NORMAN — Even before shining brightly in his first turn calling plays for Oklahoma’s offense, Sooners tight ends coach Jason Witten’s season was a rousing success.

The latest evidence of that came Wednesday when Rocky Beers was named one of nine semifinalists for the John Mackey Award, which honors the top tight end in college football.

When the Sooners take on No. 19 Ole Miss at 3:15 p.m. Saturday at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, there’ll be a reminder on the other sideline of how far OU has come at the position compared to recent years.

Bixby product Luke Hasz was committed to the Sooners throughout his junior season.

But in the uncertainty following Lincoln Riley’s departure to USC in late November-early December 2021, Hasz reopened his commitment.

Less than a month later, Hasz committed to Arkansas, where he spent the first two years of his collegiate career before transferring to Ole Miss.

Hasz’s decommitment came even as Brent Venables retained tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley.

The Sooners wound up signing Kade McIntyre in the 2023 class and brought Austin Stogner back after a stint at South Carolina while also added Blake Smith from Texas A&M.

None of that group panned out particularly well.

Stogner had been excellent for the Sooners as a sophomore in 2022 with 26 catches for 422 yards and three touchdowns.

But his production dipped in 2021 before transferring, then had just 17 catches for 196 yards and a touchdown in his return season. Smith had just two catches for 30 yards and a touchdown in his lone season at Oklahoma.

McIntyre remains on the Sooners roster but has yet to appear in a game this season and has just one 26-yard catch during his four seasons at OU.

In the final years of Riley’s tenure, Oklahoma tight ends had a combined 66 catches for 710 yards and nine touchdowns with Brayden Willis, Jeremiah Hall, and Stogner making up the bulk of that production.

After Venables took over, though, that production had dried up before this season.

The group combined for just 20 catches in 2023. 

Outside of touchdowns, last season was the group’s most productive during Venables’ tenure, with 56 catches for 615 yards and a touchdown.

Most of that production, though, came from Jaren Kanak, who converted from linebacker following the 2024 season. Kanak had 44 catches for 533 yards.

Oklahoma hadn’t yet made Witten’s hiring official before Beers and Hayden Hansen committed to the Sooners in January. But there was already some buzz about Venables adding the future Pro Football Hall of Famer to his staff.

Beers certainly appeared to be a solid add to the group after recording 31 catches for 388 yards and seven touchdowns last season at Colorado State.

He didn’t exactly look like a potential star at the position in the SEC, though.

But Beers has been exactly that, with 38 catches for 518 yards and four touchdowns. Only Isaiah Sategna has more catches or yards for the Sooners this season and the two are tied for the lead in touchdown receptions.

Beers leads the SEC and is fifth nationally in receiving yards and catches among tight ends.

Beers is the first Oklahoma player to make the semifinalist list since 2017, when Mark Andrews won the award.

And the Sooners’ production at the position could be the best overall since then, or at least to that 2021 season.

With seven more catches the group would pass the 2024 group for the most receptions among tight ends since Venables took over and with 81 yards they would pass the 2021 group for yardage.

Beers has four catches in each of Oklahoma’s last five games and has multiple catches in each game this season. He’s been held below 45 yards just once in the last six games.

When Hasz signed with Arkansas, it looked like he was the latest in-state product at the position to get away.

Charlie Kolar went from Norman North to Iowa State, where he was among at least the semifinalists for the Mackey Award three times from 2019-21.

Jace Sternberger was a Kingfisher product who originally went to Kansas, then wound up at Texas A&M after a stint at NEO. In College Station, Sternberger became a 2018 semifinalist for the award.

Hasz has 12 catches for 89 yards this season and has 57 catches for 694 yards and eight touchdowns during his career.

Through most of that time, OU could’ve used another solid option at tight end.

Now, though, the Sooners are once again in strong position at the spot, thanks primarily to Beers and Witten.

“He's got all the right stuff, all the right qualities,” Venables said of Witten this week. “He's a fantastic mentor, teammate. He sees the game with a very unique lens, in my opinion. And he's a really effective leader and communicator.

“His passion, his energy, his details, his readiness, his toughness, all of those things resonate in a locker room. His motives are pure. He loves the game. He loves the players. He loves the journey of the guys. He understands it intimately and that's what makes him an effective coach and a coach that does a nice job of making people better with his impact and influence.”