Oklahoma football: DeMarco Murray praises pair of transfer running backs

Second-year Oklahoma football running backs coach DeMarco Murray has a couple of talented transfer players at his disposal. Murray, who himself played running back for the Sooners from 2007-10, spoke to Soonersports.com on Wednesday about his two newest weapons.

The Oklahoma football team brings in a pair of transfer running backs in Eric Gray (Tennessee) and Tre Bradford (LSU). Murray in particular was complimentary of Gray, who finished with 772 yards rushing and four touchdowns this past season.

“Just a pro,” Murray said. “He’s very, very diligent about his work and comes out here every day trying to get better at something. He’s kind of a perfectionist and we’re happy and lucky to have him. He’s doing a good job for us. He handles himself well on and off the field.”

The coach went on to praise Gray’s work ethic, adding that he has learned the playbook a lot quicker than anticipated.

“He’s a guy that picked up the offense extremely fast,” Murray said. “You can tell he’s an intelligent guy who understands football. Having a guy like that to where you don’t have to spend extra time explaining certain details is valuable. He gets it. So it’s been refreshing.”

Tre Bradford transfers to Oklahoma after just one season with the Tigers. A four-star prospect out of high school, he is know for his speed. Murray said that has already been on display at OU’s practices.

“He’s fast,” the coach said. “We’ve got to just continue to catch him up. He’s only been here for about two months now so he has to continue to work hard and learn the system and the way we do things here. But at first look he’s doing well for us and we’re happy to have him.”

The two running backs are not without competition. Kennedy Brooks is back after opting out of the 2020 season. He was the Sooners top running back in 2019 with 1,011 yards rushing and six touchdowns.

Oklahoma is slated to have one of the top offenses in college football in 2021, and its running game will be a large part of that. The Sooners typically play multiple backs as opposed to having one in a bell cow role, and it looks like they’ll have that option again.

Expect Brooks to be the main back, but Sooners fans should familiarize themselves with Gray and Bradford as well.