With the college football regular season just two weeks away, a group of Oklahoma players decided to try gymnastics. Head coach Brent Venables might want to cover his eyes for this one.
Fortunately, nobody got hurt!
Even if the college football players who took part in the TikTok crossover are not projected to start, their timing is not ideal. I would imagine they will get a stern talking to at the next team meeting.
Alex Noel is a rising sophomore on the gymnastics team.
Penn State and Oklahoma share the record for the most NCAA men’s gymnastics championships, with 12 apiece. Stanford, which won six of the last eight championships, is not far behind with 10.
The Sooners most recently won in 2018. They are hoping to get back to the top in 2017. Rising sophomore Alex Noel will be an important part of their success. He is poised to make his debut in 2027.
Noel, a native of New Hampshire, won the parallel bars title at the USA Men’s Gymnastics Development Program National Championships in 2022. The 5-foot-6 All-Around athlete also qualified for the 2025 Junior U.S. Championships and competed at the U.S. Senior Championships earlier this month.
As one of the top prospects in the nation, Noel’s commitment was a big get for Oklahoma. A day in his life begins around 6:00 a.m. and ends around 10:00 p.m.
The Sooners will begin the upcoming men’s gymnastics season in January. In the meantime, Noel decided to recruit some new teammates.
Oklahoma football players risked an injury right before the season.
A recent trend on social media crosses college football with gymnastics. Michigan gymnast (and United States olympian) humbled Wolverines starting quarterback Bryce Underwood during a jump-off back in May. A group of Ohio State women’s gymnasts ran the Buckeyes football players through some of their stunts in a since-deleted video from June. The timeline here is important.
Although a college football coaching staff would not want to see their players flipping, tumbling or walking the balance beam at any point during the offseason, there is a little bit more leeway during the spring and early summer. The season is more than a month out. The official practice period has yet to begin. Workouts are focused on strength and conditioning.
Oklahoma cut it too close. Alex Noel brought a group of Sooners football players to the gym with two weeks until the first game.
Credit where credit is due, they were a lot more impressive on the floor, pommel horse and parallel bars than I expected.
However, these athletes were just one wrong move away from a debilitating shoulder injury or worse. I can’t imagine Brent Venables likes to see his college football players flipping across the floor in the middle of fall camp— no matter where they stand on the depth chart. Timing is everything. You can’t be doing this right before the season!