With the 2026 edition of SEC media days wrapping up in Tampa, Florida, on Thursday, the regular season is just over a month away. The Oklahoma Sooners will kick off fall camp in a couple of weeks, all in preparation for the season-opener against UTEP on September 4th.
Head coach Brent Venables, quarterback John Mateer, defensive lineman Taylor Wein, and offensive lineman Eddy Pierre-Louis were the quartet that represented OU during their availability on Monday. While the selections of Mateer and Wein were fairly expected, it was the choice of Pierre-Louis that raised more than a few eyebrows in Sooner Nation. Venables was asked about Pierre-Louis’ inclusion in the group, and he glowed about the third-year guard.
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“Eddy, he’s an alpha,” Venables said. “Eddy is a guy that’s had to work incredibly hard. I think he was the top-rated guard by many recruiting outlets coming out of high school. Eddy had some things he needed to work on fundamentally, from his body standpoint, flexibility, things of that nature. Eddy has been somebody that has shown up in the facility from the day he got to Norman, Oklahoma with tremendous gratitude.”
Venables had previously pointed out that it was difficult to choose the three players who would represent the Sooners in Tampa, lauding the leadership in his locker room.
“One of the many reasons that gets us excited about this year’s team is finding the three guys and telling several other guys that were more deserving they weren’t going to make the cut,” Venables said. “The depth of the leadership we have in our locker room right now is as good as we’ve had, better than we’ve probably had here in the five years at Oklahoma. Really excited about that.”
In the end, it was Pierre-Louis, who hails from Tampa, getting the nod. It’s an impressive feat for a player the Sooners are obviously expecting big things out of.
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“He affects everybody in our building every single day,” Venables said. “He’s thoughtful. Shows up with the right mentality, with something to prove. He brings out the best in his teammates. He’s willing to have honest conversations with his teammates. He’s a motivator. He loves to play, loves to compete, loves to kick butt. He loves to knock the hell out of the guys lined up across. That resonates.”
Pierre-Louis brings a lot of energy to an offensive line that needs it, and he rose to the starting left guard position midway through last season. Now, he’s one of the leaders up front, even as a redshirt sophomore.
“His juice, his energy, his passion, his love for his teammates, his love for his opportunity really kind of has him stand out there all by himself,” Venables said. “He’s been fantastic. We talk every day in our facility about elevation. Oklahoma is a place of elevation. But everybody has that responsibility to elevate the brand of Oklahoma football, elevate their opportunity, their teammates. If they’re doing it right, becoming a great player, a great leader, is about elevating others. Eddy has done that as good as anybody in our facility.”
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Brent Venables praises ‘alpha’ Eddy Pierre-Louis at SEC Media Days
