Down five points entering the fourth rotation at the national championship meet, the Oklahoma men's gymnastics team felt the pressure mounting.
Back in December, the Sooners didn't think they'd even make it to Chicago. And in the moments before they began the vault on Saturday night, they weren't sure that they would win the national title.
That's when assistant coach Taqiy Abdullah-Simmons, who helped the Sooners to three titles during his time as a student-athlete, stepped in to the huddle and launched into a fiery speech.
“This is what we've worked so hard for,” coach Mark Williams remembers Abdullah-Simmons telling the team.