Lincoln Riley today: Very confident Sooners will play; coaching contingencies are in place; black stripe added to the helmet for this game

Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley said there are contingency plans in place for if he or one — or more — of his staff test positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

He declined to elaborate, however.

“Yeah, we have contingencies,” Riley said, “kind of ‘if/then’ — and there’s a lot of ‘if/thens.’ We do. We’ve got quite a few contingencies in place. And it’s so different. It’s hard. It’s almost like the players. You could say well, if the defensive coordinator isn’t there then this person’s going to call — well, what if all those guys get nailed on contact trace? Or if I’m not there, this person’s going to be the head coach — well, what if they get nailed with it and two others do too?

“We’ve had to go pretty deep into that, and I’ve also tried not to be unreasonable. We can’t run every different scenario. I think we’ve got kind of a — order’s not the right word, but we’ve got kind of where we would start if that happened and then be ready to adjust from there.”

At Florida State, new head coach Mike Norvell tested positive and will miss the Seminoles’ season opener this week against Miami. Per ACC rules, he can’t come back until Monday. Norvell is staying in contact with the team and offering input and watching elements of practice with the help of the FSU video staff.

Riley added that he is preparing to play against Kansas State on Saturday at 11 a.m., even though K-State coach Chris Klieman has said the Wildcats are “really close” to the Big 12’s postponement thresholds.

“I can’t speak for the other team,” Riley said. “But I feel very confident that we’ll be able to play a game on Saturday. Yes.”

Helmet change

Photos began circulating on social media Thursday, hinting at a possible change to the OU helmets.

Riley confirmed that during a brief Zoom call with beat reporters on Thursday.

“We’ll add the black stripe to our helmet for this Unity game,” Riley said. “And, proud of this game because this is really something that was born from a lot of our players and other student athletes, having one game to really celebrate unity. So that was a way for us, something on our jersey, something on a helmet that we won’t always have, that we won’t have any other games, but we felt like was very cool and appropriate.

“And this is one that our players have really been looking forward to, the opportunity to really express how important unity is to us. It’s just kind of a small, kind of a token, kind of an emblem of what this team has kind of been through and something that’s very, very important to us. Again, the fact that it was led by the players, to me, makes it very, very meaningful.”

Pledger in line to start

Riley said despite the exodus of talent from last season’s backfield, he still likes the Sooners’ running back corps.

“I do, I like a lot of the things that Seth (McGowan) did, I like a lot of the things that Marcus (Major) did. Obviously we’ll get a chance here at some point to get Rhamondre (Stevenson) back. So I think it can be a very explosive, very deep room. A lot of that will be these old guys playing the best ball of their lives and these young guys really coming along and being what we think they can be.”

He also said, all things being equal — and the right COVID tests being negative — that junior T.J. Pledger is the starter.

“T.J.’s the starter in there right now,” Riley said. “No doubt, he’s earned that. He’s been our best, most consistent back. So, excited to see him get his chance.”

Kicking plans

Kicking and punting is such a specialized skill, what happens if those guys go down with COVID positives or contact tracing as a group?

In the opener two weeks ago, All-American Gabe Brkic missed the game, so junior Stephen Johnson came in and made all his kicks. Is there a plan in the scenario no kickers are available? Could Riley just opt to go for 2-point conversions and fourth downs the whole game, or would he trot out some forgotten high school kicker?

“Yeah, it would have to get pretty far down the line, especially for the punter,” Riley said. “It would have to get pretty far down the line. Kicking is a little bit different. I feel like you can get a lot of guys back there and even, at least, get a 30- or 40-yard punt. The kicking is extra points, field goals and all that is a little bit different story.

“So, we’ve got some good options. But, I mean, is it conceivable we could get to a place where we didn’t kick? Yeah. Yeah it’s conceivable. Definitely is.”

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