Baker Mayfield has another year leading Oklahoma’s offensive attack. After that, it’ll be up to Kyler Murray or incoming recruit Austin Kendall. While no one has etched that plan in stone, that’s how most around the OU football program see it -- including Sooner quarterback Cody Thomas.
The program announced Sunday Thomas has left OU’s football team to focus solely on baseball. His departure leaves Oklahoma short-handed in the meantime, with only Mayfield, Murray and Kendall on scholarship, and only Mayfield and Kendall available to play this fall. (Murray, interestingly enough, is a candidate to moonlight on the Sooners’ baseball team.)
A native of Colleyville, Texas, Thomas was drafted by the New York Yankees in the 30th round of the 2013 MLB Draft but opted instead for football.
“I’m always for my players doing what they feel is best for them,"head coach Bob Stoops said in a statement. “Cody has a dream to play baseball and he feels this is good for him. We support him and hope for the best for him.”
“He has to do the best thing for him, and if anybody knows that, I know that,” Mayfield told the Oklahoman Saturday. “It’s a decision he had to make. He’s a heck of a baseball player or else he wouldn’t have gotten drafted out of high school.
“Cody didn’t get appreciated enough throughout the season for all the work he put in. I’m happy to see him taking a chance on one of his dreams.”
Thomas saw action in seven games as a freshman in 2014 with three starts, including a 10-of-17 performance with 120 yards and one touchdown in Oklahoma’s 38-35 loss to Oklahoma State. But Mayfield’s arrival spelled the end for Thomas, as he appeared in only three games this fall.