Oklahoma Sooners Football

Texas and Oklahoma may get their early exit to the SEC after all.

Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported there are "active discussions" for Texas and Oklahoma to leave the Big 12 as the conference engages TV networks for a new contract. The two powerhouses are slated to join the SEC on July 1, 2025.

Texas and Oklahoma have maintained they will stay in the Big 12 until 2025, in large part because of the financial penalties the schools would face for leaving early. Each school must pay an $80 million exit fee to leave in 2025; any earlier departure would increase that figure.

"There's a lot changing around us. If that facilitates a conversation that needs to take place about an earlier departure, then it does," Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione said at the Texas High School Coaches' Association conference. "But I have said very consistently—I know my counterpart [at Texas] Chris Del Conte said the same thing, as have our presidents—that we informed the conference that we would lead after '25 and we plan on fulfilling our obligations and do the honorable thing."

Del Conte also affirmed his school's commitment to the Big 12.

Conference commissioner Brett Yormark has been increasingly open to Texas and Oklahoma leaving early, saying he could envision a "win-win" scenario for all sides. That scenario would likely mean the Big 12 asks for a nominal fee over the $80 million it's owed for the exit; it's become apparent Oklahoma and Texas have no interest in adding extra coin to the deal.

That said, a clean break could be beneficial to the Big 12. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF are all set to join the conference next year, and the Big 12 may want to move forward with new television contracts that feature only schools that will be around for the long haul.

Oklahoma State head coach Mike Gundy didn't have much to say about his brother, Cale, in the wake of his resignation from the University of Oklahoma earlier this week for using what he described as a "shameful and hurtful" word during a position meeting.

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Mike joked the situation "gave me enough information for a good chapter in my book whenever I retire."

Specific details about the word Cale used have not been made public. He said in his resignation statement on Twitter that he "read aloud the words" written on a player's iPad screen and one of them he "should never—under any circumstance—have uttered" the word that was displayed.

Sooners head coach Brent Venables said in a statement that he accepted Cale's resignation for reading aloud "not once but multiple times, a racially charged word that is objectionable to everyone, and does not reflect the attitude and values of our university or our football program."

When Venables took over as head coach in December following Lincoln Riley's surprise move to USC, Gundy was named wide receivers coach.

Cincinnati Bengals running back Joe Mixon, who played for the Sooners from 2014 to 2016, issued a statement of support for Gundy on Twitter:

Mike was asked on Saturday about the possibility of adding his brother to Oklahoma State's coaching staff.

"We hadn't even talked about that," Mike said. "He's got several other options right now that he's looking at. I haven't talked to him about that."

Cale has spent most of his life at the University of Oklahoma. He played quarterback for the Sooners from 1990 to 1993 and remained with the program as a graduate assistant in 1994.

After spending four seasons as an assistant coach at UAB, Cale returned to his alma mater in 1999 when Bob Stoops hired him as running backs coach. He has also coached wide receivers and was the team's recruiting coordinator from 2015 to 2021.

Mike is entering his 18th season as Oklahoma State head coach. The 55-year-old began his coaching career with the Cowboys in 1990 as wide receivers coach on head coach Pat Jones' staff.

Before entering the coaching ranks, Mike played quarterback at Oklahoma State from 1986 to 1989.

Oklahoma wide receivers coach Cale Gundy announced his resignation after reading a "shameful and hurtful" word displayed on a player's iPad during a team meeting last week.

Gundy, who had served as an assistant coach at his alma mater since 1999, released a statement detailing the incident late Sunday night:

"It's with sadness that I accept Coach Gundy's resignation. He's dedicated more than half his life to Oklahoma Football and has served our program and university well," coach Brent Venables said in a statement. "We're thankful for that commitment. We also acknowledge that in stepping aside he's placed the program and the welfare of our student-athletes first. In coaching and in life, we're all accountable for our actions and the resulting outcomes."

Venables said in a subsequent statement on Monday that Gundy read a "racially charged word that is objectionable to everyone" out loud multiple times:

Venables announced L'Damian Washington will replace Gundy as wide receivers coach on an interim basis.

According to the statement released by Gundy, he picked up the player's iPad after noticing he was distracted in the film session and then read a message aloud to the room. The message included an undisclosed word, which he read verbatim.

Gundy said he "did not even realize" what he was reading until the words came out of his mouth.

Joe Mixon, who played under Gundy during his time at Oklahoma, released a lengthy statement defending the coach early Monday morning. The now-Cincinnati Bengals running back said Gundy never displayed any form of racism during his time in Norman.

“I know racists,” Mixon said in the statement. “I have witnessed both obvious and discreet forms of racism and have known and detested even more actual racist. Coach Gundy is the farthest thing from this type of person. I spent every day for the 1,000 days I was in Norman with him. And I never saw anything that would lead anyone to believe this or think this."

Gabe Ikard of SiriusXM reported speaking to multiple Oklahoma players who said a "vast majority" of the team wanted Gundy to stay on. However, in the aftermath, Gundy felt it was best for him to walk away from the program.

USC commit Malachi Nelson, a 5-star quarterback in the 2023 recruiting class, is reportedly going to visit Texas A&M over the weekend.

ESPN's Paolo Uggetti reported Friday that Nelson, who previously flipped his commitment from Oklahoma to USC after head coach Lincoln Riley moved from the Sooners to Trojans, informed Riley of his decision to visit the Aggies.

Nelson is the No. 2 overall prospect in next year's class based on 247Sports' composite rankings behind only fellow quarterback Arch Manning, who committed to Texas.

An interesting aspect of the signal-caller considering another school is the fact he's already agreed to a name, image and likeness (NIL) deal related to his choice of the Trojans.

Jeremy Crabtree of On3 reported Nelson reached an agreement to promote SLAB, a Texas-style barbecue restaurant in Los Angeles, and host a few USC tailgating events during the 2022 season before officially becoming a college player next year.

It's another unique situation as teams, players and companies continue to learn how to navigate the NIL era of college sports.

For his part, the coveted quarterback prospect told Crabtree he's trying to make smart decisions about how to handle those offers based on what he witnessed during the first year of implementation last season.

"You want to put yourself in the right position to not look like you're just doing it for the money," Nelson said. "Last year there were some college guys that had a bad game and then they had to wake up the next morning and post this endorsement deal. It doesn't look very good. So, my team has put me in a good position to avoid that from happening."

Meanwhile, the Los Alamitos High School standout is one of two 5-star prospects committed to the Trojans for 2023 alongside wide receiver Zachariah Branch. USC ranks 13th in the early recruiting ranking for next year, per 247Sports.

Texas A&M is a distant 60th at this stage of the 2023 process, but the Aggies are coming off the No. 1-ranked class in 2022.

Getting Nelson to flip would be another massive recruiting victory for head coach Jimbo Fisher and his staff, and it could spark another surge toward the top of the rankings for A&M.

For now, however, the quarterback remains committed to Riley and the Trojans.

For now, Texas and Oklahoma have no plans on leaving for the SEC early.

Dave Wilson of ESPN noted Monday that the two programs are set to leave for their new conference on July 1, 2025, but incoming Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark said he was open to a "win-win scenario" that could see the Longhorns and Sooners depart sooner than that.

Yet Texas athletic director Chris Del Conte and Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione didn't seem particularly eager to make that happen.

"We're in the Big 12," Del Conte said. "We're going to honor our commitments. Those things are all premature."

Castiglione echoed those sentiments:

"Look, I know people are asking a lot of those questions and it's fair. There's a lot changing around us. If that facilitates a conversation that needs to take place about an earlier departure, then it does. But I have said very consistently - I know my counterpart [at Texas] Chris Del Conte said the same thing, as have our presidents - that we informed the conference that we would lead after '25 and we plan on fulfilling our obligations and do the honorable thing."

The Big 12 responded to the looming high-profile exits by adding BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF, all of whom will join the conference in July 2023.

Creating schedules while Texas and Oklahoma are still in the league and four new schools are added could prove difficult, but the Longhorns and Sooners will soon be dealing with some of the best programs in the country on a near-weekly basis in a league with Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Texas A&M, Florida and others.

The SEC's ability to add two of the country's most notable blue bloods was a major move in conference realignment, and the Big Ten seemed to respond by adding football powerhouse USC and basketball powerhouse UCLA.

However, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told reporters Monday he believes bringing in the Longhorns and Sooners is a bigger move than the Trojans and Bruins.

There is no questioning either's status among the historical powerhouses of college football, but Oklahoma has enjoyed much more recent success than its rival. Texas has just one season with double-digit wins since 2009 and is no longer the annual national title contender it was for so long under head coach Mack Brown.

That may be changing with the addition of Ohio State transfer quarterback Quinn Ewers and the recruiting victory with Arch Manning, but life won't get much easier in the SEC.

It appears that isn't something Texas will have to worry about until 2025 if the athletic directors are to be believed.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley denied the speculation that he left Oklahoma because he was scared of the move to the SEC.

"I heard the whole SEC narrative," Riley told Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports. "To me, the SEC has nothing to do with it. It's all about the program that you're at and the position you think you can get to."

Oklahoma and Texas announced ahead of the 2021 season that they would leave for the SEC starting in 2025. In February, Riley stunned the college football world by leaving Oklahoma—where he won four Big 12 titles in five years—for USC and the Pac-12.

It represents an easier path during the conference season, but Riley simply saw the chance at a fresh start.

"I'm 38. I want to experience different things," Riley said. "I want to win. This opportunity is so good, how can you not do it?"

A reported 10-year, $110 million contract likely helped make the decision, but Riley also said he enjoyed watching USC games when he was younger.

"It felt different when you watched it," the coach said. "The energy behind it was different."

Perhaps most importantly, Riley seemed to indicate that he couldn't win a championship with Oklahoma.

The Sooners have reached the College Football Playoffs four times—three with Riley as head coach and once when he was an offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops—and they lost in the semifinals each time. Only once was the final margin within single digits.

"I've walked into four playoffs, and I've never had better than maybe the third-best roster [of the four teams]," Riley said. "Every other year, we were four of four. We had really good rosters, but they weren't the same. … I can't imagine that there could be a setting that we could build a better roster than we can here."

USC is coming off a 4-8 season under Clay Helton and interim coach Donte Williams, but Riley has rebuilt the roster using the transfer portal and could turn the team into a contender in 2022.

Former Oklahoma defensive tackle Du'Vonta Lampkin, 25, was killed in a shooting in the Dallas area on Thursday. 

The Dallas Police Department announced it was investigating a homicide after officers responded to a call about a shooting. 

"Upon arrival, officers discovered Du’Vonte Lampkin, a 25-year-old male, lying on his back with a single gunshot wound," Dallas PD said. "Dallas Fire and Rescue responded and the victim died at the scene."

According to police, a witness said they went to check on Lampkin because he wasn't answering his phone and found him wounded, prompting them to call 911. 

Police said Lampkin was staying at the location where the shooting occurred ahead of moving into a new apartment. 

The University of Oklahoma football team offered condolences to Lampkin's family and loved ones in a statement on Twitter:

Lampkin enrolled at Oklahoma in the summer of 2015. He didn't play for the Sooners as a redshirt in his first season. The Houston native appeared in five games as a redshirt freshman in 2016.

He appeared in 12 of the team's 14 games, including two starts, during the 2017 season. He recorded five tackles for loss and one sack to help the Sooners win the Big 12 regular-season title and championship game over TCU. 

Lampkin recorded two total tackles in Oklahoma's 54-48 overtime loss to Clemson in the 2018 College Football Playoff semifinal. He elected to forego his final two seasons of college eligibility to declare for the 2018 NFL draft. 

After going undrafted, Lampkin took part in preseason minicamp with the Baltimore Ravens and Tennessee Titans. He was waived by the Titans prior to the start of the 2018 season. 

Lampkin played for the Massachusetts Pirates of the Indoor Football League in 2019. 

USC Trojans head coach Lincoln Riley discussed his decision to leave his coaching job with the Oklahoma Sooners for his current one in a letter on the Players' Tribune.

He notably admitted he could have handled certain things about his move differently:

On the plane ride to Los Angeles, so many emotions were flowing through my mind. I was so excited about USC and its potential, but I was also filled with some guilt and sadness realizing that Norman was no longer home. There are aspects of my departure and transition that I would certainly do differently if I could do it again, and I acknowledge that I could have handled some parts of the situation better. I absolutely own that. While I was able to talk with several players after the team meeting, I wish I would have had the time to sit down with each individual player and staff member to explain my decision.

Riley also said he "always figured I would end my coaching career at OU," but he became "intrigued by the possibilities" when learning about USC's interest.

He went on to call Norman, Oklahoma, "home" and somewhere he "made incredible friendships and memories that will last a lifetime." He also ran through a list of memories during his time with the Sooners and thanked "every player, every staff member and every fan" who helped make it such a success.

"Since my move, many have asked me why I would leave Oklahoma, and the best—and most honest—answer is that the opportunity at USC was simply the right job at the right time for me and for my family," Riley wrote. "We all have moments in life where we are faced with difficult choices, and this was the path my family and I chose."

It's hard to argue against the success Riley enjoyed on the field with Oklahoma.

His teams went 55-10 with four Big 12 championships during his five seasons from 2017 through 2021. The Sooners had double-digit wins in each of those campaigns except the shortened 2020 one, when they still went an impressive 9-2 and won the Cotton Bowl over Florida.

Riley quickly became best-known for his offensive prowess as a head coach, and Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray each took home the Heisman Trophy during his tenure.

That surely stood out to the USC administration in its decision to hire him as the Trojans look to return to the upper echelon of college football. The program is coming off a disappointing 4-8 season and has just four double-digit-win seasons since 2008.

That stands in stark contrast to the Pete Carroll era when the Trojans were annual national championship contenders and won double-digit games seven years in a row from 2002 to 2008.

Riley isn't the only key member from Oklahoma's football program to go to USC this offseason, as quarterback Caleb Williams also transferred to the Pac-12 team and will look to help lead it back into the conference championship or College Football Playoff picture.