NORMAN - Oklahoma’s defense has spent spring and fall trying to speed up Cole Sullivan’s learning curve, and by all accounts the transfer linebacker has handled the load.
Kip Lewis said Tuesday that Sullivan has taken to Brent Venables’ system quickly, even with the usual challenge of mastering a playbook that has already tested plenty of newcomers in Norman.
"He's picking up everything," Kip Lewis said on Tuesday. "You could throw a kitchen sink at him, I guess he would catch it. He's been picking it up pretty easily."
Sullivan arrived at OU in winter after transferring from Michigan, where his production already made his talent obvious. The question was never whether he could play. It was whether he could absorb such a demanding defense in one offseason and pair that knowledge with his physical tools.
Lewis said Sullivan has already shown he doesn’t repeat mistakes often.
"There's not too much that he messes up on twice. He only makes one mistake. That's all he needs, and he's been responding very, very well," Lewis said.
Venables echoed that assessment on Friday, calling Sullivan a linebacker who has had a “good camp,” while also making clear he wants more from him.
“I just want to see more of it. I want to see more consistency,” Venables said.
That standard fits the way Oklahoma has approached preseason work, with the defense usually having the edge while players are pushed to meet Venables’ expectations. In Sullivan’s case, the early signs point to a player living up to what Venables and Jim Nagy hoped for when they brought him in through the portal.
"I think that's just a big factor for him being able to just pick it up pretty easily, and he's been taking it and running away with it," Lewis said.
Lewis is also set to line up alongside Sullivan and his "buddy" Owen Heinecke, giving Oklahoma what could be one of the SEC’s most talented and feared linebacker groups.
"We just love feeding off each other, playing with each other. It's just fun to have each other out there," Lewis said.
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