'We don't need anyone to be Superman:' Oklahoma Shifting the Defensive Mindset

NORMAN — When Brent Venables returned to Oklahoma, he understood the challenge of rebuilding the defense. As his culture and mindset starts to pay dividends on the recruiting trail, there are evident signs that the script could soon flip on the field too.

At Oklahoma media day on Tuesday, the defensive progression was a big storyline to follow. New additions to the direct coaching staff will surely have an impact, but the conditioning program seems to be paying off right away. While fans have heard the horror stories of strength coach Jerry Schmidt, the general tone was different. Most everyone who spoke about the summer conditioning program mentioned the overarching difference was a change in mindset.

“I think he (Schmidt) has a lot to do with that,” defensive line coach Todd Bates said. “He infuses toughness and he doesn't walk by it. He’ll seek out weakness, and he will go and attack it, and make it a strength. That's what we that's what we do. We're trying to get tough guys who love the game of football. We want to play physical and we want to be violent.”

For the Sooners to play physical and violent, the mindset has to change on the field too. The strength of this particular defense needs to be found within the depth of the team and complete trust between every unit. Ironically, some of Oklahoma’s most legendary defensive units were carried by a player literally nicknamed “Superman,” but it was evident that the staff needs more than just a star this time around.

“It goes back to the fundamentals and technique, just not trying to do too much,” Bates said. “That's the biggest thing, we don't need anybody to be Superman in our defense.

“This defense will feed you. If you are a guy trying to go out there and be ultra productive, and just trying to make plays, sometimes you'll come out of your gap and the cadence of the defense breaks down. So if you'll just do your 1/11 and fit your piece of the puzzle, that's when the defense is a thing of beauty. That's when it becomes a Picasso.”

With the sky-high standards this staff is trying to set in year one, patience will be key with on-field results. At Big 12 Media Days, Venables mentioned that it won’t look like the unit he had at Clemson right away, but he had to start from the ground up there too.

As a whole, the defense seems to be a deep unit in most spots. Aside from learning a new scheme and thinking about new formations, the physical transformation is just as important. For instance, players on the defensive line seem to understand the plan moving forward and made adjustments this summer according to it.

Jalen Redmond said he added weight this offseason, getting as close to 300 pounds as he’s ever been. On the other hand, David Ugwoebu lost nearly 20 pounds in efforts to speed up his game and add mobility on the field. In addition to Redmond and Ugwoebu, Reggie Grimes is now comfortably over 270 pounds, too.

In the secondary, the team defense mentality has built trust between the units. At times last season, players would try to do too much and overcompensate on defense. Talented youngsters like Billy Bowman were playing all over the field as the team searched for solutions. Bowman and the secondary members present Tuesday were clear, though, there’s no confusion this time around. While both the safeties and corners are making it a priority to know each other’s assignments, there isn’t any intermingling between the positions.

“We’ll see improved football IQ,” said new defensive coordinator Ted Roof. “You can tell that guys have been working because of that. As far as knowing assignments, understanding the defense and understanding where the help is.”

“Playing team defense is a big deal as far as knowing where your help is. … The details of that, that allows you to play fast and allow you to not have to think and process as opposed to react.”

Every player understanding their individual role, and what they need to do to contribute on the field, seems to be a pressing point from the staff. And it all ties back to the team mindset that’s being preached. Each player on this defensive squad understands that the operation won’t work if just one job isn’t taken care of. The extra weight, intense conditioning and overall changes are all important pieces to the puzzle that Venables is building.

While the Sooners lost the fearful defensive identity once held, the installation of a new scheme and a new mindset is a good base from which to build it back. The hardest part is always the buy-in, and now that seems to have taken place.

“You know, the toughest part of any flight is always a take off,” Bates said. “We strained them and challenged them early, and we continue to do so. And they’ve responded well.”