Longhorns Steve Sarkisian Gushes About Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables' Defensive Mind
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Good coaches find ways to fix minor mistakes. Great ones don't allow the miscues to hamper the overall production.
What type of coach is Oklahoma's Brent Venables? Is he a first-year coach still adjusting to life as the head honcho, or is he a coordinator in over his head?
Texas coach Steve Sarkisian isn't ready to call Venables the latter following back-to-back losses to Kansas State and TCU. Why would he after his first season on the Forty Acres that ended with six consecutive losses en route to a 5-7 record?
Perhaps Venables needs more time. Sarkisian likes to think that could be a factor.
"He's a heck of a coach," Sarkisian said Monday of Venables. "He's going to look at us, too. He's going to try to put his players in the best position to have success."
Venables is unproven as a head coach. As a coordinator, he's one of college football's finest. Prior to his long-awaited return to Norman as Lincoln Riley's heir apparent, Venables spent 10 seasons under Dabo Swinney at Clemson as the team's defensive coordinator.
Before that, he was Bob Stoops' longtime coordinator for over a dozen years. When Riley left in the middle of the night for USC, Oklahoma athletic director Joe Castiglione made it clear he wanted a person with past experience internally with the program to take over. Few have made the same impact as Venables in terms of producing talent.
The verdict is out on Venables being the long-term guy at Oklahoma (3-2, 0-2 Big 12) entering Red River Rivalry week. For a defensive-minded coach that has pumped out NFL talent left and right at Clemson, that's the side of the ball in need of fixing.
Oklahoma is currently dead-last among Big 12 teams in total defense (423 yards per game), run defense (198.2 yards per game), and bottom-three in scoring defense (25.5 points per game.)
In back-to-back weeks, the Sooners have allowed over 510 yards of offense, including 668 yards and 55 points, to a Horned Frogs' roster that also features a first-year coach in Sonny Dykes.
College football is one of the few sports where each week presents a new challenge. Sarkisian isn't letting the Sooners' string of struggles cloud his vision of what a Venables' defense can do when it's clicking.
"Brent's always been a guy that tries to get his players in the best position," Sarkisian said. "He's got that aggressive mentality about him, trying to knock you off schedule. He's done a good job of that throughout his entire career."
The Longhorns (3-2, 1-1 Big 12) have yet to find a consistent game plan under Sarkisian's time with the program. Despite picking up a monumental 38-20 win over West Virginia Saturday, fans have seen Texas stumble through the finish line. The week prior, the Horns blew a double-digit lead against Texas Tech in a 37-34 overtime loss.
Last season, Texas blew an 18-point lead against the Sooners in a 55-48 loss at the Cotton Bowl. The emergence of quarterback Caleb Williams carried Oklahoma in the second half, and the fourth quarter failures were a sign of Texas' future in the remainder of Big 12 play.
Williams is gone. So is Riley. Does that change the outcome? Offensively perhaps. Then again, Sarkisian isn't forgetting about Venables' defensive scheme.
All it takes is one mistake to cause a ripple effect that lasts three hours. And Venables is more than capable of exposing those weaknesses if given the chance.
"This rivalry, this game and what it all stands for, and the way these two teams have played in this game for decades ... we know we're going to get the best version of them," Sarkisian said. "We also need to make sure they get the best version of us.
"New coaching staff, new team, we went through it, too. This team is really good, and they play really hard... we have our work cut out for us and we need to play a very good football game to be victorious.
Kickoff from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas is scheduled for 11 a.m.
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