FREMONT, NE – The recruiting isn’t over for Oklahoma’s newest verbal dedication.
Now the Sooner coaches are competing over Kade McIntyre.
“It was actually kind of like that,” McIntyre instructed AllSooners Monday throughout an interview at Archbishop Bergan High School.
After a enjoyable photograph shoot throughout his official campus go to on June 8, recruits met the coaches and workers for dinner earlier than attending conferences that evening. Linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Ted Roof cornered McIntyre early.
“He was like, ‘We have a position meeting; I’m not quite sure where you’re gonna land but I want you to come in there,’ ” McIntyre mentioned. “And then the next day, we came down the elevator to go to an academic meeting, and Joe Jon (Finley, the tight ends coach) was just sitting down there waiting for me. He just kind of took me to the tight ends meeting and took me to the offensive coordinator and stuff, and I didn’t really get to see Roof that much. So that was awesome.”
McIntyre is an explosive athlete on each side of the ball. Bergan coach Seth Mruz mentioned his crew – 13-0 and Class C Nebraska state champs final yr – misplaced 16 seniors and one among his options this yr is to get McIntyre the ball extra, whereas additionally that includes him on protection.
Fremont – pop. 26,500 – is nestled amongst 1000’s of acres of dusty cornfields about an hour northwest of Omaha and 45 minutes north of Lincoln. Bergan is one among two highschool groups on this farm city.
But J.R. Sandlin, OU’s Director of Player Personnel and Recruiting, discovered McIntyre’s movie.
“He saw that I had two offers in one day, Tennessee and Nebraska kind of stacked up, and he was like, ‘OK, I’m gonna look at it,’ ” McIntyre mentioned.
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Sandlin forwarded McIntyre’s movie to J.P. Losman, Assistant Director of Player Personnel.
“J.P. Losman is the one that started texting me,” Mruz instructed AllSooners, “and he’s like, ‘I love me some Kade McIntyre.’ I’m like, ‘Me too, I wish he could stay a little longer.’ ”
It all shook out on Memorial Day weekend. He obtained the OU supply on May 29, took his go to per week later, then dedicated on June 13.
“So they went against what they said – they said ‘We can’t bother him on Memorial Day’ and stuff – and (Brent) Venables saw the film and he loved it. Next couple days, they just kind of got ahold of me and they were like, ‘Dude, we want to offer you, but we’re not sure yet.’ ”
What was McIntyre’s response after his go to?
“Wow,” he mentioned. “Just the energy. Brent Venables … is such a great dude. The way he’s kind of dealing with the program and wanting everyone to be a part of, a very personal relationship kind of guy. But really, just the great people from top to bottom, it’s just amazing.”
Mruz mentioned South Dakota provided first, then got here Wyoming – the place McIntyre’s massive brother Koa shall be a freshman this yr. Then North Dakota State provided. Things slowed down after that. But as soon as Kansas State got here in, that opened the door for Minnesot and Iowa. Iowa State obtained . Then Tennessee and Nebraska provided. Finally, Oklahoma got here round.
And virtually each analysis was carried out strictly off McIntyre’s recreation video.
“You know, a lot of unfortunate things came with COVID,” Mruz mentioned. “But I think one of the great things with COVID is it made college programs become extremely efficient with recruiting. They couldn’t go see kids in person. They couldn’t go visit places. So they relied on film, they trusted instincts – and film doesn’t lie. That’s one of the things he’s got is fantastic film. He’s got the frame.You see him in person and you’re like, ‘Oh, OK. He’s not fudging numbers. He’s 6-4, he’s 205-210 and he looks good and there’s a lot of room to grow.’ ”
Now it appears it’ll come down between Finley, Roof and defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis.
“I would love to start out at tight end just because of the things they showed me on film and in meetings they did with Joe Jon,” McIntyre mentioned. “Really showed me I could do a lot of those things and do ‘em very well, so I’m excited to kind of start off there. They said if it’s not the best fit for you, or you would thrive at a different position, like linebacker, they would want me to be there, too. Just kind of the flexibility is also something that intrigued me about the place. They’re really looking for the best intentions of the players.”
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