✌🏽 Happy Friday, friends. Let’s ride.

🏃‍♂️ NFL Combine tracker

The NFL Combine started this past Tuesday but players went through drills for the first time this week on Thursday in Indianapolis.

Oklahoma has 11 former players in attendance, including Jeremiah Hall and Mike Woods, both of whom went through testing on Thursday.

A look at how each player performed and what folks are saying on social media:

NFL Combine Tracker

The NFL Draft Combine resumes today and continues through Sunday. The remaining schedule:

• Friday, March 4: Offensive linemen, running backs (RB Kennedy Brooks, OG Marquis Hayes, OL Tyrese Robinson)

• Saturday, March 5: Defensive linemen, linebackers (LB Brian Asamoah, LB Nik Bonitto, DL Isaiah Thomas, DT Perrion Winfrey)

• Sunday, March 6: Kickers, defensive backs (K Gabe Brkic, S Delarrin Turner-Yell)

‘This is my home now’

Oklahoma has another “program guy” in its midst.

Offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh wasn’t sure what to expect when his second of three bosses at OU left for Southern California. But even if new Sooners head man Brent Venables didn’t retain Bedenbaugh (who was originally hired by Bob Stoops in 2013), the Sooners’ assistant coach knew he’d always return to the state when he retired from the profession.

From The Oklahoman:

“I’m gonna live in Oklahoma when I retire. I’ve got a house at Grand Lake. That’s where I’m gonna live. I’m not from Oklahoma. I didn’t play here. But this is my home now. Just glad it worked out.”

So should OU.

The Sooners’ stability as a college football power has (whether fair or not) been put into question by much of the national media this offseason. Overlooked, however, are the coaches that Lincoln Riley ditched following a disappointing 2021 season.

Bedenbaugh, Cale Gundy, DeMarco Murray and Joe Jon Finley remain on staff following OU’s unexpected coaching change. Venables has added Jeff Lebby to the mix as his offensive coordinator, but there is not much familiarity lost on the offensive side of the ball.

Bedenbaugh, who’s one of the country’s top offensive line coaches, wouldn’t have it any other way.

Read more (oklahoman.com)

🎧 New episode

Joe Erwin-Buettner and Abby Bitterman had plenty of thoughts to share on OU softball on the Eyes on Oklahoma podcast feed.

On this week’s installment of our Sooners softball discussion, we recap Oklahoma’s challenging weekend in California, Jocelyn Alo’s chase for history, an unsung hero in Jana Johns and a pitching staff fighting its way through early-season adversity.

Listen now

Where you can subscribe to the Eyes on Oklahoma podcast:

• Apple Podcasts

• Spotify

• Stitcher

• Google

• TuneIn

🐍 Rattler ‘happy’ with transfer

Well before Lincoln Riley bolted for Los Angeles, it seemed all but certain then-Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler would hit the transfer portal following the 2021 season.

Rattler lost his starting position to Caleb Williams after an underwhelming start to his 2021 campaign. The former blue-chip recruit didn’t lose a game for the Sooners this past season, but he was benched in the middle of OU’s contest against Texas at a time when the Longhorns look like they might roll to their first Red River Showdown win in three years.

Fast forward to the start of 2022 spring practices, Rattler is with the Gamecocks and seems at peace with how things turned out.

From 247Sports.com:

“Last year, things went how they went. I couldn’t control it. I feel like as a player I was doing fine enough. We were undefeated at the time. I guess it wasn’t enough. I can’t control that. I am just happy to be here now. Coach [Shane] Beamer and a coach that believes in the players. Great players around me that will all come together and be a great team.”

Rattler finished his OU career with 4,595 passing yards, 40 touchdowns, 12 interceptions and a 70.1% completion percentage over 23 games. He’s likely to make his South Carolina debut on Sept. 3 against Georgia State.

Read more (247sports.com)