Muhammad Part of a Confident Duo Taking Over at Corner Plus Clinic and Recruiting
STILLWATER – Oklahoma State had the biggest attendance by far for a spring practice as over close to 200 coaches, a sold-out Mike Gundy Coaches Clinic were there for the 11th of the 15 spring practices allowed by the NCAA.
Sandwiched around the Friday afternoon practice were clinic sessions with head coach Mike Gundy, offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn, defensive coordinator Derek Mason, special guest and former Oklahoma State and NFL quarterback Brandon Weeden on the front side and then breakout sessions with all of the position coaches after practice and dinner.
As usual the Cowboys had a fast-paced practice that because of injuries in the offensive line are now limited to teams periods that are part 11-vs-11 and 7-vs-7. The defense had a solid day with plenty of stops and safeties Jason Taylor II and Kendal Daniels each came up with interceptions and both players have multiple turnovers in team periods during the spring. Taylor is known as a ballhawker and Daniels is earning that reputation in practice with the hope he carries it over in games.
Quarterback Spencer Sanders had a good day hitting a variety of receivers and with a lot of work on short yardage situations it was a heavy work day for running backs Dominic Richardson, Jaden Nixon, Ollie Gordon, and C.J. Brown.
Today and her practice this spring, you can tell all you need to know about one of the key positions coming off last season. Cornerbacks Christian Holmes (headed to the NFL) and Jarrick Bernard-Converse (transfer to LSU) are gone, but back-ups from last season that played a major role in 2021 and especially in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame, Korie Black and Jabbar Muhammad are ready. They have proven this spring they will make for a seamless transition at the corners.
“Now that we’re together on opposite sides starting we can’t wait,” Muhammad said. “We’re ready to go compete. That’s my dog, that’s my roommate. We have a really good relationship.”
The two first met when they came to Oklahoma State in recruiting and while they were playing the same position and would compete like crazy. They knew they were going to line up together. They were roommates from the arrival in Stillwater and while Muhammad admits his bookend in the secondary has some strange habits. They are good. In fact, they are better together. In the bowl game with 22 of the 59 Notre Dame offensive plays having those two in together, Notre Dame did not get much off the young guns at corner.
“It was a big moment,” Black said of the bowl game. “It was a big moment for the two of us to prove we could play and hold down the outside. Me and Jabbar got a lot more reps late in the season and that gave us a lot of confidence and we have a lot of confidence going into next season.”
“Korie (Black), I don’t want to say weird, but he wakes up and cooks at one in the morning, I can smell it in my room. He’ll blast music, just the regular roommate stuff,” laughed Muhammad. “he’ll be cooking pizza rolls and fries, just weird combinations. If you get to know Korie, he’s crazy. Our chemistry is top notch. He knows me like the back of his hand, and I know him like the back of my hand. I feel it will help us a lot on the field.”
One of the priorities this spring is finding the next set of back-ups at corner. Black and Muhammad were a huge luxury and comfort for the Cowboys on defense. Their time to take over is here, but there is a need for finding the next two up.
“It is crazy and I didn’t really understand it being their back-up but as of right now I understand it,” Muhammad said. “In the whole game, you get tired out there. You need somebody, coach (Tim Duffie) needs somebody behind you that he can trust. I’m trying to help those guys, prepare them as much as I can to be ready to play. I’m trying to step into that leadership role and help those guys as much as I can. That’s big.”
Young corners like Demarco Jones, De’kelvion Beamon, Jordan Reagan, Raymond Gay II, and Cam Smith, and true freshman Dylahn McKinney are the candidates. The answer isn’t clear yet, but the fact there are enough good candidates is.
Their new defensive coordinator knows a little bit, make that a lot about what they do. Both Black and Muhammad like having Derek Mason as the defensive coordinator.
“Coach Mason is real good. He is a really good teacher,” Muhammad said. “He played DB, so he knows what we did wrong and what we did right. He understands and has been really good.”
“It’s great having him here. He came from Auburn and he played DB, so he has that DB mentaility,” added Black.”I did my research and I saw that he coached DBs, and he brings that energy to the defense and to the secondary. He is energetic and confident and I like that.”
No more practice until Monday. The Cowboys have four more practices left including the Spring Finale next Saturday, but the staff will be busy this weekend. Quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay was spotted with quarterback recruit Zane Flores at Hideaway Pizza for lunch and Flores is here this weekend with his folks from Gretna, Neb. on his official visit.
An unofficial visitor on Friday that gets attention is running back/athlete Parker Jenkins out of Klein Forest High School in the Houston area. he has 29 offers and had over 700-yards in total offense last season with seven touchdowns. Oklahoma State has offered along with the likes of Arkansas, Florida State, Cincinnati, Houston, Kansas, Kansas State, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Northwestern, Tennessee, and SMU.
Also, standout Arlington Lamar offensive tackle Isaiah Robinson and his family will be here on Saturday for an unofficial visit. The 6-7, 295-pound Robinson is a special player.