The Oklahoma Sooners showcase at SEC Media Day was held last week and the Sooners showed out with their stars as they prepare to enter their first year in SEC play. Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman, Jackson Arnold, and Head Coach Brent Venables arrived in Atlanta and handled the media day questions with eagerness and professionalism.
The defensive ringleaders Stutsman and Bowman were particularly eager to share their thoughts on Oklahoma’s signing of new Co- Defensive Coordinator Zac Alley, giving insight into the team’s adjustment to the turnover from Ted Roof to the former per Ryan Chapman of Sports Illustrated.
Bowman held Alley in high regard saying “It was great for us,” during last week at SEC Media Day. “Bringing in a young mastermind who thinks similarly to our head coach Brent Venables. He’s sort of (runs) the same schemes as Venables. So those guys are on the same page. Just being able to hone in on the details, I think, by bringing him in, allows us to focus on every little detail.”
Stutsman also had high praise for the young defensive mind according to Sooner Wire, “Oh, it’s been amazing,” Stutsman said. “He’s a great coach. He really understands and relates to us.” Youth and relatability will also garner likability from the players for a coach. The fact that Alley resembles Venables is even better for recruiting and defensive efficiency.
Alley, formerly the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Jacksonville State University in Jacksonville, Ala. He also served the 2021 season in the same capacity at ULM in Monroe, LA. He will be Co-Defensive coordinator alongside Head Coach Brent Venables, as well as the linebackers coach.
The Sooner improved drastically from 2022 to 2023. Developing a menacing defense and putting Venables own words of developing a “physical, punishing, relentless, suffocating defense” to action per The Norman Transcript.
While they had some hiccups late in the season as a team, their defense was a complete 180-degree turnaround from where it was in 2021. Getting off the field early, making turnovers happen, and ruthless goal line stands the defense set the tone every game in 2023 and they will look to improve and do it better in the SEC.
Stutsman and Bowman are returning for their Senior year, alongside other noticeable standouts in Ethan Downs, Gentry Williams, Robert Spears-Jennings, and Woodi Washington. The Sooners also add depth and potential starters with David Stone and Jayden Jackson from their 2024 Recruiting class, in addition to rising star Sophomore Adepoju Adebawore who showed great promise in the 2023 Season. They also picked up notable Defensive Back Dez Malone from San Diego State via Transfer Portal.
Alley has the experience, depth, and tenacity to turn this defense into a show-stopper in the Herald gauntlet of the SEC. The conference is known for its heavy hitters, lights-out defenses, and no-fly zones in the secondary. He has a tall task ahead of him and with Venables mentoring him, Stutsman and Bowman supporting him, this defense could be a return to the Oklahoma Defenses of old. Hard knocks and turnover galore await in this 2024 season.
