Gundy Signing Day Quotes

Cale Gundy
National Signing Day Press Conference

On the evolution of the recruiting process and his engagement on social media, particularly on the road with offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley:

“I think that we were just having fun. This recruiting is taken to a whole new level, I've been in this for 20 years now and it's changed so much, I'd say about the last five or six [years]. It's non-stop, it's every day. Just because we've signed this class, we've been on the phone with six juniors today, that we've offered [scholarships], so you have to relax and have some fun and enjoy it. We were put in some situations and we had some situations that were a little unique, and we'd thought we'd just let everybody know what we were doing.”

More on the role that social media is now playing in the recruitment process:

“I think there's some pluses and minuses. It's the way we all communicate. It's the way everything goes on. It's the way you communicate with everybody, since you're limited on your phone calls and text messages. You can talk all day on social media so you have to be up on it and you have to keep doing it every single day.”

On managing the recruiting process while being short a full-time assistant coach:

“Anytime you're down coaches you can substitute a graduate assistant and Courtney (Viney) and those guys are just as big of recruiters as we are. [Graduate assistant coaches] can communicate with [recruits] and they can visit with them while they're here. A lot of the times the GAs are younger so they sometimes may be able to relate a little bit better at times to some of [the recruits], they have a little bit closer relationship sometimes. He and Corey Callens did a tremendous job for us. But it was a little bit difficult because we were down a couple of coaches on our side. We were really having to run around and cover a lot of ground and space in that couple of weeks.”

On being able to get some late signees:

“I think it's important that you have relationships with those players throughout the course of their career in high school. Just because you don't offer them, you never know if you're not going to offer them until the last day. For example I have a receiver, A.D. Miller from Bishop Dunne High School that I've known for three years. Wonderful kid, great family, really great player. But really until last year we weren't quite decided on if we were going into that direction for what type of player he was in that position. But that changed and that relationship we had with A.D. helped toward the end. The other one was Dahu (Green), obviously it helped being close to hope, but it helped bringing in new offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley. It was very noticeable going around to schools and talking to coaches and players about what Lincoln Riley has done in East Carolina and the type of system he's going to bring in. It definitely broke ground running. There were a lot of people that turned their heads up and were excited.”

On the difficulty of recruiting today compared to the past:

“I don't know, I think it's always tough. I don't think it's ever easy. Even with guys you had committed for four months, six months, eight months, a year – you still lay in bed last night and wonder if they still are going to do it tomorrow morning? I think I mentioned early, this recruiting is a different animal now. Some cases are a little bit easier than others, depending on the young man's background and who he surrounds himself with – coaches, family members, parents. That definitely helps out with some situations, but it's nothing you take for granted.”

On what signing day is like for him:

“Last night I couldn't hardly sleep. And I've been sleeping pretty good lately, probably because I'm just as exhausted, tired, like everyone else. But, I couldn't sleep last night. I woke up several times at three and four and five. I was going in and checking my phone, seeing if someone Tweeted me something, or maybe someone sent me a message or made a decision. So, a little bit of everything. Obviously excited with the class we are bringing in. There's always four, five, six players that come down to the wire that you guys maybe don't know about that we're still recruiting – guys that are talking to someone else and they are committed – so, I would say a little bit of both.”

On if he remembers a signing class he wasn't excited about:
“No. I love all of our players. They are going to be All-Americans and first-round draft picks. I've been here 16 years and I've told some people – it's tough, obviously how the season ended. Typically at that time of year you want to get away and you kind of want to have some time off. Everybody was just so hungry and ready to get back to work and I've never seen it like that in 16 years. The players and the coaches, just ready to start practicing. And obviously with the class that you're bringing in, you're bringing a new group of guys. So, how quickly are they going to be in the gym? How are they going to handle emotionally? Most of them now days are pretty close to physically ready, especially the skill players. The bigger guys sometimes have to come in and get a little bit stronger, but how many of those guys are going to help you come two-a-days and come August for the next season.”

On the possibility of starting true freshman:

“Yeah, that's always one of the biggest questions, 'Am I going to start as a freshman?' Of course my answer is, 'That's up to you.' We play true freshmen around here. We play walk-ons around here, we give walk-ons scholarships around here. So I don't think Coach (Bob) Stoops would stay here for 16 years if he hasn't done things right. Our job is to play the very best players and I think our guys know that. Even the guys that have been around here for a year or two years and guys that have been starters. They know every single day that if they don't go out there and perform, someone else is going to beat them out.”

On high school players being more well-developed as opposed to past years:

“I think so, with the skill players. Because of all the 7-on-7, the passing that they have now. There are more of those players that are out there and I think that has a lot to do with – especially in this part of the country – that's why teams are getting better. Because in this part of the country teams are spreading and throwing the ball around. Well, kids are doing this in sixth, seventh and eighth grade. They're doing it all summer long. It's not something where you play football for four months; they're doing this nine months out of the year. So, that's why I think there are more players, they are better-developed like you said and I think that's why there are more teams out there that are able to get good players.”

On checking his phone during the media session and if he is still waiting on more signees:

“You just never know. Typically I get some text about this time from my brother [Mike Gundy] – some smart comment. You just never know; you never know what's going to happen. Again, like I've said, we've talked to a bunch of juniors today and guys that we know are great players that we've offered. Hoping that some of them can go ahead and make a decision today, even though it's 365 days away.”

On if he ever sends his brother [Mike Gundy] a smart comment:

“I don't waste my time. I've got more important things to do.”

On flipping a player that is committed to another school and if is nervous about it the entire time:
“It's the same as those that have been committed for a year. You still – until they sign – there is still always that little doubt. Because, in our profession, there are a lot of good recruiters out there. There are a lot of great recruiters out there. You don't even have to be in a top five, top 10, top 20 program – there are great recruiters all over the place. And they have access to them, just like we do. So, you if we didn't have the social media, then that would eliminate some of it. But they have ways to get in touch with them just like we do, so you just never know.”

On his approach to having many talented running backs:

“Just play the very best ones. We'll play them on all four special teams. They'll run down and cover kicks. They'll be on the front line on kickoff return. Some of them will return kicks. Some of them might be punt returners. Some might be front line on punt return. We might play two tailbacks at a time. Some of the guys in this class are capable of going out and playing in the slot and running routes down the field. They know that ahead of time. I tell them. They know when they come here that there are going to be good players. Every time I go out and recruit I tell all of them, 'My job is to go out and find somebody who is better than you.' That's just kind of how we've done it around here.

“I think for the most part, most of them are here for the right reasons. They want to win championships. They want to get a great education. They want to play for one of the greatest college football coaches of all time in Coach (Bob) Stoops. They want a chance to work with Jerry Schmidt and his strength staff who has done a tremendous job of developing and putting players in the NFL. They have a chance to work under me and hopefully I don't screw them up too much.”

On if he pushed to recruit a quarterback for the class:

“We're confident in the guys we have, but we also made a push for some. There comes a fine line of we're not going to bring a guy in just to bring a guy in. It will be extremely appealing to the top quarterbacks in the country next year that the University of Oklahoma is going to throw the ball quite a bit and we didn't sign anyone. That will grab a lot of people's attention. Especially at that position. That's a domino scale. Once one guy goes somewhere and then somebody else and then everybody starts to hurry up and pick a spot. With what Coach (Lincoln) Riley has done and his background and his success, I think his quarterback threw it 617 times last year, which I believe is the most in college football, he's definitely going to have the opportunity to bring in a top-flight quarterback next year.”

On RB Joe Mixon return to the program:

“He made a split-second wrong decision and he knows that. He's a super, super kid, and I use the term kid because he is still like a kid. He's still young, but I'm proud of him (for accepting the terms of his punishment and staying at OU). Obviously, he was punished, and rightfully so as President Boren and the University of Oklahoma decided to do. There were things he had to do that kept him away from our football team and our locker room and our weight room, and it was hard on him. It was tough.

“He did a tremendous job. He did a great job in school. He was working out on his own and staying up on that. He's been like a caged tiger, I can tell you that. When we cut that lock off that cage, my man came out running. He's a good player. He's extremely talented. He's in the process of getting back into the form that Jerry Schmidt wants him to be in. He's still extremely impressive, but it takes a while for guys to get back into the shape that most guys are used to being in.”

On how much he communicated with Joe Mixon last fall:

“All the time. It was every day. I love the kid. I obviously signed him and told his mom and dad that I would take care of him, and that was my job. Just like everybody out there that I sign and plays beneath me. It's not just on the football field, it's going to class, it's doing the right things, it's making sure you're around the right people. It was just making sure that he knew if he did things right he was still going to be given a great opportunity here.”

On if he thought Joe Mixon would stay at Oklahoma:

“I thought he would stay, but again, it's like recruiting. I was worried a little bit. But I think the relationship he and I had and just how much he fell in love with the University of Oklahoma. He knew that all his goals and dreams were still here and he what he wanted to achieve, so why would he go somewhere else to do something else? It will be fun to have him back out there running around. I know the players were excited to have him back out.”

On if any running backs will change positions:

“Not that I know of.”