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In the days immediately following Arkansas’ annual Red-White Game that concluded spring ball, Mike Woods blindsided the program with his decision to transfer.
The Razorbacks’ second-leading wide receiver landed at Oklahoma, announcing his commitment about a week after entering the portal. After initially declining interview requests, Woods finally opened up about his decision with Oklahoma media Wednesday afternoon.
Although he didn’t go into detail about why he wanted to leave Arkansas in the first place, Woods said the opportunity to play in Lincoln Riley’s offense was too good to pass up.
“It was just something that was on my mind and I felt it was the best move for my career to just find another opportunity,” Woods said. “And as a wide receiver, you look at OU every year putting out these big numbers and every receiver wants to be in an offense like this.
“So it was pretty easy when they reached out to me. You see what Coach Riley does with transfers, and what his receivers (are) doing and also his quarterbacks, so it was a pretty easy decision.”
Having caught 83 passes for 1,248 yards and 10 touchdowns over the last three years at Arkansas, Woods was a hot commodity once his name popped up in the portal.
He said “many” teams reached out to him and his mom encouraged him to meet with several different schools, but ultimately, he had his heart set on joining the Sooners very early in the process.
“It was very hectic,” Woods said. “It was very nerve-wracking. With it being such a quick turnaround, yeah I wanted to get it over with pretty quickly. You have to know what you want. It was pretty nerve-wracking but I felt like I made the best decision.”
Despite the “hectic” process, Woods is at peace with his decision to leave Arkansas and transfer to Oklahoma.
“When you go into the portal going into your senior year, you just have to know what you want,” Woods said. “I had a lot of people in my corner. Coaches would hit up my high school coaches. I had my family on my side.
“I talked to my family a lot through the process. You just have to know what you want going into it. I knew what I wanted and I felt that OU could provide the best for me.”
Something else that worked in Oklahoma’s favor was the fact that Woods trains with CeeDee Lamb during the offseason. During his three years with the Sooners, Lamb caught 173 passes for 3,292 yards and 32 touchdowns and went on to be a first-round pick.
His quarterbacks during that stretch included Heisman Trophy winners Baker Mayfield and Kyler Murray, as well as Heisman Trophy runner-up Jalen Hurts. Oklahoma also made it to the College Football Playoff each of those seasons.
“When you look at that, your eyes get big and you’re just like ‘Man, what would that be like?’” Woods said. “Like I said, every college football wide receiver wants to be in an offense like that, and also you see how smooth the transitions are for people that transfer in here. Like I said, it was a no-brainer how I felt that could help my career.”
Woods' quarterback in 2021 will be Spencer Rattler, who is among the Heisman favorites entering the season.
