Skip Johnson reveals origin of Kyler Murray pep talk

Sometimes, nothing motivates a team then a former legend coming back to give the current players a pep talk. However, that’s multiplied times ten when that legend is Kyler Murray.

Following Oklahoma‘s victory over Texas A&M to open the College World Series, Sooners skipper Skip Johnson explained how Murray’s motivational talk came to fruition.

“For me, probably it’s a little different than them. I probably, when you have an ex-player like him come back, you know you’ve done something to carve your name on his heart, that he shows that he cares about us, because we cared about him. We showed him how much we cared about him. He’s going to show how much he cares about us,” explained Johnson. “And that’s really — I get emotional about it because that’s what it’s really about.

“It’s about relationships. Like those guys and all the other players that’s played with me and all the other coaches I’ve coached with.”

When Murray played for Oklahoma during the 2017 season, Johnson was an assistant on the team before being promoted the following year. There, Murray had 10 home runs and had an OPS of above .950 as the Sooners, while keeping a 99.1 fielding percentage.

Of course, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback was famously drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the first round of the MLB Draft before choosing to continue his football career. Nevertheless, Kyler Murray’s prowess on the football field hasn’t stopped his love for Oklahoma baseball.

Kyler Murray shares pregame message to Oklahoma baseball

Whenever the score against Virginia Tech got out of hand in the Super Regional, Murray made sure to get his affairs in order and make it to Omaha. He knew Oklahoma getting to the CWS was a special moment and did not want to miss seeing them play live.

“I told the coaches if we win in Virginia Tech, I got to come,” Murray said. “As soon as I saw the score kind of got out of hand, we booked the flights and got it done.”

Murray also gave a speech to the team on Thursday night to get them fired up for their matchup against Texas A&M. While he did not give away anything too specific, he made sure the Sooners knew to just go out there and be themselves.

“I can’t give you the full scoop,” said Murray. “It was pretty aggressive but I just let them know — seize the moment. Huge opportunity. There’s tons of kids here watching wishing they were in their shoes. Understand the opportunity and just let it all hang. Don’t feel the pressure, don’t play nervous. Just go out there and do your thing.”