Dede Westbrook hasn't prepared a Heisman Trophy speech for Saturday night. He doesn't think he'll need one because, as he put it: "I'm not expecting to get up there."

This has been one of the greatest weeks of his life. A Big 12 championship on Saturday. Heisman finalist on Monday. Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year on Wednesday. The Biletnikoff Award, as the nation's top receiver, on Thursday. New York City on Friday.

Through it all, Westbrook has been thinking about who he'd like to thank.

Dede Westbrook took home the Biletnikoff Award as the nation's top receiver Thursday. John Bazemore/AP Photo

"This was never part of the plan," Westbrook said.

Two of the coaches who always believed in him -- one he played for, one he didn't -- couldn't be prouder of Westbrook and the role they played in guiding him years before he would become the best receiver in college football at Oklahoma. He's glad Rick Rhoades and Brad Franchione were two of the many who never let him quit.

He calls Rhoades, his head coach at Cameron (Texas) Yoe High School, a father figure. During OU's Thanksgiving bye week two weeks ago, he went home and met up with Rhoades at a Cameron Yoe playoff game. Rhoades, now the coach and AD at Gregory-Portland, asked Westbrook how he was enjoying his newfound stardom.

"He told me that when it first started it was really neat that everybody recognized him," Rhoades said. "Now it's just a pain. He has to send his sister to Wal-Mart if he needs something, because if not, everybody in the world stops him and wants to get a picture with him."

It's all a far cry from the anonymity he felt in his final year at Cameron Yoe, when he encountered the first major setback that jeopardized his playing career and future. There would be many more on his winding path to Oklahoma.

It was a freak injury. There's really no other way to describe it.

Midway through the 2011 season, Westbrook was playing defensive back against McGregor High. He got tangled up with a receiver when they both went up for a ball.

"As he came down, he put his knee up to break his fall, and I kind of landed on top of him. Me being on top of him, his knee went up into my stomach and he ruptured my small intestines," Westbrook said.

The knee struck him right in between his protective rib pads. Westbrook managed to walk off the field, Rhoades said, but the pain overwhelmed him when he got to the sideline. An operation to repair the injury required 18 staples and and left a six-inch scar from his chest down to his belly button.

"They were telling me I'd never play football again," Westbrook said.

His senior season was over. He lost a bunch of weight. His grades suffered. The college recruiters started backing off. In some ways, Westbrook had briefly lost his identity.

Franchione did not give up on him. The Texas State assistant coach and son of head coach Dennis Franchione kept sending Westbrook letters during his five-day hospital stay and recovery. He came up with an academic plan to get Westbrook qualified. He sold him on the idea of staying closer to Cameron, a town of about 5,000.

"They were so family-oriented," Westbrook said, "and they never turned on me."

Westbrook committed to Texas State in November 2011. That spring, his chances of qualifying all came down to an SAT score. And after multiple attempts, he got the score he needed.

"But it was such an improvement from his previous score," Rhoades said, "that the NCAA flagged it and never validated the score."

So Franchione called his buddies at Blinn College, a junior college located an hour away from Cameron in Brenham, Texas. He'd been the head coach there for six years and led two NJCAA national title teams, including the 2009 squad starring Cam Newton. He knew the coaches there would take good care of Westbrook.

"I told their coach we'd sure love to have him back," Franchione said, "but it may be a pipe dream."

Westbrook got off to a hot start at Blinn in 2012: 12 catches, 428 receiving yards, five TDs. And then he got hurt. This one wasn't major, but it was enough to throw him off course. He quit going to practice. He quit going to class. Rhoades said nobody at Blinn could find him.

He dropped out and went home to Cameron. He needed a break and wanted time with his two young children, Vincent and Destiny. He didn't go back to Blinn in 2013.

"I was done with football," Westbrook said. "I didn't want to play any longer. I'd been playing since I was 7 years old and I was tired of it. I just wanted to get away from the game."

Franchione still didn't give up on Westbrook, even when coaches warned him he was spinning his wheels. He kept urging the reluctant star to go back to school, to think about the bright future he was turning his back on.

"I told him, 'You've got these little ones and want to know how you're gonna take care of them,'" Franchione said. "'You've got a gift on the football field. The only way to give that gift to your kids is by doing your classwork and getting to that next level.'"

With the help and convincing of Blinn coach Keith Thomas, who let Westbrook bring his children to practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays, the receiver returned to school and to football in 2014.

Westbrook celebrated Senior Day at Oklahoma with his two children. Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports

"I was dying to be back out there," Westbrook said. "It gave me that hunger and that mentality that I'll work my tail off because it's not promised to any of us."

After returning, Westbrook finished with nearly 1,500 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns in just eight games. He suddenly had a long list of scholarship offers. He told Franchione he still wanted to go to Texas State. The assistant's four-year investment was finally going to pay off.

"I remember celebrating and probably speaking too soon to our coaches at Texas State that we had him," Franchione said. "I kind of regret opening my mouth. I remember some of them looking at me like I was crazy.

"The next day, Oklahoma came and offered him."

What would have happened had he gone to Texas State? Franchione says there was no ceiling. They would've built the offense around him and even planned to let him play some Wildcat quarterback. For a coaching staff that got laid off after going 3-9 in 2015, it's a difficult "what if."

"Things would be a lot different," Westbrook said Wednesday after landing in Atlanta for the Biletnikoff Award ceremony. "No disrespect to Texas State, but I probably wouldn't be where I am right now."

When DEDE WESTBROOK appeared on his TV screen Monday night, when he saw his mug shot and knew it was real, his jaw dropped.

"That's crazy," he muttered.

He kept staring at the screen, speechless. He said it again. Westbrook was the last of the five Heisman Trophy finalists announced on the ESPN broadcast. And he'll be the most unlikely candidate in the room Saturday.

His life couldn't have worked out much better once he did make it to Norman. He's won two Big 12 titles. He's playing in the right offense with the right quarterback, teaming with fellow Heisman finalist Baker Mayfield for 120 catches, 2,200 receiving yards and 20 scores in their two seasons together. He'll get to support his children by playing in the NFL next year.

"Coach Rhoades taught me on the journey to playing football, you also become a better man," Westbrook said.

Rhoades feared Westbrook might give up but is absolutely not surprised he's persevered. Franchione has no hard feelings about the one who got away.

"I know there's a lot of people that really love Dede Westbrook and love to see the success he's having," Franchione said.

As Westbrook pondered his journey this week, he just kept coming back to that one word.

"It's surreal. I still can't believe it," he said. "It's crazy. I beat the odds. Now I'm a Heisman finalist. That's crazy. Like ... it's crazy."