Bradford, Gresham, Williams to Stay

Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy announced earlier that he also will return.
 
"We are pleased that these players are returning to our program," said OU head coach Bob Stoops. "They understand the value of gaining another year of experience and improving their position in the draft along with the value of either finishing their degree or being within a few hours of completing it.

"I also think our players recognize the opportunities we have as a program to pursue more championships and that's something that means a lot to all of us."
 
Bradford was the national leader in passing efficiency for each of the last two seasons becoming only the third player in NCAA history to do so. For his career, he has completed 565-of-824 for 7,841 yards with 86 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
 
Last season, Bradford, who will be a junior, was 328-of-483 for 4,720 yards with 50 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
 
Bradford set the OU record for total offense with in a season last season with 4,676 along with new marks in career touchdown passes, season touchdown passes and passing yards for a season.
 
Gresham caught 14 touchdown passes last season, the most ever by an Oklahoma tight end. With 26 in his career he is only five behind the career mark by all Sooners set by current Baltimore Raven Mark Clayton.
 
Williams started the season opener at left tackle then started the remaining 13 games at right tackle. He will be the only full-time starter returning along the OU offensive line.
 
"I feel like I can improve my draft status by staying one more year," Williams said. "I am also going to moving a lot farther along with my degree and I feel like we can compete for more championships."
 
Gresham said his experience at Oklahoma and in college football has been meaningful.
 
"I like my teammates and the coaches here and the atmosphere we practice and compete in," he said. "This is the best decision for me right now and I look forward to what we can accomplish next season. It also means a lot to me to graduate or be close to my degree when I finish my college career."

Opening statement:
"I just wanted to thank my coaches, family and all of my friends who were helping me go through this process and make this decision. I want to thank everyone who was able to give me information that I needed to make this decision. Obviously, it's a very big decision.
 
"After looking at all of the information and weighing the pros and cons of both, the opportunities that I have, I feel that it is in my best interest to come back to the University of Oklahoma for my junior season.
 
"Looking at it, I've dreamed about playing at Oklahoma ever since I was little. My three years here have probably been the best three years of my life, and I really feel that there's no need to cut this experience short. I'm really looking forward to coming back and competing for a fourth straight Big 12 Championship and another opportunity at a national championship."

On the difficulty of making his decision to stay at OU:
"I did go back and forth. I think I really didn't put too much thought into it before the national championship game. There was a lot of information to comprehend, especially in just a short amount of time. There were a lot of things to think about, and I did go back and forth several times. I feel like this is where my heart is and this is where I want to be."

On the turning point of making his decision:
"I think just thinking back over the past three years and just think about the total experience and everything I've gone through here in Norman and knowing that I have another opportunity to spend another year here. I just think knowing that if I left, I'd be leaving a lot of teammates and a lot of guys that I've come really close to, so I think the ability for me to spend another year with them is really what I want to come back for."

On staying at OU because NFL rookie salaries would remain the same until 2011:
"I don't know if that gave me another reason to stay at Oklahoma, but obviously that was factored into my decision."

On talking with other teammates possibly going to the NFL draft:
"Obviously I was in touch with my teammates. All the guys that were thinking about leaving their classmates who came in together, we've kind of gone through everything together. So we did talk to each other and let each other know how we were feeling.
 
"I don't think we were trying to recruit each other because we all wanted each other to make the decision that was best for everyone. I feel like we were just sharing information like `what have you heard, who's talked to you, how has it been presented to you.'"

On how not winning the BCS title game influenced his return for the 2009 season:
"Obviously it's frustrating dealing with a loss. I want to come back and finish my career the right way on a win. So I would say it did have a little bit of an influence on my decision, but I really tried to keep that out of mind, because that could have limited myself to making the best decision for me."

On when he made his decision:
"Last night. I feel like if I would have gone one way or the other, it would have been the right decision for me. It was tough, but I do feel like I'm making the right decision for me."

On what he likes most about being a college football player:
"Everything. I come out here and get to play in front of 85,000 people. This state is a football state. Everyone knows about Oklahoma football. I've grown up watching it. Just having this experience and being able to live my dream."

On the confidence in his decision and his team:
"I'm very confident and the people that we have returning, obviously with Trent [Williams] and Jermaine [Gresham] coming back, actually I don't know if you guys knew that, but I think they are coming back, sorry coach, I feel like we're going to be very solid on offense again. I think that one of the strong points of this program is that we're able to replace players every year. We lost guys last year; we lost Malcolm Kelly and everyone wondered if we'd be able to fill in the wide receiver position and we did."