Brent Venables was smiling ear to ear as he received a game ball from Oklahoma Athletics Director Joe Castiglione and President Joseph Harroz, but he quickly choked up as he began to address his players.
“Hey fellas, listen up, this is really special, and I want everybody in here …” he said, before trailing off to recompose himself, while cheers erupted around him.
Speechless… @CoachVenables #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/oFHl1xVbI7
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) September 4, 2022
In the nearly nine months since Venables was hired as Oklahoma’s head coach, current Sooners have come to expect the passion and intensity that endeared him to past generations when he served as defensive coordinator under Bob Stoops from 1999-2011.
During Thursday’s walkthrough practice, Danny Stutsman and his teammates were “getting screamed at a lot,” by Venables, the sophomore linebacker said. It was peculiar, then, to see such a revered, strong-willed coach hold back tears after a momentous win on Saturday.
“(It was) a side of him I haven't seen since probably (when) he first got hired,” senior defensive lineman Isaiah Coe said. “It was a very emotional side.”
Venables was overwhelmed with joy after his first game leading the Sooners. OU’s 45-13 win over UTEP before a sellout crowd of 83,173 was the culmination of everything he has preached and worked for since he was brought back from Clemson to replace Lincoln Riley and usher in a new era of Oklahoma football.
Despite another transition for his family, he chose to leave South Carolina and return to Norman for an opportunity he couldn’t pass up. He then spent the entire offseason pushing his team, the 128th in OU history, toward the standard others set before them. On and off the field, they became what he considers one of the most committed teams he has ever been part of. And, after all that was visualized in his first victory, appropriately, his emotions flowed freely.
“It was really, really emotional for all of us,” said junior defensive end Reggie Grimes. “Just because we've come so far and in such a short time in the grand scheme of things. You think this time last year, half the people in our locker room weren't here, we were in a completely different regime.
“So he wasn't the only one who was emotional. I think we all were, and just having a leader like that, who can show his emotion and can be vulnerable with you, and he lets you know that you can be vulnerable with him, I think it's really, really important, really integral to what we’re trying to do here.”
Head coach Brent Venables during the Walk of Champions on Sep. 3.
Venables’ whirlwind day began in earnest with the Walk of Champions, where he strolled down Jenkins Avenue and greeted fans on his way into the stadium, flanked by players donning the tailored suits he outfitted them with in the spring.
He was fully prepared to enter the stadium after chatting with Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on the phone, seeking any last advice before handling his first game as a head coach. Stoops had visited him earlier in the week, and Venables also consulted former Texas Tech head coach Matt Wells, now an OU assistant, feeling he’d be negligent not to confer with mentors who’ve had the kind of success he hopes to cultivate with the Sooners.
Right before kickoff, the video board in Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium’s south end zone broadcasted Oklahoma’s official “hype video” for the 2022 season, which featured Venables between Stoops and legendary Sooners coach Barry Switzer, who boast four combined national championships.
“They set the standard,” Venables said in the video. “We will defend it.”
Here’s most of your #Sooners intro video for the 2022 season: pic.twitter.com/KpWfrR1HoG
— Mason Young (@Mason_Young_0) September 3, 2022
Typically, the video is timed to conclude as players sprint from the southeast tunnel onto the field. On Saturday, the Sooners still hadn’t left the locker room, because Venables was giving them the same message he provided to Sooner Nation at large.
“You only get one chance to make a first impression,” senior running back Eric Gray recalled from Venables’ pep talk.
“You only get one chance to set the foundation,” Grimes added.
“This game, at the end of the day,” Venables said, “was gonna be about Oklahoma — reestablishing the soul and the spirit of this program, the standards of this program. And moving forward again, (we’re) really focused on how we do what we do, not just what we do when we play football, but how we do what we do is what we wanted anybody that was tuning into that game to see.”
Anyone watching saw — as Venables outlined in December — an “exciting, fast, explosive and diverse offense,” led by quarterback Dillon Gabriel that scored touchdowns on its first three possessions, all in under six plays. The “physical, punishing, relentless, suffocating defense,” held true to Venables’ word, too, with six sacks and a late interception.
Venables seemed mostly relaxed and allowed his assistants to coach, but at least twice, an attendant whisked him back to the Owen Field sideline after he got too close to the action. He first toed the line while advising cornerback Woodi Washington, then while celebrating with linebacker David Ugwoegbu.
After locking arms with his players and singing the OU anthem postgame, Venables succumbed to Coe’s embrace. The defensive tackle screamed something like “First one! Let’s go!" as he hoisted his coach high above his head at midfield.
First win of the @CoachVenables era ☝️ #OUDNA pic.twitter.com/DWvkM9sbu2
— Oklahoma Football (@OU_Football) September 3, 2022
“I just wanted to show him that I was appreciative of everything that he did since he was hired,” Coe said. “Coach Venables really changed my life. Not to say no one else has had an impact, but him just being here, he's really changed my thought process and how I’ve just been more receptive and more appreciative of things. So I really hold that man high, and I really look up to him, so I was just happy that he can finally get this first one off his shoulders.”
Then, Venables posed with his wife, Julie and his daughters, Laney and Addie for a picture in the south end zone before trotting into the locker room.
Surrounded by a fully bought-in team, he danced, showing he’s up with the times by hitting the “griddy,” a move popularized by TikTok. He received his game ball in a heartfelt moment, then distributed more to others.
“Everybody in there got one,” Venables said. “I gave one to Joe and Joe for believing in me. This is Oklahoma and they didn't have to hire me, and I don't take that for granted at all.”
Yet, here Venables stands, tasked with leading OU back to championship heights; a quest that continues next Saturday, Sept. 10 against Kent State. Winning the season opener accomplished the initial goal. The Sooners will begin anew next week, because “that’s what the great programs can do,” Venables said.
Still, Venables’ first win was one to savor, or maybe even tear up about, for him and his players alike.
“We want to celebrate success no matter how it looks, and it's been a special day certainly for our players in 2022 and where we want to go as a program,” Venables said. “For me, this is gonna be a date that we all remember for a long, long time."
