How C.J. Coldon helped shape the 2023 OU cornerback room
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is preaching about making plays during preseason camp. The Sooners had one of those guys last year in cornerback C.J. Coldon.
Nobody knew what to expect from Coldon, a Wyoming transfer who couldn’t even arrive in Norman until last summer. Then a minor injury setback had everybody believing he wouldn’t contribute much of anything in 2022.
But he kept fighting, kept pushing and became an example for head coach Brent Venables.
It’s that attitude and mentality cornerbacks coach Jay Valai can now instill into the rest of his room for the 2023 season.
“Testimony to the guys, having a guy like that,” Valai said. “C.J. was just so detailed and convicted in who he was. You knew he was going to make a play.
“Old dog new tricks is a lie. Changed his whole thought process. How much time he spent in elite recovery and watching extra film and texting me. He learned how to play fast and aggressive. It motivated the rest of those guys.”
Coldon only started four games down the stretch, but he finished with 43 tackles, and more importantly, four interceptions.
He became a difference maker on a defense that needed some. In watching him do it, Valai said, he saw the attitude change for the other guys.
Cornerback Woodi Washington echoed that sentiment.
“I saw him making plays, so it kind of made me want to make more plays as well,” Washington told SoonerScoop. “He came in and played five, six games and had five interceptions. Seeing him do that, it just made me want to make more plays as well.
“C.J. did a great job of being competitive and just keeping that mentality of doing exactly what the coach is telling him to do.”
Washington is hoping to bring that mentality and production into the 2023 cornerback group. Whoever gets names the opposite starting corner has never started a college game.
It’s a chance for Washington to leave his mark as a mentor, the same way Coldon was able to do so last season.
Washington had 67 tackles and an interception last season, battling a shoulder injury. He wants to do more than that and help the young guys along the way.
“It’s been great,” Washington said. “Like I said, it helps me out a lot, knowing exactly what I need to do and teaching my mentality and how I prepare and how I come out to practice.”
Who is going to be this year’s version of Coldon?
