Rece Davis sat in a meeting with Brent Venables nights before the 2000 national championship.
When he left, he had already discovered the eventual fate of Venables, the Sooners’ 30-year old second-year defensive coordinator at the time.
“That dude is going to be a head coach,” Davis said after the meeting.
Over two decades later, Venables became Oklahoma’s head coach. Now, after a 6-7 inaugural season in 2022 and a bounce-back 10-3 finish in 2023, Davis remains confident in Venables’ ability to lead the No. 15 Sooners (3-0) into the program’s biggest regular season game in recent memory against No. 6 Tennessee (3-0) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday in Norman, and beyond.
“The only surprise I have about Brent is that he waited as long as he did (to become a head coach), and he had opportunities, but he waited as long as he did to find the right spot,” Davis said. “I've got extraordinary confidence in him. I think he's a tremendous leader. I think he's got great vision. I think that he demands excellence, and there's always a little bit of a learning curve, growing pains, or whatever, (but) he's going to be fine.
“If there's anyone whose confidence is wavering in Brent Venables, in my judgment, that's misguided. I think he's a really, really good coach.”
During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Venables had high praise for former OU national championship-winning quarterback Josh Heupel and his Volunteers, claiming it’s “hard to argue that anyone in college football is playing better than Tennessee.”
Davis shared a similar precedent about Tennessee, who he has ranked higher than their AP Poll ranking of No. 6. He spoke highly of Volunteers’ redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, who’s thrown for 698 yards and six touchdowns through three games, but has never played in a true road game, or against a defense the caliber of the Venables-led Sooners.
“He doesn’t have experience in environments like he’ll have Saturday night, and against the multitude of looks Brent Venables will throw at him,” Davis said of Iamaleava. “If there is a zone blitz known to man, even ones that were concocted in Leviticus, Venables will throw them at him, and Nico will be challenged to respond."
Though the Volunteers enter the game as 6.5-point favorites, Davis noted a hump they’ll have to overcome on Saturday. Tennessee has lost 29 consecutive road games against top-15 opponents, dating back to 2006.
Saturday presents perhaps the best chance for the Volunteers to end that streak, and a chance for Oklahoma to set a precedent in the SEC.
While Davis understands the hype of the matchup, he won’t be basising the entire season, and OU’s SEC-readiness, solely off it.
“Oklahoma could really signal that they’re a full-fledged, ready to contend member of this conference,” Davis said of what a win would do for the Sooners. “... One game is not going to make the season. If Oklahoma wins it, it doesn’t mean they’re contending for a national championship, although I guess they could, and if they lose it the season is not over.
“... It’s a huge game, fun game, great matchup, but it’s not the end all be all.”
