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Insider: Bettin’ the Farm
Willie Saylor, Editor
With new coaching staffs and a resurgence on the recruiting fronts, both Oklahoma and Michigan look to have bright futures. But their full potential might be delayed a year.
Sooners’ Head Coach, Mark Cody, all but confirmed that, along with 3x NCAA Qualifier, Jarrod Patterson (125), new acquistions Andrew Howe (165/174) and Travis Rutt (184) will redshirt this season.
Both Howe and Rutt transferred to Norman from Wisconsin. And both are coming off Olympic Redshirt seasons.
It is expected though, that the Sooners will start a few that still have redshirts available to them. Kyle Garcia (125), Greg Wilson (184), and a combo of Ross Larson/Brad Johnson (197) might be pressed into action as true freshmen.
While more tight-lipped, Michigan is taking the redshirt measure to a more extreme. Head Coach Joe McFarland shook up his coaching staff last year, adding Donny Pritzlaff and Sean Bormet. The result has been an influx of talent to Ann Arbor. And the staff just might sit every one of them.
Rumors are that the Wolverines are tinkering with the idea of redshirting Rossi Bruno (133), Taylor Massa (165), and Jordan Thomas (184), as well as Lehigh transfer, Stephen Dutton (141).
The concept seems to be washing this year away, from a team standpoint, in effort to have all systems go for 2013. With Oliver Pierce (OU, 157/165) and Ben Whitford (UM, 149/157) in tow for next year, both squads are continuing to stockpile talent.
Another possibility is that the pending measure to move to a national duals title encouraged both teams to put out their most balanced line-up, which the redshirt moves could enable.