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Featured

OU football: The sights and sounds of Brent Venables’ thunderous return as Sooners’ head coach

  • Updated
  • 8 min to read
Brent Venables

OU football head coach Brent Venables poses with his family and the families of OU president Joseph Harroz (left) and OU athletic director Joe Castiglione (right) is welcomed at the Max Westheimer airport Dec. 5.

 Trey Young/The Daily

Brent Venables stepped off a private plane to deafening applause from a fanbase that came in droves to welcome him back to Norman.

OU fans overwhelmed a small and unassuming Max Westheimer Airport on Sunday night to greet the former Clemson defensive coordinator, who was announced as Oklahoma’s next head coach less than an hour before his transportation circled the city and screamed onto the tarmac.

Back for his second stint with OU after serving as its defensive coordinator from 1999-2011, the man who once characterized coaching the Sooners as his dream job strutted onto the runway, where he posed for pictures with university President Joseph Harroz and athletic director Joe Castiglione, among others.

Then, with an Oklahoma banner waving in the 31 mph wind above him and sparks flying behind him, he marched toward an army of supporters, commanded the microphone and declared the reason for his return.

“There’s a lot of good football programs that are out there,” Venables said energetically, “but there’s only one OU.”

Venables, 50, spent the past 10 seasons building Clemson’s defense into a national powerhouse. The Tigers won national championships in 2016 and 2018 and finished first nationally in total defense in 2014. Clemson completed the 2021 regular season 9-3 overall with a 6-2 record in ACC play, and allowed the least amount of points per game in the conference with 15.

Now the former Kansas State player and coach from 1991-98 returns to OU, which he helped to its most recent national championship in 2000. He replaces Lincoln Riley, who ditched the Sooners after a disappointing 10-2 finish to become the head coach at Southern California on Nov. 28.

Venables will be introduced at Oklahoma’s Everest Training Center in a celebratory event that opens to the public at 9:30 a.m. Monday morning.

“I just wanted to say again, from the bottom of my heart, from the Venables family, from my wife Julie, my sons Jake (and) Tyler, Laney and Addie, we couldn’t be more proud and humbled, to be back here in this great state representing this incredible program and we’re looking forward to so many incredible memories together,” Venables said. “This is going to be a journey filled with a lot of joy.

"To have the opportunity the first time I get to lead a program, (it's) Oklahoma, are you kidding me? It doesn't get any better than this."

Here’s the rest of the best sights and sounds from Venables’ ceremonious return to Norman:

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