General Manager Jim Nagy must be only a few months old in the Oklahoma camp. But so what? He is often the first one to give the Sooners players their due credit. A few days back, Nagy was all about hyping John Mateer up. The quarterback’s off-field actions touched Nagy as he distributed Beats by Dre headsets after securing a place in the brand’s newly released “Elite Class.” This time around, another player made Nagy his biggest admirer. That’s none other than cornerback Kendel Dolby. But why?

On August 23, the Oklahoma GM tweeted, “Justified recognition. Kendel Dolby is wired different. Complete dawg.” Up until last year, Dolby had been fortunate enough to avoid a major injury in his career. But poor Dolby! The Sooner defensive back suffered an awful ankle injury last year against Tennessee. That was Dolby’s end to his 2024 season journey after climbing the depth chart. However, he was back in pads this spring. And five months down the line, he is already in the spotlight. Thanks to ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit. As Nagy wrote, “Appreciate @KirkHerbstreit for recognizing our guy with Pre-Season Herbie Award.”

Dolby had given a glimpse of his journey on how things have been difficult in this healing process. “It was tough. It was tougher mentally than physically, having an injury like that and really going to a dark place. But now I’m on the other side of it. I’ve changed my mindset, I’m looking to grow from it, get healthy, and be the best I can be once I get back from the injury.” And his grit definitely paid off. Herbstreit named Oklahoma defensive back his pick for the “Throwback Player” category.

As the ESPN College GameDay host, Herbstreit shared, “I’m just a huge fan of this position. Guys that are asked to play that nickel or that STAR, they call it a cheetah, because you have to do everything. You’ve got to blitz, you got to be in run support, you got to play man, you got to do it all.” Brent Venables landed Dolby, who transferred to Oklahoma ahead of the 2023 season after spending two seasons at the JUCO level. 

Before getting sidelined due to injury, Dolby went unstoppable during that limited time. Last season, he had shown a knack for being around the ball and making plays. As to the reports, Oklahoma will be playing some outside cornerbacks this season. And no wonder, Dolby has to be on the list getting reps for it, a position where the Sooners are a bit weaker. Venables and co. must already be in cheerful spirits, as Dolby is not the only Sooner to have made it to Herbstreit’s special honor list. 

Kendel Dolby shares the preseason spotlight with John Mateer

The Sooners are stepping into a hotbed of expectations. After all, they need to end the 25-year National Championship drought. A few Oklahoma loyalists never stop believing in them. One of them is Phil Steele. According to Steele, nine programs will run the final race, and he sees Venables’ program as one of the runners. To chase the trophy, Venables won’t mind experimenting a little bit with Dolby. But his main focus will be Oklahoma quarterback John Mateer, who finds himself in Herbstreit’s 2025 Preseason Herbie Awards as well.

Even though Cade Klubnik was picked as the best quarterback, and Bill Belichick was in the most excited to see category, the Sooners have one up on them. After Dolby, Herbstreit named Mateer as the Best Impact QB Transfer. “I love the hire of bringing in the young offensive coordinator. This guy, just a few years ago, Ben Arbuckle, was an offensive coordinator in high school. And now, he’s an offensive coordinator at Oklahoma. I think the quarterback, we know what he can do. He’s big, he’s strong, he can spin it,” said Herbstreit.

Even before John Mateer received the Herbie Awards, he had already made former second-team All-American and former Florida player Chris Doering his biggest fan. As he said on the SEC ESPN Network podcast, “I’m high on him for several different reasons. This guy’s got amazing athletic ability. He’s comfortable in the offense. He has already been running at Washington State with Ben Arbuckle, as the two come over to Norman together. But I look at his arm strength and the ability to move outside of the pocket and make plays when things break down.” Mateer and Kendel Dolby have captured the preseason headlines, but can they prove their worth under the bright lights?