Brent Venables feels good about where his team is entering training camp Friday.
During the first press conference since players endured summer workouts with strength and conditioning coach Jerry Schmidt, followed by a brief summer break, the first-year head coach says his team hasn’t been plagued by any major injuries.
“We’re probably 99 percent healthy, nothing that we’re really concerned about with that other one percent. Hopefully within the first couple of weeks we’ll have everybody ready to go,” Venables said. “I feel great about the health of our team, the gains that we’ve made in the weight room … I think our guys are in a really good, confident, strong position going into camp.”
Another focus Venables says was key for him and his new staff to continue building their culture this summer was recruiting. Through perseverance, the Sooners went on a tear in July adding nine new commits which included seven four-stars.
He said while other schools had more commitments earlier, it was more important to him to get the right fits for Oklahoma. He also mentioned having the long game in mind and making sure recruits have peace and confirmation in their final decisions.
“Getting the right ones, having a narrow focus over the course of the spring to figure out the guys we really wanted to target, guys who were really a great fit,” Venables said. “And just because they commit, that doesn’t mean everything’s over, for us you’ve got to continue to recruit them like they’re not committed because you don’t sign until December.”
As far as any possible position changes to the current roster during the spring or summer, Venables kept it simple and straightforward with no updates.
“Defensive guys stayed on defense, offensive guys stayed on offense,” Venables said. “We may have some guys that played tackle, moving inside or guys inside playing a little bit outside but nothing major.
Lebby looking to Gabriel and Gray
Jeff Lebby announced Tuesday he will call plays from the booth this season, as he installs his system that has thrived in the last few years.
The Sooners’ offensive coordinator led one of the most high-level attacks in the nation with Central Florida in 2019, averaging 316.7 passing yards and 240.2 rushing yards per game, finishing as the nation’s No. 2 ranked offense.
He plans to bring the same game plan to Oklahoma with redshirt junior quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who he coached with the Golden Knights during that season. Lebby noted he’s confident in the Hawaii native’s ability to throw the ball down the field but needs to continue to be accountable to gain trust from his teammates.
“We talked about that yesterday,” Lebby said. “If you want to gain a lot of confidence from your teammates to know what to do … you have to have a presence in the huddle or come off the sideline and create confidence inside the group. The biggest thing is just accountability and ownership and knowing our job makes everybody around us better.”
Alongside Gabriel, senior running back Eric Gray will lead the ground attack. Gray was a dual-threat playmaker out of the backfield last season catching 23 passes for 223 yards, while rushing 78 times for 412 yards. With Lebby and running back coach Demarco Murray’s guidance, the former Tennessee transfer is confident he will boost his draft stock as a versatile NFL prospect in Lebby’s scheme.
“The back nowadays is a versatile player who can play out of the backfield and play in the backfield,” Gray said. “We've seen that with (Christian McCaffrey), Saquon Barkley and Alvin Kamara. All those guys are making a lot of money.
“I didn't know a lot about coach Lebby other than watching the Ole Miss offense, but he assured me that this is going to be a great offense for me and a great offense for the team and where I need to be.”
With Oklahoma’s opener against UTEP on Sept. 3, Lebby is looking to Gray and Gabriel to bring his vision to fruition.
“We're obviously gonna play with tempo, we're gonna play fast and we're gonna be aggressive,” Lebby said. “I think just like everybody has seen, we're gonna throw the football down the field, but we're going to run the rock, as well. We want to be incredibly balanced. I think at the end of the day, we have to find ways to put all of our guys in positions of success.”
Competition at linebacker
One of the common themes of the offseason and training camp is players vying for starting positions and playing time.
The Sooners’ defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Ted Roof highlighted the linebacker position in particular as having a plethora of competition. The group is headlined by six returners, one transfer and three freshmen, all who have impressed Roof with their athleticism and work ethic thus far.
“The thing that I like about that group is there’s a lot of competition,” Roof said. “Anytime there’s competition, that makes everybody better. We’re athletic, we’ve got some guys that can run, but running in shorts is different than running with 40 pounds of gear on trying to chase somebody who’s pretty fast too so we’ll see how that goes (in camp).
“I’m excited moving forward and like what (the linebackers) have done this summer. I like the way they’ve worked. I like the way they’ve committed, spending the time learning what to do and I know we’re ahead of where we were when we stopped in the spring.”
Out here at OU Media Day.DC Ted Roof up first, says #Sooners are "better defensively now than when we started the summer."
— Colton Sulley (@colton_sulley) August 2, 2022
Some notable players Roof mentioned that are battling each other for spots include senior David Ugwoegbu vs. sophomore Danny Stutsman and redshirt senior DaShaun White vs. redshirt senior T.D. Roof, Ted’s son. Roof also noted junior Shane Whitter as someone who has had an impactful offseason.
“There’s a lot of competition there, but it’s a competition where there’s respect,” Roof said. “(Ugwoegbu and Stutsman) really care about each other and appreciate what each other brings to the table and have made each other better. But my job is to get the group together on the field, whoever that is in whatever role that is.
“(White and Roof) have had a great competition as well, it’s made both of them better. Because when you’re competing, if you take a day off or a play off, you’re going to be behind the 8-ball a little bit and that just raises everybody’s level which is a wonderful thing for our football team.”
