Why David Stone’s ‘Life Outside of Football’ No Longer Hinders His Personal Growth
A bigger David Stone is a better David Stone.
Take a 5-star defensive tackle and give him 20 pounds of muscle and more than a year of college football, and he’ll naturally be a better player.
But a better David Stone — well, that’s a lot harder to quantify.
Oklahoma’s second-year big man is better in 2025, but not strictly because of the added weight, or the 13 games of experience (eight in the Southeastern Conference), or his finishing up his second spring as a Sooner.
In Stone’s case, “better” seems to mean something else entirely: more mature, mentally tougher, a deeper pool of self-acceptance, a renewed eagerness to learn and grow.
“Me as a player, yeah,” Stone said after practice on Tuesday night. “I feel like, for myself, I had a big issue with just being able to let … my life outside of football affect my football.”
As an example, Stone said last year he might “dominate a lot of the team settings and stuff,” but outside circumstances — also known as “life” — would often creep into his performance, things he attributed to bad “body language” due to academic work or relationships or who knows what.
“As a player, I had to learn how to compartmentalize those things, separate the two, and be able to kind of handle the pressures of outside life with football,” he said. “And I feel like this year, I made the jump as a player, being able to dominate that space.”
Not that grades were a problem for Stone. He was one of 59 Sooners who made the SEC All-Academic Team last year. But his ability to shift his focus between the two was something he had to get better at so lingering thoughts about one wouldn’t interfere with the other.
“I was proud of that,” Stone said. “It was a big accomplishment for me, off the field and on the field.”
Another big accomplishment was tackling Jerry Schmidt’s offseason workouts — adjusting to life under Schmitty’s reign as a freshman, and then embracing it as a sophomore.
“A lot of people don’t know, but like, when it comes to the weight room, I was never really a weight room guy,” Stone said. “But I love working hard, and so when I got with Schmitty this season, it was like — man, it was a jump. He was pushing me every day, and a lot of my maxes went up a plate or two.
“So it’s like that jump helped me put on this weight, and then we’re running and I’m still moving good, fluidly and things like that. So now I love it. I love the extra weight I got. Like, I’m holding blocks better, and I’m still rushing the passer at an elite level.”
Stone described his progress in 2025 succinctly.
“I’ve been killing it this spring,” he said. “Winter workouts was a fun time for me. I’m up like 15-20, pounds, moving better than ever. So those things, you know, making those small improvements, all over — it’s been a big part of my game so far.”
With former IMG Academy teammate and good pal Jayden Jackson sitting out this spring after offseason shoulder surgery, Stone is naturally getting a few more reps in practice. And from the three open viewing sessions so far, Stone is making those reps count.
As a 294-pound rookie last year, Stone played 122 total snaps in 2024. That included just 94 on defense, with a high of 30 against Maine, according to Pro Football Focus. Stone’s PFF grades were strong: 75.7 overall, 75.6 against the run, 68.2 as a pass rusher. His two best grades came against Temple (75.2) and Maine (79.1), but he also graded out at 59 or better in all eight SEC games. Pretty good for a freshman, and a good sign that there’s plenty more in the future.
He’s not old or experienced by any means, but Stone’s personal growth and the knowledge he has gained from coaches and teammates in just over a year have allowed him to become something of a leader in the d-line room.
“I’ve grown as a man,” Stone said. “You know, Coach (Todd) Bates has helped me a lot with that, with my family, being a bigger brother, those things like that. And it allows me to be that for the team. I have a lot of younger guys here, so being able to give them game on how to become a better player is something I take pride in as a as a human being.”
College football no doubt looks easier from the outside. Recruits come in with little more than high school rankings and oversized confidence, but that confidence is staggered the first time their position coach or a strength coach or an upper classmen screams in their face. Stone acknowledged how tough it can be for a young person who’s basically only known success in their athletic career to face failure at a young age.
“A lot of it is mental,” he said. “You know, there’s a lot of challenges you have to deal with as far as learning the playbook, taking the pressure that comes with the next level of ball. The coach is going to be on you harder, the strength staff is pushing you in the weight room. Things like that. You got to be able to make the transition smoothly.
“You know, you’ve got to be OK with messing up. Those things can hurt your confidence as a new player. A lot of young players I see now, you know, they make some good plays, and then they may have a little mess up or two, and then they messed up the rest of their practice. But they can’t let that happen. So just things like that, you know, making sure that you can have a next-play mentality. And you know, whether it’s football, school, life, things like that, you feel that difference.”
Year one was all about personal growth, but Stone seems bound for stardom. He’s been on that path since he was a youngster up the road at Del City High School, and he’s never veered from it.
But even 313-pound, 5-star defensive tackles need guidance, mentorship or just a helping hand. Stone recognizes that now and pondered what he would tell himself if he could go back in time one year.
“As a player, myself, what I would tell me?” he echoed. “Life is going to be difficult. You have a lot of things … that comes with being who you are. You know, take those pressures and allow it to push you forward. That’s what I’ve been doing this year. I wish I knew that a little bit sooner.
“You know, I talk to Coach Bates about everything, and those talks made me grow as a player. A lot of the coaches on the staff, you know, they use that as a symbol of my growth, going in that direction. But I feel like as a player, if I had learned that a little bit sooner, you know, how to compartmentalize those things, the daily lives of a player and what comes with it, I feel like I would have been — my growth would have been (even more) compared to what it is.
“I’ve grown a lot, you know? I still got a lot of growth to do as a player. I’m not knocking myself or anything like that, but I definitely see where I’ve come, but I still got a long ways to go.”
