So I’m staying in contact with schools. It seems like Oklahoma, they’re trying to take two quarterbacks, so I got to make sure I keep my options open. Just keep my recruitment a little open, still kind of talk to them from time to time. That’s just my process right now.”
But when he returns back from each trip, O’Neal’s focus is to make himself and his teammates better as they prepare for the 2025 campaign. He says the Broncos will be putting on a show for the fans.
“If I was to use just one word it would have to be exciting,” O’Neal said. “I feel like I’m an exciting, humble kid and I just feel like I’m able to flow in the game so very, I just have that flow whenever I’m on the field.”
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