Will Oklahoma\u2019s defense be championship caliber in 2019?\u00a0 Before Oklahoma can compete for a national championship, the defense needs to be dramatically improved.\u00a0 It was arguably the worst defense in the country the last two years. This has kept the Sooners from playing for back to back national championships.<\/p>\n
First, there was plenty of blame to go around in 2018.\u00a0 Poor coaching was without a doubt a factor in the poor defensive performance a year ago. Poor schemes, an obvious lack of discipline, and a very passive approach were evident from the coaching perspective. Many times, players had no idea where or when to line up.<\/p>\n
Many players, especially in the secondary, have come in as highly touted freshmen and excelled. But they seem to regress by the time they were juniors or seniors.\u00a0 That points to coaching, or lack of it.<\/p>\n
Without a doubt, player’s shoulder a big share of the blame.\u00a0 Clearly, there was a lack of effort at times on the defensive side of the ball. In addition, another factor was the poor tackling technique shown. This is something most players learn in middle school.\u00a0 Obviously, that boils down to effort and desire.<\/p>\n
Oklahoma fired defensive coordinator <\/a>Mike Stoops\u00a0<\/strong>following a 48-45 loss to Texas.\u00a0Although it was clearly time for a change, the defense did not improve following Stoops dismissal.<\/p>\n Oklahoma announced the hiring of former Ohio State co-defensive coordinator Alex Grinch\u00a0<\/strong>on January 4th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Grinch brings a completely different style of play that the players seem to favor.\u00a0 Grinch is implementing more of a fly to the ball, force turnovers, aggressive style of play. \u00a0As opposed to a conservative, passive style of play that obviously hasn\u2019t been successful.<\/p>\n There is a lot of young talent at defensive end.\u00a0 On one side the projected starter is Jalen Redmond<\/a><\/strong>. On the other side is Ronnie Perkins<\/a>.<\/strong>\u00a0 They will be backed up by Kenneth Mann<\/a><\/strong>. Newcomers Marcus Stripling<\/strong>, Kori Roberson, <\/strong>and junior college transfer LaRon Stokes<\/strong> could see playing time as well.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>The defensive line should be anchored by Neville Gallimore<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Others expected to see playing time include Dillon Faamatau<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0and Marquise Overton<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The Sooners should be pretty well set at linebacker with conference preseason defensive player of the year Kenneth<\/strong> Murray<\/strong><\/a>. \u00a0Oklahoma has a budding star in second-year linebacker DaShaun White<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The most critical position for Oklahoma will be at defensive back.\u00a0 This wasn\u2019t helped with the season-ending injury to returning starter Tre Norwood<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>during fall camp.<\/p>\n That being said, Tre\u00a0<\/strong>Brown<\/strong><\/a>, arguably Oklahoma\u2019s best cover man will start on one side.\u00a0The other corner will be manned by either Parnell Motley<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0or Jordan Parker<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Parker missed nearly all of the 2017 season after sustaining a knee injury in the season-opener against UTEP.\u00a0 Comparatively, in 2018, he didn\u2019t play in OU\u2019s last four games in a year where he was asked to play safety. \u00a0Undoubtedly, the move to corner should help him as well as the team.<\/p>\n Brendan Radley-Hiles<\/a> <\/strong>should be the starter at the nickel corner.\u00a0 Radley-Hiles was a big disappointment in 2018.\u00a0 In Radley-Hiles defense he was playing out of position most of his first season. \u00a0Therefore, the move to corner should help him.<\/p>\n The safeties were definitely the weak spots in the secondary in 2018.\u00a0 The starter at strong safety appears to be Delarrin<\/strong> Turner-Yell<\/strong><\/a>, Patrick Fields<\/a> <\/strong>has\u00a0been penciled in at free safety.<\/p>\nProjected defensive contributors<\/h3>\n
Players that will be missed<\/h3>\n