With the Early Signing Period (Dec. 20-22) looming, Oklahoma coach Brent Venables offered insight on the state of recruiting Tuesday.
And it comes at an opportune time, as the Sooners have lost recruiting battles on five-star defensive tackle David Hicks and four-star defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, who both listed the Sooners as finalists, and watched three-star linebacker Kaleb Spencer flip his commitment from OU to Miami on Oct. 28.
In his first year as head coach with a mostly-new staff, Venables and Oklahoma rank No. 6 in the 2023 class rankings, per 247Sports’ Composite.
“When you’re selling yourself and you have no track record, you’re trying to sell what you’ve accomplished in the past,” said the former Clemson assistant, who won two national championships as defensive coordinator. “I mean, you have some sort of track record — good or bad — whether it’s coaching a position, that’s coaching a unit (or) being a part of experiences. And so you continue to nurture that. The biggest thing is you build relationships.
“… At the end of the day, in the recruiting world, it never stops when a guy commits. People are still going to try to recruit people, and sometimes guys change their minds. That’s their right. It’s part of the process. You don’t like it when you’re not on the right side of it, but you’re always checking the temperature of the water, to see if, ‘alright, this guy I’m not sure about.’
Since losing out on star-studded recruits such as McDonald and Hicks, who pledged to Ohio State and Texas A&M, respectively, OU defensive line coach Todd Bates and Venables have offered lesser-known defensive line recruits in response such as three-star Ashton Sanders and zero-star Markus Strong, who both announced they were offered scholarships on Twitter this week.
“And every once and awhile, things don’t go your way,” Venables said without mentioning names. “I don’t ever lose sleep over somebody we never had that was supposedly lost. And, if they come here in this program and they go on that field for us and then they leave, that’s somebody we lost.”
Venables said he recently challenged his staff to find undervalued talent, which he says isn’t necessarily a bad indication. He mentioned former players he’s coached such as Jeremy Beal, Isaiah Simmons and K’Von Wallace who were also offered late in the cycle.
“There’s a bunch of great players (and) we’ve identified a handful of them,” Venables said. “… Some of the best players that have played here, or previous stops (I’ve been), were guys that were under the radar going into their senior year.
“And with diligence, and with that kind of mindset, you find some great players that were undervalued. … So watching and evaluating, don’t worry about the popularity contests, find out if these guys can play. Find out about the intangibles and all those sorts of things.”
OU football head coach Brent Venables and fifth-year senior linebacker DaShaun White during the game against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa on Oct. 29.
Venables the same through failure and success
Venables said if he has changed at all through the ups and downs of his first season as head coach, his players would have a better sense than he would.
Through OU’s three-game losing streak against Kansas State, TCU and Texas to its consecutive wins over Iowa State and Kansas, the Sooners’ coach has tried to keep his attitude, intensity and messaging the same.
He has done so by relying on the experiences, good and bad, that prepared him to be a head coach: The mental toughness he forged through a dysfunctional upbringing. The philosophies of developing people he fostered through nearly 30 years in coaching. And the encouragement he has received from family and peers.
“I’ve just tried to continue to be me and not change through success or failure,” Venables said. “I've just always tried to take an even keeled approach to all of it. I have a humility, respect for (the fact) that it doesn't take much to be on the wrong side of it.”
While at Clemson, Venables liked to play bad cop. If Tigers coach Dabo Swinney was singing his players’ praises, Venables was telling them “how much we stink,” and rooting out their complacency. That came with mixed reactions, which he compared to how family members always love each other, but don’t always like each other.
“I like adversity,” Venables said. “I like to create it, I love to strain. I like to create a lot of stress. I do that. I make people uncomfortable sometimes, in the coaching world, whether it's with coaches or players, because I think that's where you can get everybody with a high sense of urgency.
“I think that we're all at our best that way. And so the more stress there is, I think the better opportunity there is to improve and get better. I've normalized stress and struggle, and a lot of times it’s because I make it up even through all the success.”
Venables had a similar conversation with OU’s defense last Friday. Within that meeting, stress and strain was warranted after the group had given up 40-plus points to four consecutive opponents.
“‘Just so y'all know, here's who I am,’” Venables told the defense. “‘We get on that practice field, we get in this meeting room, there's gonna be a lot of times you don't like me at all. And I like that you don't like me. And if you strain and fight and compete out of spite, good. I'm getting what I want, and you're getting what you need.’”
After that, OU’s defense buckled down against Iowa State, recording three interceptions and allowing just 13 points and 66 rushing yards. Whether that was from spite or motivation from Venables’ message, only the players know, but either way, their coach was just instilling toughness like he has all season.
“Sometimes you guys see one version (of me), and then the players, they see a whole ‘nother version — good and bad, good and tough, encouraging and very demanding,” Venables said. “But I do think inherently that when you're faced with this week, this day, this moment or your back’s against the wall, I think that there's where you rely on your foundation, your beliefs, your convictions.”
OU football head coach Brent Venables during the game against Iowa State in Ames, Iowa on Oct. 29.
Finishing strong
While the first half of the season didn’t go as planned for Venables and the Sooners, they’ll have an opportunity to rewrite the script over their final four games.
The first-year coach said Tuesday when he arrived in Norman his goal for his first season was to help players establish an identity. After starting 4-3, OU has won back-to-back games over Kansas and Iowa State, respectively, and has a chance to win its last five games.
“What we want to be able to do as we finish the season out in the regular season is continue to get better and improve,” Venables said. “Our best players have got to continue to lead the way.”
Venables said he’s encouraged his players to focus more on their development individually and as a team this season, rather than what the scoreboard reads. While winning is paramount, Venables is playing the long game when it comes to building his culture to last.
He recalled his third season at Clemson in 2014 when the team started 1-2, quarterback Deshaun Watson suffered an ACL injury and it seemed the world was crashing down. The Tigers ended up winning nine of their last 10 games, including a 40-6 thrashing over OU in the Russell Athletic Bowl.
“All the work (the players) put into it, you want to see them have success,” Venables said. “So, that's what I want to see and I want them at the end of the year to have no regrets. And that's been my challenge. Don't worry about the scoreboard, don't worry about the winning and the losing, don't focus on that.”
“Focus on the effort, the details, the preparation, the commitment, the sacrifice, the belief, the trust and the support for one another. Focus on that. Because that's how you're going to be judged.”
Finishing strong won’t be easy for OU as it faces reigning Big 12 champion Baylor, West Virginia and Texas Tech on the road, and No. 18 Oklahoma State to close out the season.
“The result will take care of itself,” Venables said. “Now if you come up short, and you've done everything that you can possibly do, then you have no regrets. That's for all of us… (our goal is to) finish the way we're capable of finishing and put it all together. I think we've shown the kind of team that we're capable of being… I believe our best football is still in front of us. ”
