Sooners QB Baker Mayfield,I Will Never Play With SoonersThat I Have A Serious Crisis With Brent Venables I Call Him Orphan….

It was the lone coaching position we did not receive consistent news about; however, information came on Monday about a former Big 12 assistant leaving his program to join Kalen DeBoer’s staff for the Crimson Tide. Parker Thune, who covers the Oklahoma Sooners for Rivals, reported that Jay Nunez is leaving Oklahoma to be Alabama’s special teams coordinator.

Before arriving in the Big 12, he served as a special teams coach, assistant head coach, defensive tackles coach, co-recruiting coordinator, and tight ends coach at Eastern Michigan University from 2017 to 2021. Nunez operated special teams at Southern Illinois University in 2016 and was a quality control assistant for special teams at the University of Minnesota from 2011 to 20

ELENA — Wrestling has always meant a lot to Anders Thompson. He just didn’t understand how much until his second state championship loss.

The Kalispell Flathead standout and Oklahoma Sooners signee, as well as the son of Braves head coach Jeff Thompson, is a three-time placer at the Class AA state wrestling tournament. He’s also reached finals night twice at the Metra at the All-Class State Tournament and been part of two team championships.

In 2022 and 2023, Thompson fell short of an individual state title. He lost both times to Paolo Salminen of Billings Skyview, and the second loss proved to be a defining moment.

“The changing point in my wrestling (career), was after my loss in the state finals,” he said. “After that loss, I realized that I didn’t want to do anything else besides wrestle Division I in college. I wanted to beat these guys I kept losing to. I had gone to national tournaments and underperformed, but after that (state finals) loss, I was like I can be a top-20 (nationally) guy. I know I can be.

Since the loss, Thompson has been a different wrestler and the proof is in the pudding.

After ranking outside the top 20 nationally less than a year ago, the Flathead senior is currently ranked 10th in the country in the 190-pound weight class according to Flo Wrestling. He’s also 22-0 this season in Montana as he aims for that elusive state championship on Saturday night.

“I get to wrestle one-more time in the Flathead singlet for the school that has done everything for me,” he said. “Alongside my best friends and the coaches who have made me the person and the wrestler I am today. I’m really looking forward to going and doing it.”

As a top-10 nationally-ranked wrestler, Thompson’s goals go well-beyond winning a state championship this weekend. His journey started at the Super 32 in Charlotte after he advanced to the round of 16 before falling to the seventh-ranked wrestler in the country at 190 pounds. He eventually finished fifth.

“I ended up going there (Super 32) and upsetting three ranked guys,” Thompson said. “That shot me up to seventh in the country after that. Then, I got contacted by Carter Schmidt from Belgrade. He went to Oklahoma and he asked if I would be interested in talking to the (Oklahoma) coaches.

“I told him I would. Then I talked to (Oklahoma head coach) Roger Kish. I took a visit and I just knew that’s where I needed to be. I want to be at the top of Division I wrestling and Oklahoma is where I need to be in order to do that.”

What got Thompson into the top-10 nationally, though, is an intense dedication that can be traced back to the state championship defeat and while Anders calls it motivation, Jeff Thompson pointed out another, more profound difference in his son.

“It’s really become his thing,” Jeff said. “His junior year, Anders liked wrestling. Now he loves wrestling. He wakes up every morning focusing on what he needs to do to get better and that’s the really cool thing about wrestling. Sometimes it might not come together right away.”