Former OU star quarterback Baker Mayfield returns to Norman to host youth camp

Before he starts training camp next week with the Buccaneers, former Oklahoma star quarterback Baker Mayfield returned to Norman on Saturday to host his annual youth camp on the Sooners practice fields.

Mayfield, who won the 2017 Heisman Trophy and led OU to the College Football Playoff two times, said "I tell you guys every time I’m able to come back, it’s just, this place changed me for life." Mayfield added, "I’m forever grateful for what University of Oklahoma has given me and made me who I am. So just coming back here and being able to spend time with kids is a great experience for me, and I remember being at this age coming up and watching games and just how much fun I had, so it’s important for me to do that."

As for the Tampa Bay star quarterback's thoughts on the 2025 Sooners, Mayfield had a lot of good things to say. Mayfield has extreme confidence in head coach Brent Venables saying, "I mean, obviously, offensively last year, had a lot of injuries. I mean, you can’t win when you have that many different starting rotations on the O-line, and it’s injuries, it’s a lot of stuff. But I have a lot of faith in Coach V. Defense was great last year. And obviously that’s the standard he sets. Tough, hard nosed guys that hustle to the ball, and he’s going to carry that on. So I have a lot of faith in him."

Mayfield also chimed in on new starting and transfer quarterback John Mateer. Mayfield sees a lot of himself in Mateer saying, "I love the way he plays. I think there's some similarities in our game, just the way he carries himself. You can tell the leadership goes a long way with him. So I love that, and I'm excited that he came in, and yeah, we'll see what happens, but it's exciting."

Aside from his ability on the field, Mayfield also likes the way Mateer attacks the game saying, "You can tell that the stuff that he does off the field with the guys carries over for how they play for him. So there's a lot of similarities in that aspect, but you never want to try and be somebody else, and I don't think he's the type of guy that's going to try and do that. So he's going to be the best version of himself. But I can see the comparisons."