It used to be that wide receivers at Oklahoma got about as much critical acclaim as a Brian Bosworth movie. The Sooners ran the wishbone and that was it. A quarterback had two choices: run or pitch. Receivers blocked.
But Bob Stoops arrived in 1999 and decided to shake things up. He brought with him Mike Leach and Kentucky's high-flying air-attack offense. He convinced his staff that the forward pass -- and quarterback Josh Heupel -- would lead them to the promised land. There was just one problem -- OU had Heupel to throw the ball, but nobody to catch it.
"When I got here, I said, 'Who do we have?' " recalls Steve Spurrier Jr., who Stoops hired away from Florida to coach wide receivers at OU. "He said, 'We have two receivers who played last year. One had eight catches and one had 11. The one that had eight transferred. So you got one guy coming back and you got two walkons.' "
|  | | Antwone Savage is one of many unknown, but talented Sooner receivers. |
Spurrier was the last coach hired and because of NCAA rules restricting the number of coaches who can recruit on the road, he was left to figure things out from within his office.
"I was going down the depth chart trying to find players we already had on our team," he says. "I raided every athlete I could find. I told them they had a chance to catch a bunch of balls."
This pitch was attractive.
"He just told us, 'You come play wide receiver for me, you'll have a chance to make plays, be in the limelight, get the chance to score touchdowns for Oklahoma,' " says Damien Mackey, who was a cornerback until Spurrier came after him. "I don't know too many guys who would shy away from that opportunity."
And Spurrier's offer was dead on accurate. Eight receivers have at least 10 catches and at least 100 yards receiving. Five receivers have over 20 catches and four have over 300 yards. Also, eight different receivers have scored at least one touchdown.
"I was looking for athletes," Spurrier says. "Athletes showed up and give (former OU Coach) John Blake credit. We had some good athletes when we got here."
Spurrier went after Andre Woolfolk and Curtis Fagan, both of whom had also come to Oklahoma to play cornerback, and Josh Norman, who was a tailback. And he signed Antwone Savage, who was an option quarterback out of high school.
Then the teaching began and he started with the basics.
"I had to teach them to catch the ball and tuck it in, run good routes, defenses, technique, everything about how to be a receiver," Spurrier says. "As a young coach, it was a good situation for me actually. I showed them my tapes from Florida, all those guys running around. So they looked at me as maybe a guy who knows what he's doing."
He taught Woolfolk to slow down his routes, noticing on film that he was rushing them. He talked to Savage about looking at the ball every time he made a catch. He talked to Mackey about running with the ball after the catch.
"It was all listening and learning," Mackey said.
What also helped was that although they had no experience as receivers, they had no bad habits as receivers either. And no egos.
"It was a bunch of guys who were athletic but didn't have any discipline and didn't understand what passing the football was because they didn't throw here," says first-year offensive coordinator Mark Mangino, who replaced Leach after he took the head coaching job at Texas Tech. "These kids were unknown, pushed into a situation that some had never been in before. I think they bonded together, became a tight-knit group of kids. They were able to overcome obstacles and make themselves better."
As the players worked together to learn the position, their unit took on a personality of its own and the pride that comes with doing something new and untested. They learned to rely on one another for advice and worked late into the night trying to become the best they could as fast as they could.
"From that first day of spring football when we strapped on the pads to the first game of the season they made tremendous improvement," Heupel says. "And to see where they are now, compared to a year ago is remarkable. For them never playing the position, it took a lot of time and effort on their part. Coach Spurrier did a great job and they're getting better even to this day."
The bond has carried over from the field as well. The five became fast friends and spend a lot of time at Spurrier's house "just hanging out, talking, laughing, watching TV," he said.
Spurrier's wife, Melissa, is due with triplets and he's already talked with his receivers about baby sitting duties.
"I've told them to stop by for five minute visits in five-hour intervals," he jokes, adding that he feels very safe about having his players take care of his babies.
They've got good hands.
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ALSO SEE
No.1 Oklahoma (8-0) at No.24 Texas A&M (7-2) 1:00 pm EST
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Oklahoma's Andre Woolfolk pulls down the circus-catch on his back with one hand.
avi: 1420 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
The Sooners' Curtis Fagan sneaks across the middle for a screen and goes in practically untouched.
avi: 784 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Antwone Savage goes 74 yards for a TD.
avi: 1259 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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