University of Oklahoma committment, quarterback Blake Bell talks about his decision on OU, the Sooner football program, the Big 12 and making the leap to college:
What was the final call for you, in terms of making commitment to Oklahoma?
Well, I went down there on my visit and I just like that place. I like all the coaches. They’re all real and they tell you how it is. But other than that, I love Coach Wilson, I love Coach Huepel and Coach Stoops – the whole staff. I just feel at home there. And, you know, the good thing about it is too, it’s only about two and a half hours away from home, so it’s far enough to get away, but…
Location was important in the decision?
Yeah, location was important a little bit there too. There’s a lot of great schools out there that I was looking at, but another thing I liked. I’ve got a big family so I wanted them to come watch and stuff too.
How do you fit in to the tradition Oklahoma has at the quarterback position?
I’m excited about it. You know, Coach Heupel – what he does with the quarterbacks and what he did at Oklahoma – and I’m excited about him teaching me and getting better. Like you said, the tradition there; Sam Bradford winning the Heisman and the championships, I’m just excited about the whole thing.
What is your greatest strength as a quarterback and how will you fit into the OU system?
I’d say, just the ability to move. If something is breaking down or something, I like to get out and make plays. I’d say I’ve got a lot of mechanics and stuff to work on, you know my deep ball a little bit. But other than that, just keep working hard in the offseason and get with Coach Heupel and maybe go down there in the spring and see some practices and watch how everything is going so I can get the hang of it when I get in there. I’m excited about it.
Did you watch the Oklahoma / Stanford game? What did you think?
Yeah I did. I thought it was good. I thought we needed that win big time for the program and that’s what we did. They had a good game plan coming out, the coaches. They got it done.
How does it set the trend for next year?
I think it was good They really needed to get that win because they had some stumbles during the season. Big injuries were the key part. You know, Bradford going down and Gresham and all these guys going down. It was a big win to just kind of take that next step for next year and kind of get to where we want to be and I know that’s the national championship.
One of the criticisms of Oklahoma this year was a young receiver corp, how do you think they’ll be for you?
We’ve been working really hard on some recruits. We were trying on Darius White, but he made a decision to go to Texas, but we’ve got a lot of really good receivers coming in – Joe Powell and Kenny Stills – and get some good running backs. So, we’re going to keep recruiting on some of those receivers.
Thoughts on Bedlam?
That and OU / Texas – Red River – I’m excited about all those rivalry games. Especially Okie State, because in Oklahoma, whoever wins that’s the bragging rights until that next year. Those are the fun games to play in. You’ve got everybody coming in and watching it and that’s why you play the game.
What is so special about Big 12 football?
I’d say, something about just watching it since I’ve been young. I’ve always watched Big 12 football and it just seems like I can relate because it’s all kind of – Kansas, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Texas – it’s all kind of all right there and there’s something about it. I like watching the Big 12. And SEC – the guys are fast there too. But Big 12, I’ve always watched the quarterbacks develop there. You’ve got Colt McCoy, Sam Bradford, all those guys. Great quarterbacks come out of there, so I’d just say the play.
Seems like a good kid to me. Hope he can play.