Tag: Oklahoma

Trae Young wants the NBA to know he’s ready

(Photo by Michael Kinney)

By Michael Kinney

Trae Young knows what he brings to the table. So when the former Oklahoma point guard makes the statement that there is no player like him in this year’s NBA draft, he means it.

“It means everything, courtside, on the court, off the court. Being able to attract fans, attract people,” Young said. “As far as on the court, make my teammates better, my overall skill set, you know, shoot the ball, spread the floor, but also be able to get in the lane, get my teammates involved, stuff like that.”

The 2018 draft is set to be held at 6 p.m. Thursday in New York City. Young, who has resided in Los Angeles since declaring for the draft, flew out to NYC Monday morning to prepare for the event.  The Norman North graduate will be on hand at the Barclays Center with a handful of other players who are expected to be drafted in the first round. Young is projected to be a top-10 lottery pick.

However, there is no consensus on where Young will land.

At 6-foot-2, 180 pounds, Young may be the smallest of the elite players in the draft, but his game fits into the new NBA. In his one season at Oklahoma, Young averaged 27.4 points and 8.8 assists. He also shot over 36 percent from 3-point range.  Of his 261 field goal made, 118 were from behind the arc.

Young had 17 games in which he hoisted up double-digits shots from 3-point range. He also had 11 games where he handed out at least 10 assists.

“A potent perimeter shooter and playmaker, Young displayed, and more importantly sustained, serious ability as the fulcrum of Oklahoma’s offense,” said Sport’s Illustrated’s Jeremy Woo. “His deep shooting range and intelligent use of ball screens open up room for his creative dribble penetration, and turning the Sooners into an elite offensive team for a large stretch of the season was no small feat.”

In the weeks leading up to the draft,  Young has visited only a handful of teams for individual workouts. They included Atlanta, Orlando, Chicago and New York. As of right now, they have the No. 3, No. 6, No. 7 and No. 9 picks in the draft.

“Going out to different teams, it’s been a very busy few weeks just flying different places,” Young said. “Luckily I put myself in a good situation where I only had to work out for a few teams. I just got in and worked out and met  the whole staff, had dinner with them and everything. I mean that was good.”

Young has also seen strong interests from other teams, including Eastern Conference Champion Cleveland.

According to Young, each club that has shown an interest in him have all pretty much approached him in the same way.

“It wasn’t necessarily asking me a bunch of questions, really just wanted to get to know me,” Young said. “Because they know they have a high pick, they want to know who they’re drafting because when you’re picking this high you don’t want to miss. They’re picking people and they want them to be a part of this franchise. They want to get to know me and stuff like that. That’s really all that it really was.”

For Young’s part, his main objective during the workouts and informal meetingshas been to convey to the teams why he should be their top pick.

“Just let them know how much of a team player I am, a competitor,” Young said. “Someone who’s going to come out and compete for his teammates. Just someone who’s an ultimate winner. That’s my main thing. They know what I can do. They know what I’m capable of doing on the court. I wanted to give them a little piece of how I think the game, little things about my mindset and everything.”

Until Young’s name is called Thursday, his future is still up in the air. The 19-year old could land on a rebuilding team, a possible contender, a small market franchise looking for a foundation to build on or a big market needing a star.

Regardless of where Young ends up, he says he is ready for whatever comes next.

“I dreamed of it. You ask me a year ago if I wanted to do this in a year, I would tell you that I’m going work my butt off to get to this point,” Young said. “But you never know. All I can do is focus and control what I can control. That was just playing and trying to do whatever it takes to help my team win. Ultimately that got me to this point. I envisioned it, I dreamed of it, but now that it’s reality … my dreams all come true on Thursday. It’s definitely something that is a blessing.”

This story first appeared in The Yukon Review

Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider with EyeAmTruth.com

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Track coach looking to beat the odds in battle with ALS

(Photo by Michael Kinney)

By Michael Kinney

OKLAHOMA CITY –The changes in his body can already be seen. A couple of months ago, friends and family would have had to look closely at Adam Helms to notice anything was wrong with the Putnam City track coach.

But now, with his arms and hands thinning as his muscle mass disappears, it has become evident that Helms has found himself in the middle of a battle with an opponent that is undefeated.

In March Helms was diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), a disease in which muscles waste away due to the death of the nerve cells that control them.

“I started feeling stuff in January. In my hand. My index finger wouldn’t straighten,” the 38-year old Helms said. “I finally decided to go to the doctor I would say mid to late January and it took a while to get into a neurologist so it was March before I got in. And I actually got diagnosed the same day as our track meet. So March 30th, I left my doctor’s appointment and went and ran a track meet. I was devastated originally.”

ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. According to the ALS Association, the disease usually strikes people between the ages of 40 and 70, and it is estimated there are more than 20,000 Americans who have the disease at any given time.

Once ALS starts, it progresses and takes away the ability to walk, dress, write, speak, swallow and breathe. It eventually leads to death. The life expectancy for someone with the disease is three to five years and there is no cure.

“The future’s kind of an unknown. There’s not a formula. There’s not a blueprint for them to follow. It’s different with everybody,” Helms said. “And in some ways I got lucky because there are two types of it. There’s one that starts in your arms and legs, it’s called limb onset. And there’s another one that starts more in your throat and in your mouth and tongue which means you don’t swallow. You need help breathing. You can’t drink by yourself. Feeding tubes have to go in a lot quicker. So it’s just kind of one of those diseases that there’s no timetable. There’s no rationale or blueprint on what the future’s going look like.”

Helms is currently under the care of Oklahoma City neurologist Dr. Brent Beson. He gave Helms an unfiltered breakdown of exactly what his situation is.

“My first doctor, he was just trying to not drop the bomb on me,” Helms said. “But my current doctor (Beson) is more the band-aid approach guy. Just rip it off and we’ll just deal with it. I feel pretty confident in him. I don’t think he’s your typical doctor. He’s pretty open to a lot of things. If I want to try something he’s not going fire me as a patient. I’m going to have to fire him as a doctor before he’ll give up on me. Which is great.”

Yet, in the three months since Helms has found out he has ALS, he admits there have been some hard days. From informing his parents and sister to telling the members of his track team.

“I was more worried about the kids that I teach and coach because you don’t know what they are going through in their lives half the time,” Helms said. “I don’t think it’s fair to them until it’s absolutely needed.”

But there was nothing that could prepare Helms for sitting down and trying to explain to his three kids, who attend school in Yukon, what is wrong with him.

“That was rough. That was rough. My oldest son had a lot of questions. My daughter was a little numb. And my youngest son just didn’t really understand it at first,” Helms said. “So I ended up having to have a little bit deeper of a conversation with him. They still don’t know the name of it. Because I don’t want them Googling it. But other than that, they’re at a full understanding of what’s gonna happen, and how it’s gonna work. They know that my hands start getting a little bit worse, my arms start to get a little worse, my legs start coming into it. They’ve learned it eventually works its way into my lung area. The muscles around the lungs, that’s when you die.

“So they get that. They understand that it could be two years from now or 20 years from now,” They know. Stephen Hawking lived with it for 51 years.”

Overall, 2018 has not been a great year for the Helms and his family. His grandfather died in January. Three days before that, his friend of 22 years and fellow Putnam City coach Gary Wright passed away.

“It’s been a rough kind of year,” Helms said. “Whoever says it happens in threes is a liar. This happens in fives and sixes.”

For now, Helms is taking it day by day, trying not to let ALS control him. But he knows changes will have to be made. He will no longer coach basketball due to the schedule. However, he still plans to be leading his cross country and track teams for as long as his body allows.

“Biggest differences I see is the strength in my arms and hands. And then the second aspect is I get tired a lot,” Helms said. “I used to be able to work 15, 16 hour days and three or four in a row. Now if I work one day like that it takes me three or four days to recover. My doctor told me that I kind of live in that area after you’ve had a hard workout, you know, really hard workout and you know later on that night, your arms don’t want to move? Or your legs don’t want to move? Because that’s kind of where you live now. And when you do too much you live in that spot and then it takes you a couple days to get back to where you were before you did that other stuff.”

While Helms is preparing for the worst-case scenario, that doesn’t mean he isn’t planning to fight the disease in any way he can. He’s been in contact with former Jenks football coach Allan Trimble, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2016.

Helms is also enrolling in a new clinical study using stem cell research to combat the effects of ALS.

“There’s like six places that are trying it in the United States. It’s an Israeli-based company with a satellite office in New Jersey but I put in for it at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota,” Helms said. “I’ve gotten them all my medical records. They think everything looks good but I’m just waiting on approval from the doctor and apparently, that could take a month or two for a spot to open up and stuff like that.”

However, in order to be in the clinical study, he can’t take any of the normally prescribed medication (Radicava, riluzole) for ALS patients that have shown to slow progression of the disease slightly.

Before Helms even knew about the clinical study, one of the coaches at Putnam City started a GoFundMe page to help with the expenses that were sure to come. More than $6,500 has been raised.

Helms will use the money to pay for the 14 trips he will need to take to either Boston, Los Angeles or Minnesota for the stem cell study.

Despite how grateful Helms was, it was difficult for him to accept the help. Since word got out about the ALS, he has noticed a change in people.

“At times people have treated me like I was a kid in a bubble. And to be honest with you, that makes me feel a little bit worse than anything else, than even what my body feels,” Helms said. “Because they’re treating me different. And I don’t want to be treated differently, just let’s keep going. I’m sick but I’m still gonna be the same person till the day I die, whenever that is. Two years, 10 years, 30 years. Who knows when it is so I’m going to force myself to be happy.”

Yet, even with Helm’s determination to keep a positive mindset, dark times do hit. He said when he is home alone, it has given him time to reflect on his life.

“It’s made me realize that I have a lot of regrets. That life, personally, professionally, stuff, and it’s never good to live in the past to live with those regrets,” Helms said. “Because all that regrets do is stifle you for the future. Put them aside. Say the things you need to say to people that you need to say things. Quit living in fear. Because it’s not going help you, all it’s going to do is handcuff you. It limits you more than it does anything else.”

Helms knows at some point ALS will win. His body will break down, he will lose total control of his arms, legs and breathing. Then the tough decisions will have to be made because he doesn’t want to live on a feeding tube or respirator.

Helms one goal is to be around for at least seven more years to see all of his kids graduate high school. He said after that everything is gravy and they can “pull the plug”.

“Fortunately for me I know, my family will be taken care of, my kids will be taken care of,” Helms said. “They’ve got a good mom. They’ve got a good stepdad. They’ve got my parents. Their other grandparents, you know, my sister. Lots of good people in their life that’s not going to let them go without or need something. Within the Yukon schools I know the parents family, I don’t have to worry about it. You know, so there’s a lot of comfort in that.”

Michael Kinney is a Freelance Content Provider with EyeAmTruth.com, @EyeAmTruth

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Westbrook, Thunder looking to bounce back vs. Twolves

By Michael Kinney

The build up around the first encounter between Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Golden State’s Kevin Durant was humongous. It was easily the biggest game of the early NBA season.
The hype dwarfed the actual play on the court as the Warriors rolled to a 122-96 victory over the Thunder on Thursday in Oakland.
Oklahoma City must quickly regroup and prepare for a young, talented Minnesota Timberwolves squad Saturday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Tip-off is set for a rare 5 p.m. central start.
After starting the season 4-0, to have their first defeat come in such a noncompetitive manner was not a pleasant experience for the Thunder.
“I understand you guys like, it’s the Warriors,” Westbrook told the Oklahoman. “They won. It’s fine. But we’re OK. We’re 4-1. It’s one game. We play on Saturday. So, simple as that.”
Besides Westbrook, Steven Adams, Enes Kanter and Andre Roberson, the rest of the team’s key performers are new to the level of intensity needed for that type of game. That showed in the second quarter, when the second unit looked rattled during a 19-1 run that blew the game open. Some of the newest members of the team were unable to respond.
“It’s going to be a great learning experience for some of the younger guys who had a chance to play,” Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan told NBA.com. “We had the one difficult stretch there, a good portion of that second quarter, where we gave up some threes in transition and gave up some threes on second chance points.”
Minnesota is coming off a 102-99 loss to Denver Thursday that featured a letdown in the third quarter in which the Timberwolves were outscored 33-14 in the third quarter. They trailed by 13 heading into the fourth quarter and never quite got back on top despite Karl-Anthony Towns spearheading a late run.
“That third quarter is just haunting us right now,” Minnesota guard Andrew Wiggins told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what’s happening. We just can’t keep coming out like that after halftime. But we’re going to figure it out.”
The Timberwolves held a 12-point lead in the first quarter, marking the third time this season they owned a double-digit advantage but lost the game.
“It seems like we keep having half the puzzle done,” Towns told the Star Tribune, “and we don’t finish the puzzle.”
Towns had 32 points and 14 rebounds while draining a pair of 3-pointers against the Nuggets.
Towns’ versatility will provide the Thunder front line of Steven Adams and Enes Kanter a much different challenge than they faced in their two previous games against Golden State and the L.A. Clippers.
Conversely, the Timberwolves are going to have to face an upset and energized Westbrook. The Thunder point guard, who had been averaging a triple double, was held to 20 points, 10 assists and six rebounds in only 29 minutes of action Thursday.
“We’ll get ready for the next game, man,” Westbrook said. “It’s one game, one loss for us. We’ll move on, get ready for the next one.”
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Sooners get big day from Westbrook

By Michael Kinney

NORMAN – The start of the season was not a good one for Dede Westbrook. With the expectations of replacing Sterling Shepard as the lead wideout, the Cameron, Texas native was nearly invisible in two Oklahoma losses.

But then the Sooners entered Big 12 Conference play and the senior seemed to find his stride. That continued Saturday in Oklahoma’s 38-17 victory over Kansas State at Memorial Stadium.

Westbrook finished the day with 9 catches, 184 yards and three touchdowns. His eight scores over the past three games eclipsed former Sooner Ryan Broyles record of seven.

Yet, the first thing Westbrook wanted to talk about were plays he didn’t make.

“We did pretty good,’ Westbrook said. “Offensively, we had a few drops that we missed out and we want back. Ofcourse I want that deep pass back. I’m pretty down on myself about that because that’s something I can control. But we will get it together this coming up week in practice.”

But it wasn’t just Westbrook who did work against the Wildcats. The team accounted for 510 total yards, including 372 through the air.

The Sooners also held K-State to 335 total yards and 17 points. KSU had been averaging 34 points a contest.

The Sooners came out of the starting blocks on fire. On the first possession of game, they went on a seven play drive that lasted 2:36. it ended with Baker Mayfield dumping off a short pass in the flats to Samaje Perine. From there he took it 25 yards into the endzone to give Oklahoma 7-0 lead.

The points kept on coming on Oklahoma’s next drive when Mayfield went to his elite tailback, Joe Mixon, with a short pass. This time Mixon hurdled a KSU defender on his way into endzone for the score. With less than six minutes left in the opening quarter, OU led 14-0.

“They weren’t doing anything that we weren’t expecting,” KSU’s Jordan Willis said. “It was just struggling on the tackling. Guys were hitting them, but they weren’t wrapping up.”

The Wildcats didn’t get flustered or get away from their game. They preceded to go on an eight minute and 30 second scoring drive to cut the Oklahoma lead in half.

OU came back with a half back pass from Mixon to Westbrook, who didn’t start the game to missing a practice last week. It was the first time a runningback from Oklahoma had thrown a TD pass since Joe Washington in the early 70s.

“Joe was sensational running the football, making a really good defense miss him on a good number of occasion and get extra yards, ran tough in a lot of instances,” OU coach Bob Stoops said, “caught the ball well, had a big kick off return and then goes and throws a touchdown pass. I saw the play design and as soon as I saw it, I said “Ah, that’s one of those. That’s a score.”

The two teams exchanged field goals as OU held a 24-10 halftime lead.

The Oklahoma defense shut down the Wildcats in the third. With Ogbonnia Okoronkwo getting pressure in the backfield and Jordan Thomas, Will Johnson and Jordan Parker playing solid coverage in the secondary, they had Kansas State on their heals.

But the Wildcats were able to get on the board again in the fourth when Dominick Keith got behind Thomas on a broken play for a 54 yard scoring catch.

After Kansas State forced the Sooners to punt, they had an opportunity to make it a game. But once again, the Oklahoma defense came up with 4th down stop and took over on the 12 yard line.

The Sooners decided to put the game away at that point. With Kansas State in man defense, Mayfield went to Westbrook down the middle of the field for an 88 yard touchdown.

“He’s separated himself,” Offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said. “He’s doing a lot for us. Similar to what Shep (Shepard) did for us last year, but in a different way. When Dede get’s one-on-one, he can win the battle down the field. That’s been important for us against teams trying to load up and stop our run game.”

Mayfield was 24 of 31 for 346 yards and four TDs. It is the fourth time in his career he has tossed four or more touchdowns.

Perine left the game with a slightly pulled muscle, but Mixon and Abdul Adams picked up the slack in the OU run game.

The Sooners head to East Texas Oct. 22 to take on Texas Tech. They have a chance to run their conference record to 4-0. It’s also an opportunity to exact some revenge for Mayfield, who played there before transferring to Oklahoma.

“They will be ready for me when I get down there, that’s for sure,” Mayfield said. “I’m excited for it. It’s always fun playing in Lubbock and this time I’m obviously on the other side of it. It’ll be an interesting matchup. I’ll get my guys ready and it should be a pretty good time.”

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Sooners outlast hungry Longhorns

By Michael Kinney

DALLAS – After most of 92,000 fans had cleared out of the Cotton Bowl Saturday, the Oklahoma Sooners were still on the field celebrating. The coronation of gold cowboy hat and the group photo in front of the scoreboard had to be taken after the Sooners 45-40 victory over Texas.

However, the one celebration that stood out from the rest involved quarterback Baker Mayfield. The junior signal caller grabbed a giant OU flag right as the band started to play the Sooners fight song. He raced around the field, did a few spins as his teammates chased him then as the song ended, he slammed the end the flag pole into the ground.

“It’s special to me. I grew up in Austin so I know what this rivalry is all about,” Mayfield said. “I’ve been waiting a long time to finally get a win against these guys. It felt good to go out and celebrate with the team.”

It was a fitting end to an afternoon that saw Mayfield and his Sooners (3-2, 2-0) scratch and claw their way to hard fought win over a team that needed the victory just as much as they did.

“I didn’t know what it was going to be like, but I knew of the rivalry and what it was like,” Junior Emmanuel Beal said. “I knew I would have to play my best game. We knew we were going to have to play our best game of the season to come out with a victory.”

But the win didn’t come easy.

Texas (2-3, 0-2) scored midway through the fourth quarter to cut Oklahoma’s lead down to eight points. The Sooners responded with a clutch Austin Siebert field goal with 2:36 left in the game to put the Sooners up 45-34.

The Longhorns took over on their own 20 yard line with 2:30 left on the clock. They were down to the Sooners 20 with 1:51 left. The very next play D’Onta Foreman scored and OU’s lead was down to 45-40 after a missed the 2-point conversion.

Texas went for the onside kick, but the Sooners recovered it.

Texas forced OU to punt and took over with 17seconds left. After two failed attempts to get the ball down field, the Longhorns were only left with the hope of a miraculous play to come from several laterals that the Sooners stopped defended.

“We just had to stay calm, we knew that it was going to be a dog fight coming into it because it always is, no matter their record or our record is,” Sophomore Orlando Brown said. “We just have to come out, be motivated and be consistent. We had some unnecessary turnovers throughout the game, but we showed our resilience and we just did what we do best.”

The Sooners started the game off like they had in past contests. The offense drove down the field, but stalled just outside the redzone and Siebert missed a field goal attempt.

Mayfield threw back to back interceptions on the Sooners next two possessions. It would have amounted to an horrendous start, but the OU defense held the Longhorns to a field goal.

Oklahoma finally got on the board after recovering a Texas fumble deep in the Longhorn’s territory. Samaje Perine scored on a 2-yard plunge to put the Sooners up 7-3 with 1:42 left in the first quarter.

However, the Longhorns quickly retook a 10-7 advantage to start the second quarter.

Much of the first half was filled with mistakes, turnovers and penalties by both teams. There was no rhythm or momentum to the game.

Oklahoma overcame that late in the first half when Mayfield slung a pass down down the field to a wide open Dede Westbrook. With his defender falling down he was able to stroll into the endzone for a 71 yard TD to give OU a 14-10 advantage.

Despite the reputation Oklahoma’s Jordan Thomas carries as a shut down corner, UT quarterback Shane Buechele kept testing him on deep passes down the sideline. But Thomas rose the occasion almost every time to prevent the completion.

However, at the start of the third quarter, Buechele went at him on back to back possessions and connected for touchdowns.

Not to be outdone, after Mayfield hooked up with Westmoore alum Dahu Green down the left sideline, the QB scored on a short run to put Oklahoma back in front in the sea-saw affair.

On their next possession, it was Mayfield to Westbrook again. Their third TD of the afternoon gave the Sooners a 35-27 advantage.

An interception by Midwest City native Will Sunderland gave the Sooners the ball back late in the third quarter. It led to a time consuming drive in which the OU offensive line pounded open holes and all the way down the field. Perine scored from 2-yards out and Oklahoma went up by 15.

“That turnover was big, too. Will has done some good things,” Defensive coordinator said. “ We have to make the game where Will can be a factor because he’s a very talented player. That’s part Will, that’s part us getting him in position where he can really use his ability to play. It was a little reminiscent of Zack Sanchez’s interception against Tennessee. That’s the first thing I thought of. It really put us in a good position.”

Perine led all rushers with 214 yards while Mayfield threw for 390 yards and three TD’s. Westbrook had a record setting performance with 232 yards and three scores.

“Dede was huge. He had some big ones. We thought we had some good matchups there,” Offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley said. “It’s been good the last two weeks to get him healthy. He’s a big part of what we’re doing. Bake had some really nice throws to him, protected by our o-line. When you do what we did running and throwing the ball, there’s a lot of people playing well and Dede did a great job of finishing those off.”

OU will look to move to 3-0 in Big 12 Conference play Saturday when they host Kansas State. Kick-off is set for 11 .m. at Memorial Stadium.

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Coaches feeling the pressure heading into Red River Rivalry

By Michael Kinney

The Red River Rivalry has always been a major showdown. No matter the rankings, whenever Texas and Oklahoma enter the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, the game takes on epic proportions.

However, the last couple of years, the annual contest has taken on the burden of job security for the head coaches involved. Last year’s win by the Longhorns is believed to have saved the job of UT head coach Charlie Strong.

As both the No. 20 Sooners (2-2) and the Longhorns (2-2) enter Saturday’s contest, Strong is once again fighting to keep his job. After deflating losses to California and Oklahoma State in which his defense allowed a combined 99 points, many believe this will be his last Red River Rivalry.

However, Strong is not the only one hearing the call to be replaced. Despite leading OU to the Final Four last season, Bob Stoops, for the first time, is seriously hearing calls for his job.

Appearing on FS1’s ‘Speak For Yourself’, Sooner legend Brian Bosworth put a face to the behind the scene whispers Thursday when he said it may be time for OU to move on from the Stoops era.

“That’s kind of a conversation that’s quietly been had over the last five, seven years,” Stoops said. “I’ve heard that from a lot of the alumni. You look at the great traditional programs; the tenure of a coach that has had the great success that Bob has had has been remarkable. Especially as long as he’s been there.But it’s not only what you do during the season that matters. It’s how you finish the season in bowl games. And what we’re doing over the course of these seven to eight years is we’re getting embarrassed in the bowl games.

“It weighs heavily on the alumni, and it weighs heavily on the tradition, and it weighs heavily on us as players, because it’s just unacceptable going out there; I understand getting beat, but I don’t understand getting embarrassed,” he continued. “That just means the players are packing up the bags at the first sign of the avalanche starting to happen.”

While Bosworth can easily be dismissed as a disgruntled alumni, the fear that the game is passing by Stoops is the focus of talk radio, local TV and recruiting websites everyday.

That is what makes this year’s Red River Rivalry so important. The state of Texas is still fertile recruiting ground for the Sooners. It’s 2017 class already contains several commits.

With Oklahoma reaching out to states around the nation, they can’t be seen as falling behind the likes of Alabama, Ohio State, Michigan and Clemson. But if they fall behind rival Texas, that disrupts the foundation of their recruiting, which is every team’s lifeblood.

A win over Texas doesn’t guarantee anything. But it does settle down the outside noise and keep the Sooners on path to win another Big 12 Conference title.

A loss only intensifies the heat surrounding the team and keeps the questions coming about the program coming.

“I appreciate everything that Bob’s done, he’s had a great run,” Bosworth said. “He’s put up more wins than any other coach there. But the game passes much faster sometimes than the coach that’s currently coaching can keep up with, if he’s not making the strategic changes on his staff to bring in the types of players that are going to keep him at that top level of winning the conference championship. But more importantly how are you going to compete once you get into the bowl games and you’re playing the teams that are competing consistently for the national championships? The Alabama’s, the Ohio State’s. Those guys are doing something each and every year to rebuild the programs. They’re losing great players and yet they’re still coming out the following year to build the momentum throughout the season.”

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