Taylor Wein reveals the mindset driving Oklahoma's defensive growth
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The Oklahoma Sooners were one of the best defensive teams in college football last season. The Sooners ranked top-10 in several categories, like total defense, tackles for loss, rushing yards allowed, and sacks.
Despite being an elite unit, there is still growth to be made. It helps the defense return several key contributors from last year's defense, like linebackers Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke, secondary players Peyton and Eli Bowen and Courtland Guillory, and defensive linemen Taylor Wein, David Stone and Jayden Jackson.
Wein spoke to media members as fall camp has come to a close. He said he thinks the defense is further along than it was this time last year.
"We've made a lot of improvements," Wein said via SoonerScoop's YouTube channel. "Defensively, I think we've come together and made a lot of improvements. We've understood our weaknesses. Each year, each week, each day you find weaknesses. You've got to figure out how to fix that, and you've got to watch tape with critical eyes and get better. This unit has done a good job of doing that."
The Sooners don't have to completely rebuild their defense heading into 2026. Instead, the focus is on identifying the areas that prevented the unit from being even better last season.
That approach could be particularly valuable for a defense with so many returning contributors. Lewis and Heinecke provide experience at linebacker, while Wein, Stone and Jackson give Oklahoma plenty of returning talent along the defensive line.
The biggest challenge will be maintaining that standard against another difficult schedule. If Wein is right that the defense is already further along than it was a year ago. Oklahoma could have one of the nation's best units once again, and potentially the defense that carries the Sooners back to the College Football Playoff.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Taylor Wein reveals the mindset driving Oklahoma's defensive growth
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