Trace Ford Went From Teammate to Captain of a Rival in Bedlam, What that Means to OSU

What Trace Ford did was bedlam.

After four years at Oklahoma State, Ford, a defensive lineman, transferred to Bedlam rival Oklahoma this offseason. Obviously Cowboy fans and social media were in uproar. His public comments shortly after explaining his decision only exasperated the situation.

“I grew up coming to Oklahoma games. … I’ve always liked OU, so I just went with it,” he said.
Ford later continued, “Walking into Stillwater and playing [OSU], I’m very excited about that day.”

Saturday is that day, when the last scheduled Bedlam kicks off at 2:30 p.m. in Boone Pickens Stadium. On Thursday morning, Ford was a guest on “The Morning Animals” on WWLS The Sports Animal.

“I kinda thought that was it. I didn’t realize we’d have another year of Bedlam,” Ford said. “But at the end of the day I just chose what was best for me. And OU was best for me.

“I knew it would come with the consequences of the social media haters, so it is what it is. I just took it on the chin.”

As an Edmond native understanding the significance of the in-state rivalry, OU announced Monday that Ford and four other Oklahomans will be captains for the Sooners at Bedlam.

Ford did announce his transfer destination on Instagram with a picture and a caption that only read, “oklahoma kid.”

“What played into it is guys that are respected that are from the state of Oklahoma,” Brent Venables said of the captain choice. “Having grown up in the state of Oklahoma, they have a different type of value maybe for Bedlam and so it’s a big deal and represent their state.”

Ford has been back inside Boone Pickens Stadium before Saturday, though. He attended the Cowboys’ 39-32 win against Kansas during OU’s open week. The next week, Ford’s Sooners lost to KU 38-33.

“I saw him after the game,” OSU linebacker Collin Oliver said. “I said, ‘What’s up’ to him and all that stuff, and I told him I can’t wait for this week. But, yeah, this week is here.”

Oliver was teammates with Ford the past two seasons and the pair both graduated from Edmond Santa Fe. Ford missed the past two Bedlams because of injury, including in 2021, the last time it was in Stillwater and Oliver sacked Caleb Williams to seal the rivalry win.

“It’s gonna be fun,” Oliver said. “I get to finally talk trash to him. I haven’t been able to do it in all my years of knowing him, so it’s gonna be the first time I get to do that. …

“Yeah, it’s gonna be a great game, but I’m gonna hate him for the hour that I get to see him. I’m gonna hate him for that period of time.”

Mike Gundy, though, a man who’s become a professional at watching his words in 19 years as a head coach, seemed to be much more impervious with his quotes on the matter Monday.

“I’ve watched a lot of tape and honestly have not paid attention or noticed,” Gundy said. “I look at concepts, schemes, numbers. … What to attack, what I want to stay away from, things like that moreso necessarily than who it would be, so I don’t really notice things like that.”

It’s been either short responses or friendly fire from within OSU for the most part since Ford’s departure, at least publicly. But on the field is surely different, as Oliver hinted. And maybe that back and forth between rivals of over 100 years, and now even former teammates, has already started.

“Yeah (the trash talk has started),” Oliver said. “What do they call it? ‘OU Hate Week’ or whatever. That’s it this week, so yeah.”

Thursday morning, though, Ford talked not only about his return to BPS, but Gundy, specifically.

“Not once,” Ford said when asked if he’d talked to Gundy. “Gundy doesn’t care that I left. He didn’t care that I was leaving. When I was about to leave, I tried to inform them, he didn’t care. I don’t think me and the staff have the best relationship. Some of the coaches still text me to this day, but not all of them. Not all of them, that’s for sure. The players are still in good shape with me. I still talk to the players, I talked to a couple of players this week, last week. I still go to the games when I can.

“But when I was informing the coaching staff of thinking about leaving, they’re like, “OK, get on outta here then’ pretty much, like we don’t want to talk to you. So that’s just the life we live. It is what it is.”

Ford also responded to Gundy’s quote from earlier this week.

“He is really smart with the media,” Ford said. “He knows exactly what to say. He’s a little celebrity when it comes to that stuff. He loves being petty and I can’t wait to play him. I can’t wait to see his face. If he hasn’t seen me on film yet, I hope he does this weekend.”