NORMAN, Okla. — It seems impossible. Surely not. Kyler Murray wouldn’t possibly return to Oklahoma, would he? Well, for Sooner fans holding out any hope, NFL.com senior analyst and former Vice President of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys Gil Brandt, has hit on the first of his two seemingly very bold predictions. Just five days ago, he tweeted the following: “Two things I wouldn’t be shocked if they happened in 2019: 1. Kliff Kingsbury was an NFL HC 2. Kyler Murray returned to OU.” News broke Tuesday afternoon that the Arizona Cardinals are finalizing a deal to make Kingsbury their head coach, just six weeks removed from his firing at Texas Tech. Of course, he had the short stint as USC’s offensive coordinator in between. Now Sooner Nation hopes the really well connected Brandt is a prophet and will hit on his second prediction, too. He dropped lyrics from Yes’ song “Leave It,” perhaps in anticipation of it, or perhaps just because. “One down one to go Another town and one more show,” he tweeted, referencing the 1983 hit. (Follow all things Sooners -- take five seconds to sign up for our FREE Sooners newsletter now!) In total this season on the way to winning OU’s second straight Heisman Trophy, Murray accounted for a school-record 5,362 yards of total offense, plus 54 touchdowns. That school record is better than Baker Mayfield’s last year with one fewer game. Until he did so this year, no player in FBS history had ever averaged at least 300 passing yards and 60 rushing yards per game for an entire season. Murray finished with 311.5 and 71.5, respectively. Unless the really unexpected happens, Murray finished off his OU career with yet another 300-yard passing, 100-yard rushing game. He threw for 308 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 19-of-37 passing and rushed for another 109 yards and a score on 17 carries in the Sooners’ 45-34 loss to Alabama in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the Capital One Orange Bowl.<doc-sep>What’s up, everyone? The pipe dream of Kyler Murray returning to play for the Oklahoma Sooners this fall has been stamped out, but the magical run he leaves as his legacy will live on. During his incredible season, he added a lot of hardware to the trophy case, and recently he was awarded with one more — the Campbell Award. For the 2nd straight year, a Sooner has won the @CampbellAward for the best offensive player with a Texas connection. Congratulations @TheKylerMurray! #KylerKnows #OUDNA https://t.co/r0SyA5C6yk pic.twitter.com/SYdpUuw6J0 — Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) January 10, 2019 The Campbell is awarded to players with a tie to the state of Texas, and since Murray is from there (and is a Texas high school legend), there really wasn’t a more deserving choice this season. K1 is the second Sooner overall to win the award, and the second consecutive Oklahoma player to do so. Baker Mayfield, an Austin native, was the first after his Heisman Trophy winning year. Proud to announce this year’s winner of the Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award: @OU_Football QB Kyler Murray (Allen HS). pic.twitter.com/klDZKsRFNR — Earl Campbell Award (@CampbellAward) January 10, 2019 College football has evolved over the past century in a countless number of ways, but one of the constants that has stood the test of time is the extraordinary talent that is born and bred in the Lone Star State. Fortunately for the Sooners, those elite players only have to cross a red river to don the Crimson & Cream. That’s mighty convenient geography. Now let’s dig into some Hot Links! Kliff Kingsbury and the Cardinals could draft Kyler Murray if they really want to, Jalen Hurts is an intriguing QB prospect for Oklahoma to consider, an injured soccer player is run over by a cart on the field and more! OU Links In case you missed it, the Oakland Athletics expect Kyler Murray to enter the 2019 NFL Draft. The A’s selected Murray in the MLB Draft during the summer, but after the kind of season he had on the football field, this development feels as if it were inevitable. Still, baseball is not off the table. With Jalen Hurts having entered the transfer portal, how would a potential union between the former Alabama starting quarterback and Lincoln Riley work out? As Berry Tramel points out, one thing’s for sure — Hurts’ leadership and character are unquestionable. Kliff Kingsbury once said he’d draft Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick if he had the opportunity to do so. Well... now he’s the head coach for the Arizona Cardinals, and do you know which franchise has the first pick of the upcoming draft? The Cards took a QB in the top 10 last year, and it should also be noted that he said this while he was still at Texas Tech and probably shouldn’t be taken at face value. This, however, doesn’t change the fact that the quote is hilariously ironic. Given all of that, this little soundbite from ESPN’s Adam Schefter is rather interesting. He says the Cardinals could still take Murray with the first overall pick, then shop Rosen around. I don’t know about that, but it’s an entertaining thought. #Cardinals might be open to Draft Kyler Murray 1st overall and trade away 2018, 10th overall pick QB Josh Rosen, per @AdamSchefter pic.twitter.com/N0JO8XUvYv — Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) January 10, 2019 Wait, did people really think the Cardinals were going to trade Josh Rosen? Because of some flippant comment Kliff Kingsbury made in October like three jobs ago? — Dan Kadar (@MockingTheDraft) January 10, 2019 Murray going to Arizona likely won’t happen due to team needs, but there are plenty of NFL teams who do need a dynamic playmaker at QB. This particular class of signal callers is relatively weak, which can only help boost the dual-sport athlete’s stock. If Murray is indeed selected within the first 32 picks, he will become the first athlete ever to be taken in the first round of both the NFL and MLB Drafts. Kyler Murray is reportedly going to enter the NFL draft after being drafted 9th overall in the MLB draft last year. No player has ever been a 1st-round pick in both the NFL and MLB drafts. H/T @EliasSports pic.twitter.com/uwqeKBaCiu — ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 10, 2019 Maybe Stephen A. Smith just spreads himself too thin, but man, it just does not seem like he has ever watched a minute of anything college football or college baseball related. Kyler Murray at shortstop? OK. Stephen A. Smith just called Kyler Murray “a miniature dude.” Then again, he also said Murray plays shortstop, so ...#Sooners — John E. Hoover (@johnehoover) January 10, 2019 Oklahoma defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s track record isn’t about completely turning a defense around overnight. Instead, if it’s going to happen, expect it to unfold gradually and incrementally. Now that it is being reported that Kyler Murray is entering the NFL Draft, it’s a great time to look back on the Heisman Trophy winner’s career through the images that captured his most memorable moments. Speaking of Heisman winners, Baker Mayfield will be joining a number of high profile athletes and celebs for a softball game to raise money and awareness following the wildfires that swept across California this past fall. will be joining a number of high profile athletes and celebs for a softball game to raise money and awareness following the wildfires that swept across California this past fall. Arkansas State officially welcomes former Sooner WR Malcolm Kelly onto its coaching staff as the outside wide receivers coach. Kelly had recently accepted a similar offer at Stephen F. Austin, but this is a nice move up. Boomer! Please welcome new Outside Wide Receivers Coach Malcom Kelly (@CoachMXKelly) to the Red Wolves Football Family! #WolvesUp pic.twitter.com/GDUOTUOMot — Arkansas State Football (@AStateFB) January 9, 2019 In case you missed it, starting left tackle Bobby Evans has finally made a decision and declared for the NFL Draft.<doc-sep>Michael Reaves/Getty Images Oklahoma Sooner football coaches do not expect quarterback Kyler Murray to return to school for the 2019 season, according to Ryan Aber of The Oklahoman: Jason Kersey of The Athletic confirmed the report: Murray accounted for 54 touchdowns (42 passing, 12 rushing) in a Heisman Trophy-winning season that saw him lead OU to the College Football Playoff, where the Sooners lost to Alabama in the semifinals. He also rushed for 1,001 yards on a Sooners team that averaged a Division I FBS-leading 48.4 points per game. A baseball star as well, Murray was drafted by the Oakland Athletics ninth overall in the 2018 MLB draft. Last season, he slashed .296/.398/.556 and had 10 home runs and 47 RBI for OU. The outfielder also stole 10 bases. As Aber and Kersey noted, Murray's likely decision to leave OU isn't surprising. In an interview with Tim Tebow of ESPN that aired December 1, Murray said "no" in response to a question asking whether he'd consider returning to Norman. Murray then clarified that his next stop would be professional baseball or football. An exclusive report from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle on Wednesday also showed signs that Murray wouldn't head back, as "multiple sources" told her that the Oakland Athletics expect the 21-year-old "to declare for the NFL draft on Sunday." Much will be said (and has already been said) about Murray's 5'10", 195-pound size potentially prohibiting him from NFL success should he officially give pro football a shot. Video Play Button Videos you might like However, he has blazing speed and just finished one of the more impressive seasons by a collegiate quarterback in recent memory. One anonymous NFL general manager told Adam Schefter of ESPN that he thinks Murray will be a late first-round pick: The fact that Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert is returning to school helps Murray's draft stock as well. Herbert was being talked about as a No. 1 pick in numerous circles, and without him in the mix, the quarterback class got a little thinner, leaving Murray some extra room to improve his standing. We'll see if Murray follows through on a professional football career, but for now, a return to school seems out of the question.<doc-sep>Another noted sports figure who could appreciate how things can change quickly might be Kliff Kingsbury, who went from being fired as head coach at Texas Tech in November to agreeing to become the offensive coordinator at USC, only to get hired Tuesday as the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. As that team is in possession of the No. 1 selection in April’s draft, it wasn’t long before the Internet dug up video from October in which Kingsbury said of Murray, “I’d take him with the first pick of the draft if I could.”<doc-sep>
DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 06: Kyler Murray #1 of the Oklahoma Sooners runs for a touchdown against the Texas Longhorns in the fourth quarter of the 2018 AT&T Red River Showdown at Cotton Bowl on October 6, 2018 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) Gil Brandt gave Sooners fans hope they didn’t think possible before last week when he boldly predicted that Kyler Murray could return to Oklahoma to play his senior year. Yesterday, after his first bold prediction that former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury would end up with an NFL head coaching job came true, he doubled down on his original take (and dropped some ‘Yes’ lyrics along the way). One down one to go Another town and one more show https://t.co/hG8WX9g88w — Gil Brandt (@Gil_Brandt) January 8, 2019 The former Dallas Cowboys’ vice president of player personnel and close friend of both Bob Stoops and Lincoln Riley clarified his take yesterday in an interview with the Daily Oklahoman, saying he was not just out to stir the pot. “I hate to throw wild guesses out there because I think that’s the worst thing we do today,” Brandt told The Oklahoman. “And so when I put something up on my Twitter account, I really think it has an above average chance of happening.” There is a path for Kyler Murray to both play professional baseball and return to the Sooners for one more shot at a national title. Russell Wilson was drafted in 2010 by the Colorado Rockies, but still had two years left of college eligibility. Wilson would spend the summer fulfilling his commitment to the Rockies by playing short-season rookie league ball for the Class A Tri-City Devils. Should Kyler Murray decide to fulfill his commitment to the A’s over the next few months, then return to Norman he could have a better feel for what life would be like on the road playing professional baseball, which is valuable information for a guy who will at some point face a tough decision between the two sports. There are plenty of reasons to think that Kyler Murray won’t do this. Four million of them come from the contract he signed with the A’s in the offseason. However, with every day we inch closer to the Jan. 14 deadline to declare for the NFL draft and the Kyler Murray camp has been conspicuously quiet about his future plans. It leads us to believe the 21-year-old Heisman Trophy winner is at least thinking about a potential return.