When I could count on my Sooners offensive linemen friends
I recently passed the Catlett Music Center on the OU campus in Norman, and it stirred memories of a music appreciation class I took there nearly 50 years ago.
I wasn’t remembering the music. It was a classmate. Lyndle Byford.
We were both from small Oklahoma communities. We were the same age. Lyndle was a wide guy who played on the OU football team’s offensive line.
We sat close together in a cluster of desks assembled in a big room made for concerts or whatever. The building was way across campus for me. I often arrived late — or not at all.
But officially, I had nearly perfect attendance. The reason? Lyndle.
Lyndle would answer “here” when my name was called. When I missed class and caught up with him at the next one, he’d tell me, “You were present.”
Lyndle was wide enough to hide me from the instructor, like I was some wishbone quarterback he was blocking for.
I bring this up because Lyndle was reliable.
Come to think of it, I was drawn to OU offensive linemen as friends. Maybe reliability had something to do with it.
Terry Webb, another offensive lineman from that mid-1970s era, later was my neighbor in Muskogee. Our sons were friends, and I could depend on Terry to watch my son when the boys were together at his house.
Then there was the late Sam “Sammy Jack” Claphan, the big offensive lineman from Stilwell who played for OU in the late 1970s and went on to the San Diego Chargers.
Years later, as a sportswriter, I called the Chargers and requested an interview with Sammy Jack. When a team official delivered the message, he dismissed me as some “Okie from Muskogee.”
Sammy Jack called me back. He let the team official know he didn’t appreciate how someone from back home, from his hometown newspaper, had been treated.
Lyndle answered roll for me. Terry watched after my son. Sammy Jack returned my call and watched my back like the pro he was.
Reliable.
Nearly 50 years later, I’m not sure reliable is a word I’d use to describe OU’s offensive line.
That’s not necessarily a knock on the young men playing there now. Some have arrived with impressive credentials.
But they get hurt. They transfer. Some underperform. Others get moved around because somebody else gets hurt. Whatever the reason, it’s felt like musical chairs when it comes to putting five healthy, productive offensive linemen on the field at the same time.
And I don’t mean musical chairs in the sense that Lyndle was watching my back.
The numbers show this isn’t just my imagination.
The problems were there in 2023, although the offense was good enough to overcome them. OU finished fourth nationally in scoring and sixth in passing offense despite an inconsistent line.
Then came 2024.
OU entered its first SEC season replacing all five starters on the offensive line. Of 65 starts by offensive linemen the previous season, only eight returned.
Then the injuries started.
OU used eight different starting offensive-line combinations in its first nine games. Ten different linemen started.
Think about that. Five guys are supposed to operate almost as one, with a hive-like connection — recognizing blitzes together, passing defenders from one blocker to another and knowing what the guy beside them is going to do.
OU could barely keep the same five guys on the field, much less recognize the complex defenses thrown at them.
Things improved in 2025, but injuries continued. Still, the Sooners finally pieced together more stability up front, and they reached the College Football Playoff.
Now we’re into 2026, and the shuffling has started again. I don’t know whether today’s problem is recruiting, development, the transfer portal, injuries, bad luck, a more physical game or some combination of all of them. Offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh can’t be blamed when somebody’s knee gives out.
But after several seasons of instability, it’s reasonable to ask why OU has had such difficulty finding continuity up front.
Obviously, OU needs to nurture a kinship among its offensive linemen, back to where they depend on each other. Now would be a good time to do that, as the Sooners go to Athens this weekend to face No. 2 Georgia’s vaunted defense.
Nearly 50 years ago, in Catlett Music Center, if somebody called Cummings and I wasn’t where I was supposed to be, I could count on an OU offensive lineman to answer: “Here.”
Then, the next time I saw Lyndle, I’d get the report.
“You were present.”
These days, OU would probably settle for five offensive linemen who can say the same thing.
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