Oklahoma's Brent Venables Thinks About the SEC 'At Least Once a Day' But Remains Focused on the Present
TULSA – Brent Venables has had a lot on his mind lately – most of which he ticked off Thursday night during a press conference at historic Cain’s Ballroom as he prepared to meet the crowd on the first stop of the new Sooner Coaches Caravan.
Oklahoma’s first-time head coach said he’s not much into comparing where OU stands as the school transitions toward the Southeastern Conference – but it’s not like he never thinks about the SEC.
“Man, I think about everything all the time,” Venables said. “Nonstop. That’s in my mind at least once a day.”
Venables coached 13 years at OU in his first go-round. He’s been competing for national championships for the last 10 years at Clemson. He’s seen the best the SEC has to offer, and he and Dabo Swinney and the Tiger program have slain the dragon – twice.
Now he’s had a full spring practice to assess how his Sooner stack up.
But Venables adheres to the phrase Teddy Roosevelt made famous more than a hundred years ago: comparison is the thief of joy.
“I’m not really concerned about trying to compare us to anybody else,” Venables said. “We’re going to be inside-out with everything that we do. I just want us to focus on being our best. When you start comparing yourself, it’s a losing battle.”
Venables said he’s asked the players, every coach, every administrator and has even implored Sooner Nation: focus on you. Don’t worry about Alabama, or Georgia, or Nick Saban, or the SEC.
“You’ll never be great at anything if you’re not focused on doing your best,” Venables said. “Being the best is a byproduct of everybody being committed to a daily commitment of excellence. I’m don’t think that’s a winning way to think, myself.”
And yet, he is all too aware that membership in college football’s premier conference awaits.
“That's down the road,” Venables said. “We're trying to build a program so we can compete with anybody in college football, so we can become the standard in college football.
“I do have a very clear vision for what that looks like. We've got a lot of work to do.”
Venables’ boundless energy is not fake. He admitted that he is “consumed by everything” when it comes to making Oklahoma football the best it can be.
“My job is to have foresight and be very thorough in all my thinking,” Venables said. “But at the same time, be focused on being inside-out. I think about everything. I think about what that first play against UTEP is going to look like.
“But I also know I've got to focus on being very committed to (being) right here in the moment. There's power in the present, there's hope in the future. And right now, my feet are right here, right now.”
“I try to do everything I can to help our guys focus on the right stuff, to think the right way, to handle it day by day, quit worrying about someday and focus on today, and helping our guys having some joy in their journey. Because the world will steal your joy in a minute if you let it.”
