How Oklahoma's Defensive Retention has Allowed Sooners to Play 'Together'

The Sooners' defense has gotten better and better each year under Brent Venables, and 11 "homegrown" players could start in Week 1.

Oklahoma safety Peyton Bowen practices during fall camp. | Carson Field / Sooners On SI

NORMAN — Retention is somewhat rare in the modern era of college football.

Because of the transfer portal, student-athletes can now leave for what they see as “greener pastures” after only one season.

But, for the most part, that hasn’t been the case with Oklahoma’s defense.

It’s possible that all 11 defensive starters in OU’s 2026 season opener against UTEP will be players who began their college careers in Norman. And senior safety Peyton Bowen believes that has helped the defense get better and better under coach Brent Venables.

“I think it helps with trust a lot because you know the potential of each guy from freshman year all the way up,” Bowen said. “It’s not like you’re bringing in somebody new and you’re like, ‘Alright, let’s see how this guy is.’ You know who this guy is from Day 1.”

Bowen enrolled at Oklahoma in 2023, Venables’ second year as OU’s head coach, and was an immediate contributor as a freshman.

He appeared in all 13 of the Sooners’ games that year and even started twice. Bowen’s role expanded in 2024, as he again appeared in all 13 games and started five times.

Bowen took yet another step in 2025. The safety started in all 13 of OU’s games and finished the year with 47 tackles, seven pass breakups, two interceptions and a tackle for loss.

Despite the current era that he plays in, Bowen has never considered leaving Oklahoma. And the culture that Venables has built is a key reason why.

“The people that come in tend to stay, and then just the guys here, we all love each other like brothers,” Bowen said. “From the transfers’ point of view, I’ve never been outside of this facility as a player, so whenever they come in, they say it’s a brotherhood, and it shows that we’re different from those other schools in the sense of just being together. Coach V always harps on being together as a team.”

Oklahoma’s defense has gotten significantly better in each season under Venables.

In 2022, Venables’ first year at OU, the Sooners allowed 461 yards and 30 points per game. Last year, the Sooners ranked first in the SEC in total defense (272.5 yards allowed per game), scoring defense (15.2 points allowed per game) and sacks (45).

Throughout Venables’ tenure, some of OU’s biggest defensive stars — like R Mason Thomas, Gracen Halton, Danny Stutsman and Billy Bowman Jr. — started and finished their college careers at OU before jumping to the professional ranks.

Seeing the success of his former teammates, Bowen believes that he and his current defensive teammates couldn’t be in better hands.

“The development piece, I’d say it’s better to an extent because you get to really see them develop,” Bowen said.

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