Brent Venables, the Oklahoma Sooners’ head football coach, answered many questions in 2023.
After being named as the next head coach of the storied OU Football team on December 5, 2021, he had a lot of work to do to shape the program in his image following his predecessor’s abrupt and unexpected departure. Oklahoma fans had no idea how extensive the rebuilding process would be. Venables was certain that the Sooners had fallen short of the toughness, physicality, and discipline that had earned them a place among college football’s elite teams.
Venables’ first season was disappointing. OU finished 6-7, their poorest record of the 21st century. At this time last year, there were many national questions regarding Venables and his plans for the Norman program.
A 10-3 season last year addressed many detractors, as the Sooners rebounded and improved in almost every facet. The season’s highlight was a Red River Rivalry victory over Texas, but OU was hampered by unfocused and mistake-filled football in losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State.
These games not only kept Oklahoma out of the College Football Playoff despite a 7-0 start, but also kept them out of the Big 12 Championship Game. Oklahoma opted for an Alamo Bowl berth, which resulted in an uneven turnover-plagued loss to Arizona with a new starting quarterback and offensive coordinator.
Venables’ message to his players was clear: the Sooners still had a lot of space to improve.
The Sooners will now play in the SEC, college football’s most competitive conference.
Oklahoma must continue on its current path and take another step forward in 2024. However, a hard schedule in a very competitive conference will make this challenging. But Venables was hired with the SEC move in mind, and he has been planning for it for two and a half years. His aim is on contending for championships in 2024 and beyond.
OU appears to be primed to improve again this season, with an experienced defense leading the way. A young but skilled offense has a lot of potential, and the head coach understands that special teams need to improve. Along with bringing in new coordinators on both sides of the ball, there are some concerns about the roster and, of course, the schedule. However, the Sooners have the pieces to make another leap in 2024. They also have a head coach, who believes he has improved since the voyage began.
Venables spoke with Marty Smith and Ryan McGee of the SEC Network’s “Marty and McGee” show about his team and the program’s general transition to the SEC. He was asked what motivated him to become a head coach after a long career as an assistant, first at Kansas State, then as defensive coordinator at Oklahoma and Clemson.
“I’ve always had this stance. That if you have what you’ve always valued, don’t screw it up,” Venables said. “I think too often we go with the narrative of the next raise or the next title or the next promotion. We make it about ourselves, and then we get into our feelings, and we start comparing our career to someone else’s or whatever everybody else expects you to do. When you have this amazing quality of life, don’t screw it up. So I always had this amazingly high standard for what it would take for (Venables’ wife) Julie and our family to pivot, and I’ve always been a people person.”
However, Venables noted that his contacts and confidence in Oklahoma’s administration, including athletic director Joe Castiglione and university president Joseph Harroz Jr., drew him back to Norman.
“So at the end of the day, when this opportunity came, you’re talking about somebody in myself, in our family, all four of our children were born in Norman, the relationship, the peace, and the confidence I had in the leadership of Joe Castiglione and Joe Harroz, these are mainstays at Oklahoma during my career,” Venables said. “I know if I’m going to be successful as a head coach, I want to wake up every day when my feet hit the ground and love what I do, where I do it, and where I do it with, and it was just like check, check, check. I had this peace because of the past experience, and I always knew, man, there’s no limits on what Oklahoma can achieve. This is the standard in college football.”
After successful periods coaching defenses at Oklahoma and Clemson, Venables was long desired by other programs for the position of head coach. He was the co-defensive coordinator (together with Mike Stoops) for OU’s 2000 national championship squad and the 2003 team that competed for the national title. He was the sole coach for the 2004 and 2008 OU teams, which won national championships as well. He was a member of seven of Bob Stoops’ ten Oklahoma conference championship teams.
During his stint at Clemson, the Tigers surged to national prominence, with Venables’ defense leading the way. Clemson won two national championships (2016 and 2018), appeared in two additional national championship games (2015 and 2019), and lost in the CFP semifinals twice (2017 and 2020). Dabo Swinney and Brent Venables’ ten-year cooperation at Clemson resulted in six conference titles.
Venables was repeatedly sought to leave Clemson and run his own program, but he refused to move. That was before his former employer called. Now, more than two and a half years later, Venables has the Sooners back on track following a necessary rebuild. They were sliding slightly under former head coach Lincoln Riley. Despite some setbacks, the squad increasingly resembles a Brent Venables club.
Venables and Oklahoma agreed to effectively a two-year contract extension this winter, indicating that the head coach’s sense of fit and belonging in Norman is mutual. The extension’s statement is evident. The Sooners believe they have the right person to lead them into the Southeastern Conference, and Brent Venables is eager to take on that responsibility.