R Mason Thomas leaning into the high expectations for the Oklahoma Sooners
Speaking to the media this week, Thomas was asked about having a different play-caller this year. Head coach Brent Venables is taking over play-calling duties after former defensive coordinator Zac Alley left for West Virginia. Thomas believes that not much will change, as it has always been Venables' system.
"It's the same thing," Thomas said. "Since 2022, my first year, when he first got here, it's the same thing. You would think it would be some kind of drop-off, but he's a defensive mind. He's always on the on defensive side of the ball, so it's the same. It's no drop-off. We don't have to change language or anything like that. It's the same playbook. With him it's always been like that. We weren't nervous. We weren't frustrated. We weren't rattled. It was the same."
Thomas was also asked about the process of Venables getting his system installed over the years in Norman.
"When I was getting recruited at OU, it was a lot of Clemson film," Thomas said. "I think now we ran a lot of plays like he did in Clemson. It was like we're looking at what we do now, more of -- I know my first year we were looking at Clemson a lot because we didn't have any film of us doing it. Yeah, we have so much film of us doing it now so we're watching ourselves."
Thomas also spoke about the pressure and the expectations after his big 2024 season, and the pressure that comes with playing at a place like Oklahoma. He knows that the Sooners have plenty of room to improve after last year.
"I don't think we in a sense have pressure," Thomas said. "We know what the standard is, what the people in the team in the past have set. So I know if we can put our head down, we can work, focus on the journey and not the destination, we'll be right where we want to be."
After the NFL came calling this winter, Thomas decided to come back for one more year of college football, one more year in Venables' scheme, and the opportunity to get the bad taste of 2024 out of his mouth.
Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
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