Davon Mitchell ready for his OU opportunity

If there’s one room that needed a dramatic transformation for OU in 2024, it was tight end. And Joe Jon Finley has done all he can to make that happen.

The Sooners have said farewell to some pieces. They’re excited about getting Kaden Helms back and healthy.

OU hit the portal to add depth to the room. But the lifeblood still needs to be recruiting. You can’t recruit a lot of tight ends per class, but OU hit it out of the park with Los Alamitos (Calif.) High’s Davon Mitchell.

Mitchell, No. 99 in the industry composite, has accelerated his process greatly. He went from a 2025 class guy to 2024 and a mid-year enrollee.

“Oklahoma has a great coaching staff,” Mitchell told SoonerScoop last month. “I loved the relationship the coaches have with their players. I love the atmosphere and feel like I can fit in with the offense.”

Mitchell was one of the first to respond positively on social media about Finley’s new position. Finley is now the co-offensive coordinator to go along with Seth Littrell.

Finley has been recruiting Mitchell for a long, long time. The wait to coach him is finally almost over.

“Very excited, man,” said Finley in San Antonio. “I saw him as a 14 year old and I thought he was a college kid coming back to Allen High School. But man, what I love about him is you know he looks like an NFL guy right now. If he went to the pro combine, you’d be like, ‘man that guy fits in.’ But his work ethic man.

“His dad Marco does a great job with him. He’s a former NFL player himself. And those guys get up at four or five o’clock every single morning, they go to work and that’s all he wants to do. He’s texting me, calling me. ‘Coach when can I get the playbook? Can I talk to Schmidty, try to get in the weight room?’ I’m like ‘man, just relax and enjoy these two weeks and then when you get here, we’ll have plenty for you.’”

OU has 20 of its 2024 class coming in this weekend. There will be names to watch across the board, but Mitchell will be in that conversation for someone to watch the most.

The position is there for the taking. All Finley and Brent Venables want is for that competitive depth to spread around, adding another with Jake Roberts in the portal. And all Mitchell is looking for is a chance.

“Honestly, I just want to go in there and learn as much as I can learn,” Mitchell said. “Hopefully get an opportunity to play. Learn as much as I can and the guys who are there.

“Go in there and compete for the spot.”

The post Davon Mitchell ready for his OU opportunity appeared first on On3.