Ted Roof shares thoughts on ideal playing weight for different positions, players

When Ted Roof is considering if a player is too big or small to play on the Oklahoma defense, there’s no set scale for making a determination. There are surely certain thresholds he wants player to meet, but it’s not a one-size-fits-all proposition.

If a linebacker is a little bigger, but moves fine, Roof will have him on his defense. Or if he’s a little smaller, but still packs a punch, that works, too.

“Depends on how fast they are,” Roof said. “If they can be 240 and be fast, I’m all for that. If they can be 220 and be fast, I’m all for that. So each body type’s a little bit different. And each player, their target weight, where their ultimate is, is a little bit different.”

Roof also shared more on what he’s looking for in players for the Oklahoma defense.

When considering the size and speed of a player, he’s looking as much at body composition as he is raw data like height and weight. A player might look smaller, but weigh as much as a player that is carrying more fat than muscle. And as Roof noted, it’s a case-by-case evaluation, as each player’s body is different in any number of ways.

“Again, so much of it is maybe not just about weight, but about composition. About the body composition, and that’s big. And our strength coaches and nutrition department do such a great job with that,” Roof said. 

Roof praised the consistency from the Oklahoma defense during spring practice

Roof and the Oklahoma defense have a pretty simple job for 2023: Be better. More specifically, the Sooners need a more consistent showing from the defense as Brent Venables pushes the program to compete in the Big 12 again in Year 2.

And Roof, the defensive coordinator, has seen plenty more of that from the defensive group. There’s of course more room to improve, but for the end of April, things are in a good spot, he said.

“It’s, again, improvement in all areas. And we needed too, obviously. To our guys credit, they’ve done that,” Roof said. “And again, I’m real proud of them.”

The Sooners finished No. 122 nationally in total defense in 2022, giving up 461 yards per game and 49 touchdowns — as many as they scored — en route to a 6-7 mark.

With another year under Venables, a former defensive coordinator, and Roof, the hope is that the Sooners present a much stiffer challenge to offenses in 2023.