Fresh Faces: Oklahoma DE Alex Shieldnight Embracing Sooners' Program-Wide Mentality

Just a couple hours down the road, Shieldnight had a storied career at Wagoner.

As a senior, he logged 26 tackles for loss and five sacks before suffering a season-ending lower-leg injury in October. He ended his time at Wagoner as the program’s all-time leader in sacks.

Shieldnight’s excellence caught the eyes of several other major programs, including Arkansas, Oklahoma State, Tennessee and Texas Tech, all of which offered him. The defensive end was a consensus 3-star prospect.

“Just a football player in every sense,” OU coach Brent Venables said. “There’s nothing that he can’t do. He’s as tough as they come. Came to camp a few years ago and just was so explosive, so twitchy, just a natural pass rusher. But just a fantastic athlete. Physical. Toughness. Leader. Consistent. All the things that you want from your best players.”

Ultimately, Shieldnight chose Oklahoma because of the professionalism from both its players and coaches.

So far, he hasn’t been disappointed.

“That’s what I came here for; I came here to be a successful player, a successful man,” Shieldnight said. “There’s no better place to do it than the University of Oklahoma. Day to day, you have to get up, get it done.”

It’s not just the coaches and returners that have impressed Shieldnight, though.

He said the other 17 freshmen on the roster have shown similar discipline throughout their first few months in Norman.

“You can tell that we have a job to do,” Shieldnight said. “A lot of these guys here, older guys as well … you can tell that the older guys have been through some things. They want to win — they want exactly what the fans want and more. They want to go in and dominate the season. I see that from the freshmen as well.”

One of the aspects Shieldnight looked most forward to at OU was the constructive instruction from defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis.

He’s gotten all of that and more in his first few months — and Shieldnight is glad.

“He’s fiery. You have to love him,” Shieldnight said. “He’s going to shout your praise and whisper your criticism. He’s going to tell you when you mess up, and that’s what you want. You want to be criticized every day if you want to be the best.”

Without even appearing in a game for the Sooners yet, Shieldnight’s hard work — as well as that of his freshman counterparts — has caught the attention of redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Taylor Wein.

“I think, on the whole d-line, we’re stacked,” Wein said in a recent post-practice interview. “I think a lot of younger guys are stepping up and taking a bigger role. Just off the top of my head, Wyatt Gilmore, Shieldnight, Danny Okoye. We’ve got guys that are very talented, especially in the interior as well. Returning guys, guys that are coming back. They’re going to be a big part of the front seven. So we’re just excited to showcase what we have in our room.”