COLUMN: Why Brent Venables Says Oklahoma Won't Rely on the Transfer Portal This Year

The Sooners' head coach hasn't gotten too far yet on thinking about the portal, saying he anticipates filling "a couple spots," but added, "we don't need a quarterback, OK?"

NORMAN — When I asked a question to Oklahoma coach Brent Venables Tuesday about recruiting to a 5-5 record, it almost naturally begat a follow-up question about the NCAA Transfer Portal.

Does Venables have an early read yet on what his transfer portal needs are going to be?

No, he said, he does not.

But that was hardly all Venables had to say about the transfer portal.

“I think our roster would probably need a couple of spots,” he said. “We'll just see how everything goes. But I just want to say, you just look back at it — we don't need a quarterback, OK? That's how I feel.”

That statement could be taken a couple of ways. One is that Venables definitely expects Dillon Gabriel back as the starter in 2023.

Gabriel was less firm about the future when I asked him about his future and if he’d considered the possibility that Saturday’s home game against Oklahoma State might be — however remote the possibility — his final game at Memorial Stadium.

“Yeah, shoot, just focusing on the now, the present,” Gabriel said. “That’s all I can do. At times, people focus on the future or the past, and that affects their present. So just trying to stay present as much as possible, and also just play my butt off and finish the right way.”

Gabriel might have options for 2023, such as exploring the NFL Draft. As a graduate, he could transfer again if he wanted to and be immediately eligible. Of course, he could come back and be the Sooners’ starting QB again next year. He even has a year of college eligibility left in 2024 if he wanted to take it.

The other way Venables’ statement about not needing a quarterback could be interpreted: he believes so strongly in 2023 5-star recruit Jackson Arnold, he thinks Gabriel and/or Arnold would be enough to pair with the current QB roster of Davis Beville, General Booty, Nick Evers, Micah Bowens and so on.

“You see some elite quarterbacks in the transfer portal, for whatever reason,” Venables said. “Then maybe, because a staff is let go, you might see some excellent players and also great guys and workers — but, you know, are they running from something? That's what you got to ask yourself. And I wouldn't put them all in that, at all.”

OU will probably need to supplement somewhere — maybe somewhere very high-profile. Wide receiver Marvin Mims, for example, has led the team in receiving for three straight seasons. As a junior, he might be eager to explore his NFL Draft grade.

I asked Mims Monday night if it was too soon to consider that Saturday could be his final home game.

“Yeah, it’s too soon,” he said. “I haven’t really thought much about it. Especially the way the season’s been going. I just want to finish out strong, and then I’ll come to a decision maybe before the bowl game.”

Assuming Oklahoma makes a bowl game, that’s the usual time frame for players to either decide to leave (many opt out of their bowl games to begin training for the draft) or commit to returning.

The NFL’s early entry deadline of Jan. 17 also aligns nicely within the NCAA’s 45-day transfer window, which opens the day after the championship selections and bowl pairings are announced (Dec. 4 this year).

It’ll be a fast-paced time, but Venables and his staff will be nimble. He described nearly landing Virginia transfer Olu Oluwatimi after coach Bronco Mendenhall unexpectedly retired last year. Oluwatimi is now a first-team All-American.

“He's killing it at Michigan,” Venables said.

“Finding them is one thing and then doing everything you can to attract them is another,” Venables added. “There's another one, defensive lineman, I mean, we were within seconds of going in the portal, we’re on the phone, lots of conversation — we couldn't get him to come. And he already had it in his mind where he was going. Didn't take any other visits.”

“So it's hard. As I told the coaches, that's not gonna be the only answer. I mean, you're not gonna get bailed out. OK? Because I'm not gonna — there's one guy, he's kicked off a team and I got a couple coaches come to me like, ‘Hey, man, this is the one, he's the one.’ I’m like, ‘That coach kicked him off their team.’ And again, sometimes things happen. ‘But this coach don’t kick nobody off the team, unless they've done something.’ I’m like, ‘That's supposed to be our answer? You know? And guess what? He hasn't played for the other team yet. And so you spent all this time, these resources, and you put him in your locker room?”

Venables had a good experience in the transfer portal last year, landing Gabriel (from UCF) and several major contributors like guard McKade Mettauer (Cal), Jonah Laulu (Hawaii), C.J. Coldon (Wyoming) and Trey Morrison (North Carolina), among others. And OU didn’t just get contributors. By all accounts, the Sooners also got great teammates. That matters.

“I’m gonna tell these parents, ‘I’m gonna work really hard to surround your son with great people,’ ” Venables said. “You know, people matter. People always make the place. And so finding the right kind of people that are about all the right stuff: they're good enough, bare minimum. Starts with that. And then making sure that, again, they're about the right stuff and their values align. Again, they value education, value structure and accountability and the discipline, and, you know, want to be told the truth and want to have to work for their opportunity. They're not entitled anything.

“And so all those things matter in the transfer portal, and you get a very small window to try to figure that out — even smaller now. Before, guys could get in the transfer portal months ago, which, you know, I don’t love that either, because I just don't like guys having the ability to just quit in the middle of the season. I don't think that's healthy. Just as a dad, you know? You finish and then if you, when the season's over and you need a fresh start, then let’s look at it then. But if you're committed to something, you need to follow through. I don't think that's asking too much. So I think some of those guidelines now, they've done that to protect schools too, and the kids from themselves, at the end of the day.”