Sooners' Secondary Talented, Inexperienced

OU lost cornerbacks Brian Jackson and Dominique Franks, making defensive back one of its biggest question marks.

Thursday, May 26th 2011, 11:54 am

By: News On 6

Sooners' Secondary Talented, Inexperienced

Originally Published: Aug 11, 2010 9:58 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

NORMAN, Oklahoma -- As the Oklahoma Sooners near the end of their first full week of fall practice, the secondary remains one of the biggest question marks on the team.

The Sooners will see plenty of turnover in the secondary this season, having lost cornerbacks Dominique Franks and Brian Jackson but gaining defensive backs coach Willie Martinez. Martinez spent the past nine seasons at Georgia, first as a secondary coach and then as defensive coordinator.

OU added Martinez to its staff after recruiting this year’s class of freshmen, so he has still been getting acquainted to his new players.

“They’re good players coming out of high school,” Martinez said. “We recruited them and I wasn’t here for it, but we did a great job of getting them and they’re talented players. Now it’s just getting a chance to work with them and see where they’re at.”

Sophomore Demontre Hurst andjunior Jamell Fleming are the frontrunners to replace Jackson and Franks. Both saw action on special teams and occasionally on defense last season, which Martinez said has helped them get acclimated with a larger role.

“I think they’ve handled it well,” Martinez said. “The positive is that they’ve had experience in games. They’ve played on special teams, they’ve played on defense. So they feel a lot more confident and you can see the strides they made by the end of spring.”

Senior safety Quinton Carter has stepped into the leadership position of the young secondary, and he said it is important the new starters do not compare themselves to their predecessors.

“We all got together and we decided that this is a new team, new season, new goals and we have to write out our own legacy,” Carter said.

Carter also said the focus of secondary must be to limit long passing plays, something that has plagued the Sooners through stretches for the past few seasons. He added that while the new unit will be young, the players are talented and athletically gifted.

“There’s a lot of youth out there, a lot of speed and a lot of guys that can make big plays,” Carter said. “We’re the last line of defense. If we make a mistake, it’s six points every time. We stress every day that we have to progress, because big plays can’t happen.”

Senior Jonathan Nelson will also see significant time in the secondary, but will likely be moved between positions while Hurst and Fleming get used to the defense.

“The great thing about Jonathan is that he’s very versatile,” Martinez said. “The goal is to develop the younger guys so we feel comfortable leaving him the majority of the time at a certain spot.”

Martinez stressed that, regardless of who plays the majority of snaps, all of the new members of the secondary need to realize their role and not try to do too much.

“The great thing about the game of football is it’s a team sport,” Martinez said. “You just have to do your part. We’re not asking you to give us anything extraordinary. Concentrate on what your job is and continue to develop your skills ? For the most part, those guys are doing that.”