Oklahoma football: Blake Bell, Trevor Knight will give Sooners more options this year

The Oklahoman's Jason Kersey took questions from readers in today's OU Power Lunch Chat. Join our Power Lunch Chats Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on NewsOK.com/Sports. Here's a recap of today's chat.

By Jason Kersey | Published: February 4, 2013 Comment on this article

The Oklahoman's Jason Kersey took questions from readers in today's OU Power Lunch Chat. Join our Power Lunch Chats Monday-Friday at 11 a.m. on NewsOK.com/Sports. Here's a recap of today's chat.

11:00 a.m. Sooners are trying to close hard again this year on signing day. Is there anyone they are still targeting that would be a big pick up?

Jason Kersey 11:02 a.m. Baylor offensive line commit Dionte Savage is someone OU is working to flip. He took an official visit to OU last weekend, and comes from Arizona Western CC, which is where Damien Williams came from

11:02 a.m. How will a switch to 3-4 defense affect recruitng? It seems that would attract even more athetes and less "beef."

Jason Kersey 11:04 a.m. It's hard to tell right now how that might affect recruiting. I think it could definitely help the Sooners attract more linebackers. But really, I think we'll just have to see how OU performs next season in a new system. If they're significantly better, that will have more impact on recruiting, I think, that a system change by itself

Mike 11:05 a.m. Do you expect any zone read this year from the Sooners? It seems as either Bell or Knight would be suited to run a zone read.

Jason Kersey 11:08 a.m. I do think we'll see some more quarterback run game. I don't think the offense will change a whole, whole lot, but I do expect some subtle differences. Blake Bell (or Trevor Knight) will give OU more options

JD 11:13 a.m. Any insight to the possibliity that Jay Norvell may assume the responsibility of calling plays next season?

Jason Kersey 11:14 a.m. I haven't heard anything about Jay Norvell assuming play calling duties, and I'd be really surprised if that happened.

JD 11:15 a.m. Pat Jones said on Tulsa sports radio that he had heard rumors of that happening. How much experience/knowledge does Josh Heupel have in working with a run/pass qb? Can he develop Blake Bell to his fullest potential?

Jason Kersey 11:17 a.m. I think Heupel is a tremendous quarterback coach with a strong track record of maximizing his guys' potential, so I would expect he'll do a good job with Blake Bell.

Jerry 11:17 a.m. Any chance coach Mangino gets a positon to coach at OU?

Jason Kersey 11:18 a.m. Anything could happen, but at this point, a Mangino return to Norman seems unlikely.

JD 11:18 a.m. I'm not as convinced as you, considering Landry felt the need to seek coaching form the "guru" in California

Jason Kersey 11:20 a.m. You make a good point, but I think Whitfield's reputation and the other guys he worked with in the past are the larger factors that figured into that.

JD 11:22 a.m. Travis Haney, your predecssor, wrote in his column today on ESPN.com about how OU continues to slide in recruiting, noting this would be another year without a top 10 class. Can OU get back to being a National Title contender without getting the level of classes that Alabama, Notre Dame, LSU are getting?

Jason Kersey 11:27 a.m. Can they? Sure, I think OU can return to national-title contention. But it definitely won't be easy. One thing I think OU has done that sets itself up nicely for next season is that it has been offering scholarships earlier. It seems like OU coaches have made offering junior prospects a bigger priority than they perhaps have in the past, and getting on those guys' radars early is probably a good strategy moving forward.

DON 11:27 a.m. Do you see Cody Thomas redshirting this year?

Jason Kersey 11:28 a.m. The only way Cody Thomas doesn't redshirt this year is if he somehow wins the starting QB job, and that seems highly unlikely this year

Jason Kersey 11:30 a.m. Guys that's all the questions I've got time for today. If you've got any more questions, please feel free to email me at jkersey@opubco.com. Have a great week!