'Relentlessly Committed' Brent Venables Greets Oklahoma Fans at Basketball Game
New Oklahoma coach Brent Venables took time out of busy recruiting schedule Saturday to assure OU fans of his team’s bright future.
Venables took the microphone during halftime of the Sooners’ home basketball game with Baylor and described his players and coaching staff “are relentlessly committed to the standard of excellence that this program represents.”
Venables, who’s still putting together his 2022 recruiting class ahead of the Feb. 2 National Signing Day, spoke to roaring cheers for 3 1/2 minutes to the gathering at Lloyd Noble Center.
Here's Venables' whole speech:
“I don’t know how a guy like me … a crawl-on at Kansas State — I wasn’t good enough to walk on, I had to crawl on — how I became the head football coach at Oklahoma,” he began. “But I’m here, and I am.
“I just wanted to let y’all know how incredibly humble and thankful I am to be the head football coach here at the University of Oklahoma. My wife Julie and I and my family are so thankful to Sooner Nation for making us feel so incredibly welcome. Thank you.
“I can assure you, our players and our staff are relentlessly committed to the standard of excellence that this program represents. Our goal and our vision for our program is to be the model program in all of college football. The standard for integrity, class, and for toughness. Because y’all know we’ve been the most consistent program in college football since 1999.
“Since the modern era, this is the one and only program in college football when it comes to winning. We’re gonna win at the highest level, but we’re gonna do it the right way. Since Bob Stoops’ first game against Indiana State in 1999, we’ve set the record in college football, 140 straight sellouts at Owen Field, to create the best home field advantage in all of college football. That’s you!
“Y’all represent what this sport’s all about: passion and love for their university, and this is unmatched.”
He then thanked the fans one more time before exchanging several choruses of “Boomer! Sooner!”
