Joshua Bates keeping options open as coaching transition plays out at OU
The abrupt departure of Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma to Southern Cal, news of which broke on Nov. 28, undoubtedly sent major shockwaves through the college football community.
With Riley now in Los Angeles, and the Sooners transitioning from interim head coach Bob Stoops to newly-hired full-time coach Brent Venables, many OU players and commits find themselves wanting to take a step back to reevaluate things.
Oklahoma recently lost former five-star receiver signee Jadon Haselwood, who enjoyed the finest statistical season of his collegiate career in 2021, to the transfer portal, ultimately landing at Arkansas.
Five-star Class of 2023 quarterback Malachi Nelson was quick to de-commit from OU two Sundays ago, joining Riley at USC shortly thereafter, while five-star running back Raleek Brown (who also flipped to USC) and four-star linebacker Kobie McKinzie (Texas) were among the recruits to back off verbal commitments to the Sooners.
For Oklahoma's Class of 2022 pledges, there is without question much to ponder now nine days away from the Dec. 15 early signing period.
Before then, and in general, there is almost certainly more fallout/turnover on the horizon from OU recruits and players alike.
However, as far as 2023 recruits are concerned, their timeline is naturally less pressing at the moment.
One such Oklahoma commit, Joshua Bates, a Centennial State standout at center from Durango, has been keeping his finger on the pulse as the transitional situation in Norman continues to unfold.
“It was definitely pretty shocking," Bates said of Riley's decision. "As a young commit, I’m a ‘23 commit, so I obviously have a lot of time to make a decision. But, you know, I’m like talking to (Riley) the day before and it looks like he’s not going anywhere. It felt like he was sticking it out, so my reaction was just shocked overall."
With the Buffs themselves going through some coaching staff changes in the aftermath of both offensive coordinator Darrin Chiaverini's and o-line coach Mitch Rodrigue's firings, Bates feels CU is worthy of reinvestigating.
"With everything that’s going on at Oklahoma, I may as well take a step back and look at all the different types of programs," Bates said. "I’ve always really had a heart for CU. Obviously, my dad played there back in the day, so really my thought process was to go up and see if anything changed."
"They’re going to change OCs — just fired Darrin Chiaverini, they fired 'Rod,' so I wanted to go up there and really look at everything and review everything at CU that I might have missed."
Whether or not Karl Dorrell will retain or promote interim offensive line coach William Vlachos has not been determined, but Bates said that the 33-year-old Vlachos, who started 40 straight games at center for the Crimson Tide between 2009-2011, earning first-team All-SEC honors as a senior, intrigues him.
While in Boulder, Bates was able to gather some intel on Vlachos and liked what he heard.
"I’ve also heard a lot of good things about him," Bates said. "I was talking to one of the graduate assistants up there, Donovan Williams — he was able to tell me that ever since Vlachos took it over, (there’s been) more of an understanding of the concepts that they’re running."
"Being able to adjust mid-game is something that really helped them, so that’s something that sticks out with me. Being able to possibly have Vlachos as an o-line coach was really something interesting that I wanted to figure out and talk about.”
The Buffaloes are currently without any commitments for the 2023 class and needless to say, Bates is a candidate they are looking at as potential flip.
For now, whether or not Bates re-enters the market seems to revolve around how Bedenbaugh's status at Oklahoma.
"I’m going to see what happens with Bedenbaugh — that’s really going to predict what’s going to happen," Bates said. "Whatever happens with coach Bedenbaugh at OU, that’s really going to predict where I’m going to go. Obviously, if Bedenbaugh leaves, I’m really going to have to make some other decisions."
"If he stays, there’s a good chance I stay at OU and then again, there’s a good chance I don’t — it really all depends on what happens with the coaching staff at OU. That’s my main thing.”
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