Brent Venables' Scheme is 'Complex', but the Oklahoma Defense Loves the New Playbook

NORMAN — Oklahoma is getting a crash course in defense.

Brent Venables’ defense, as the Sooners have begun the rapid instillation process on both sides of the ball under their new head coach.

And though it’s early, the players can already draw stark differences from Alex Grinch’s scheme.

“Not to discredit the old coaching staff, the old coaching staff was great,” cornerback D.J. Graham said after practice on Tuesday. “But this new coaching staff, they’ve brought a whole new philosophy to the table, whole new ideas and I love it.”

And while things are certainly more complicated with Venables’ defense, the players said they’re enjoying the challenge to pick up the new scheme.

“Honestly it’s been a task,” defensive back Key Lawrence said on Tuesday. “It’s been a lot more complex, but I love it. It’s been fun. The coaches have a lot of enthusiasm. They come, they care for us. They try their best with everything that’s been going on, so it’s been pretty fun.”

Every player has their own approach to picking up the new playbook and terminology.

For Lawrence, getting a new set of coaches and a different defensive system has become routine.

“What’s crazy is every year I’ve played football, I’ve had a new coach,” Lawrence said. “Even in high school. So it’s nothing really new to me.”

Others are just doing their best to relate to all of the new information.

Veteran players like linebacker DaShaun White are doing their best to find the similarities from last year’s defense and translate them to the new calls he’ll have to make on the field.

“It's a little bit more complex,” White said on Tuesday. “A lot of things are also a lot similar. There's some calls that I can pair in my head to some things we ran in the past just so I can pick up on things a little quicker but definitely more complex.

“We give a lot more looks than just a few different things... We're going to throw a lot at offenses is essentially what I'm getting at.”

Graham said he’s especially excited about all of the new possibilities for him and the rest of the corner backs in Venables’ defense.

The multitude of looks will allow the OU secondary to put a different kind of stress on opposing offenses, something Graham said he’s looking forward to.

“I love it. The corners especially, we feel more involved in the defense,” Graham said. “It’s not like we’re just doing one thing and one thing only. We get to mix it up. We get freedom but not too much freedom where we get out of control. We get just enough freedom where we do what we need to do.

“We get put in positions to where we can make plays on the ball.”

There are sure to be mistakes along the way, but Venables said he hopes the new emphasis on more attention to detail and taking ownership for each mistake will help speed up the learning process this spring.

Though it’s a ton of information to soak up, White said he’s confident he’ll get on top of the new playbook soon and will be able to make the defensive calls as if he’s been in the system for years.

“I think it’s one of those things after a while becomes second nature,” White said. “First day, we’re getting there.

“Give it time I think we’ll be good.”

Graham thinks his side of the ball will be more than just good if they can work out the new scheme, and he’s confident in the new staff of assistant coaches to help get the defense firing on all cylinders by next fall.

“The thing is we’re not even there yet,” Graham said. “So imagine when we get 100 percent there.

“It’s going to be scary.”

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