Teddy Bolin

Lane Johnson says Bob Stoops told him he would become a 1st round nfl draft pick after just one week of playing offensive tackle, and explains how a single coach’s belief changed the trajectory of a backup who didn’t think he belonged at Oklahoma “The pivot for me happened when I got to OU. I had that small-town mentality, and it was like, ‘Okay, I’m here.’ But I didn’t feel like I belonged until, like, the craziest story.” “So I never played tackle. I played there for like a week. Bob Stoops comes up to me. He’s like, ‘You’re going to be a first-round draft pick.’” “And so I was like, ‘I’m a third-, second-team D-end.’ He was like, ‘You’re going to be a first-round draft pick,’ after just a couple practices. I was like, ‘Okay, that’s all I need.’ That was my turning point as a guy who didn’t play much, was a backup.” “That gave me the confidence to be like, ‘Hey, this man sees something in me that I don’t see in myself at the time.’ All those guys gave me my confidence that I needed at that time, which I didn’t have at the time.”