‘Some Type of Fire:’ Oklahoma Players Appreciate Brent Venables’ Experience

ARLINGTON, TX — Brent Venables has yet to coach an official game as the head coach at Oklahoma.

But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t settled into his new job.

The Sooners are on fire on the recruiting trail thanks to an explosive July, and the detail-oriented head man has already made quit the impression on the OU players currently on campus.

“This might be his first rodeo,” Oklahoma quarterback Dillon Gabriel said at Big 12 Media Days last Thursday. “But man, this guy’s been coaching for a while, you know what I mean? And he’s intelligent. The way he motivates us.

“If you were to ask me and I didn’t know anything prior to his past, I think he’d been a head coach for 10 years. Like I said, the way he motivates us, his energy is infectious. His obsession and passion for the game of football… I mean, he’s an elite coach and one I’m proud to play for.”

Venables has studied under a distinguished list of head coaches, so perhaps it comes as no shock that he’s already won the confidence of the team.

Always known to jot down notes for when he’s running his own program one day, Venables has been able to take advice from Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops and Dabo Swinney throughout his career as a defensive coordinator, and now he’s bringing all of that wisdom to Norman.

Defensive back Woodi Washington said the energy Venables displays on a daily basis inspires the team to continue to put in work.

“He’s going to bring some type of fire every day,” Washington said. “Whether it’s on or off the field, he’s going to bring some type of competitive nature to your body, right? He’s gonna want you to get up and compete.

“He’s going to make everything sound great and the way he leads is just amazing. The way he comes in to the meetings and the way he speaks to us is just crazy.”

And while Washington said Venables is still figuring some things out about being a head coach, the way Swinney let him coach at Clemson gave him the freedom to figure out how to lead an entire side of the ball.

“The defense (at Clemson) was his so it was kind of like a head coach for the defense,” Washington said. “Obviously head coach for an entire team (now), but I don’t think much is gonna change. He’s always been a great coach and that’s what he is.”

Despite his defensive prowess, Venables is intent on being the head coach for the entire team. Gabriel said he still finds time to work with the offense, and is happy to lend any advice or wisdom that he can to the offensive players.

“He’s been around the game so much that, of course, he’s a defensive minded coach but he’s scheming up offenses all the time,” Gabriel said. “He knows tendencies and just being able to pick his brain on the defensive wide, I think it’s really changed my perspective, as well.”

No matter how long he’s been preparing for this moment, nobody has all the answers.

In today’s era of college football, head coaches have to navigate the transfer portal, Name, Image and Likeness and questions surrounding conference realignment all while trying to carve out time to actually coach the team.

Even Venables said the scope of the portal was surprising upon accepting the Oklahoma job.

“We have 40% of our roster that’s brand new,” he said. “And so when I said yes to the job, I wasn’t thinking one iota in that moment about the possibility that I have to change almost half of our roster. So I had to learn that I have to deal with this.”

The roster came together, Venables put the team through spring practice and now the Sooners are undergoing their final weeks of summer conditioning before starting fall camp on Aug. 4.

Oklahoma will still have to produce on the field this season, but Venables is doing everything he can to make the most out of his first offseason at the helm in Norman by laying the foundation for success.

“He’s really passionate about what he talks about and the stuff he does,” wide receiver Marvin Mims said. “I don’t even know how to explain it, it’s just completely different from being in the past culture to being in this culture.

"Coach Venables demands everything and nothing but the best. If you’re not getting the best, he’s definitely going to make a way where you’re getting the best. Whether that’s disciplining you, sending you to Coach (Jerry) Schmidt or something like that, he’s not going to let you not have the best.”

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