Brent Venables sat in his office and waited.
After spending almost a decade at Clemson, Oklahoma’s head football coach had been in Norman for three months. However, no players had made the trip to talk with Venables one-on-one.
“When we got here, for the first several months, nobody came up to the third floor,” Venables said. “One Sunday, I was up meeting with a recruit and his family, and I had the door open to my office, and in they come.”
David Ugwoegbu, DaShaun White and Danny Stutsman, who would play almost every key snap at linebacker during the 2022-23 season, walked in and sat down to watch film together. For Venables, this action would set the next two years into motion.
“Man, you want to talk about a coach that was fired up,” Venables said, recalling the moment. “It was a baby step, but it was a step. It was a small thing, but it really was a big thing. I didn’t want to make them come up, I wanted them to come up because they really desire to, because they’re passionate about it, because they’re excited to do it.
“It is hard and it's work, but when you are chasing your dreams, and you are willing to go above and beyond, you never regret doing more than what’s required. That is a group that has really epitomized that since that first year.”
Now, in his third season with the Sooners, that motion set into action by Ugwoegbu, White and Stutsman continues to be a driving force, and a bright spot for Venables and OU football amid early season struggles.
For over 30 years, Venables has mastered leading the position group from various perspectives. He played linebacker at Garden City Community College and Kansas State, and also coached the position at Kansas State and during his first stint with OU, before becoming the defensive coordinator at Clemson — and at each of these posts, he did it increasingly well.
While Venables was an Oklahoma assistant, the Sooners ranked among the top 16 nationally in total defense eight times, and during the coach's tenure from 2000-12, OU linebackers earned three Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year awards, five Big 12 Defensive Newcomer of the Year accolades and six first-team All-America honors. Ten of his OU linebackers and 31 defensive players overall were also taken in the 2000-12 NFL Drafts.
Once he returned to Norman, this time as a head coach after an impressive defensive stint at Clemson, it was clear that the position group would still be a focus for him.
“Of course, I am emotionally attached to that group,” Venables said. “I’ve challenged them since the day I got here, to be the heart, soul and backbone of this football team.”
His investment was evident Saturday during OU’s 16-12 win over Houston. As, the Sooners' offense continued to struggle, averaging 2.6 yards per carry, going just 4 of 14 on third-down conversions and scoring only two points in the second half, it was the defense, and specifically the linebacker groups, that put Oklahoma (2-0) in a position to win.
As sophomore starting quarterback Jackson Anrold and OU’s offense went three-and-out on the first drive of the game, sophomore linebacker Lewis Carter recovered a fumbled punt return on Houston’s 10-yard line, setting up OU's first score.
Lewis Carter hustles and recovers the fumbled punt return. pic.twitter.com/hRFwrduy0J
— 𝕺𝖐𝖑𝖆𝖍𝖔𝖒𝖆 𝖛𝖘. 𝕿𝖍𝖊 𝖂𝖔𝖗𝖑𝖉 (@soonergridiron) September 8, 2024
“It was overall good,” Carter said about the play. “I ran down there and saw Jacobe Johnson just sitting there, really not knowing if he touched the ball or not. But I ran down there, and dove on the ball because I felt like he came in contact with it.”
Carter, who played in all 13 games as a freshman, primarily on special teams and in a reserve linebacker role, is looking to get more snaps this season. However, the group has proved to be one of the few with depth, experience amid turnover from last year.
Headlined by the return of second-team All-American Danny Stutsman, the linebacker room also brought back Carter, senior Kendel Dolby, juniors Jaren Kanak and Dasan McCullough, redshirt sophomores Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie and sophomore Sammy Omosigho. This is something that a young player like Carter is utilizing.
“I’ve just been trying to take advantage of every opportunity I get out there,” Carter said on Tuesday. “I am out there learning from guys like Kip Lewis, Danny Stutsman and all the older guys, and just trying to soak the game up from them and take advantage of every opportunity I get.”
The sophomore not only had the fumble recovery against Houston but also had two solo tackles in the contest, bringing his season total to six. Through OU’s first two games, the linebackers have made 58 of Oklahoma’s 133 tackles, accounting for 43.6% of its total defensive takedowns this season.
Against Houston, the position group took 115 collective snaps, but the effort was led by Stutsman who had eight run stops and 15 tackles — with 10 coming before halftime. However, for the linebacker, as the team heads into its matchup against Tulane (1-1) and approaches its SEC schedule, there are still ways the group can improve.
“I mean we spent two years building this defense,” Stutsman said Saturday. “Starting to see the rewards of it, but I think we still have a long way to go. I think our tackling needs to improve.”
Venables knows the group will step up like they did in his office three seasons ago and as they have during weeks one and two this season.
“They’ve taken their opportunities,” Venables said about the linebackers. “They’ve taken the challenge seriously.”
