Oklahoma's Jay Valai is Helping His Cornerbacks 'See the Whole Picture'

NORMAN — Oklahoma’s secondary is going to be more involved in the defense this year.

Brent Venables’ return to OU brings back not only one of the most effective defenses in college football, but a scheme designed to confuse opposing quarterbacks with a multitude of looks.

And while there is sure to be more beef along the line of scrimmage under Venables, the back end of the Sooner defense is due for a facelift as well.

“I love it,” cornerback D.J. Graham said at the start of spring practice. “The corners especially, we feel more involved in the defense. 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.”

But as the role of the secondary increases, so does the amount of time needed to fully grasp the playbook.

The work in the film room won’t just stop at understanding each individual player’s role, however.

Oklahoma’s new defensive staff is working to teach the entire defense to everyone. The hope is that a full understanding of how the defense is trying to attack opposing offenses will result in not only better defensive play overall, but a more instinctual defense that can break on the ball at a higher rate.

“If you're sitting back here in our scheme thinking, ‘I’m just gonna sit back and play ball,’ it doesn't work like that,” cornerbacks coach Jay Valai said on Monday. “(You must know) every single call to the detail — what's my run fit, my pass fit, my pass responsibility? Just understand the big picture.

“And we don't want to have (them) look through a straw… You have to see the whole picture for what it is. And then you see a little, you see a lot.”

Transfer defensive back Trey Morrison played all over the field during his career at North Carolina, which meant he had to learn every aspect of the Tar Heel defense, similar to what the OU coaches are asking. That experience allowed him to see the game in a different way as he got older, Morrison said, which was only a benefit.

“It’s helped me a lot,” Morrison said last week. “… Just being all over the field, you see football from all different angles. So it really helped me to understand the game of football way more.”

Valai understands he’s asking a lot of his corners to digest that much information this offseason, but he’s embraced his role as a teacher to help get his unit up to speed.

A former cornerback himself, Valai said he’s honing in on teaching his position group the small tells that can help speed up decision making so the secondary can still play at top speed.

“It's almost like the mindset of gonna read a long book and I got a week to do it,” Valai said. “What most guys do? SparkNotes. So see the SparkNotes are right in front of you, the context clues, and really it teaches them to play fast by just seeing the formation.”

Even with all of his efforts, Valai acknowledges he can’t fully get the cornerbacks to where they need to be mentally all by himself. He needs his unit to come in every day wanting to improve, stepping up vocally to ask questions and put in the work off the field.

“Having a mindset of being a constant learner is what really separates you in this game,” Valai said. “Whether I was in Kansas City with the Chiefs seeing EB, Eric Berry do it every single day, ask questions… to Jalyn Armor-Davis with me last year at 'Bama, every day asking questions. Kid who didn't play the whole entire (time) since he was there. He comes up every single day and he's asking, he's learning and you just see the growth.

“… Some guys aren't even elite athletes but they play. Why do they play? Because they have a level of high F.B.I., football intelligence. You understand the game and the picture for what it is.”

As well as his work on the field to continue to push the cornerbacks to be more physical, Valai said he’s going to keep pushing his unit to improve mentally, as that’s what it will take to have an excellent year on the back end of OU’s defense in 2022.

“Being around those guys who have want to, it's something tremendous, man,” Valai said. “And to me that's what permeates through a football team.

“That's what goes from good to great to elite. Our guys who have a mindset that they want to constantly be growing and working. And that's how you play fast and play aggressive.”

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