How Brent Venables Quickly Remade Another Defensive Juggernaut at Oklahoma

Yeah, you saw it: Clemson. As good as this Oklahoma defense has been, Venables has done this before.

Venables and those Tigers had the nation’s best defense: No. 1 in total yards (260.8 per game), No. 5 against the run (103.4), No. 2 against the pass (157.4), and No. 3 on the scoreboard (16.7 points per game). They finished just 10-3 that year (and crushed Oklahoma 40-6 in the Russell Athletic Bowl), but then lost to Bama in the national title game the following season before winning two of the next three national championships.

So Venables already has the blueprint for which Sooner Nation has waited so long. Does that mean this year's defense could be revealing the precursor to championship immortality?

Dynamic Offenses Ahead, but Will it Matter?

There’s obviously a long way to go for this Oklahoma squad. The No. 13-ranked Sooners face some of college football’s most prolific offenses over the next six weeks — in Ole Miss, Tennessee and Missouri, teams that currently ranked Nos. 5, 8 and 10 in total yards, and Nos. 2, 12 and 16 in scoring. The challenge starts with Saturday’s return to Owen Field to face the No. 8-ranked Rebels.

So there’s plenty of time for OU’s defensive rankings to drop.

But will they? Given the body of work so far — OU leads the nation in tackles for loss and quarterback sacks, and is No. 1 in fewest first downs allowed and No. 3 in third-down defense — this unit hasn’t faced the greatest offenses, but they haven't exactly lucked into anything. 

According to Pro Football Focus, Oklahoma leads the nation in fewest yards per play (3.7), second-half defensive grade (96.4), pressure rate (47 percent), sack rate (13.3 percent), and ranks No. 2 in success rate versus the pass (70.3 percent) and the run (73.8 percent) as well as points per drive (0.71).

Is this finally the OU defense that dominates on the field and in the stats and gives the Sooners a chance to win a championship, or at least lay the foundation upon which they can stack trophies later? 

The last time Oklahoma had a defense this good — you guessed it — Venables was the defensive coordinator. The 2009 Sooners, led by All-American defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, ranked No. 8 in total defense, No. 8 against the run, No. 20 against the pass and No. 7 in scoring defense.

But that OU squad was wracked by injuries, especially on offense, and finished the year with an 8-5 record.

Laying a Defensive Foundation

It’s year four for Venables, so let’s pause and ponder how he remade the defense so completely, so quickly.

Taking over for Lincoln Riley as head coach and Alex Grinch as the resident defensive genius, Venables inherited a defense that ranked No. 76 overall, No. 30 against the run, No. 109 against the pass and No. 60 in scoring the year before. And those numbers were actually up from previous years under Riley.

First up, Venables hired a defensive staff that has been mostly static the last four years but for one position. 

Ted Roof and Zac Alley gave it a go as linebacker coaches and coordinators, but Venables had to let Roof go, and Alley ducked out to West Virginia. So now Venables calls the defense himself. Pretty big upgrade.

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He did have to hire some more linebacker coaches. The line coaches (Todd Bates and Miguel Chavis) and the secondary coaches (Jay Valai and Brandon Hall) haven’t changed, but the linebacker coaches (now Nate Dreiling and Wes Goodwin) have been a revolving door.

“This is the best defensive staff that I've been on since I've been coaching,” Venables said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. “And I've been on a couple of really amazing staffs. But top to bottom, understanding of both the front end and the back end, this is a group that's full of a bunch of great teachers and motivators, guys that show up with passion and energy. We've got a great cohesion and respect and trust amongst each other, and I try to provide an environment that nurtures opinions and also input.” 

Next, to compete in the SEC, Venables had to employ bigger linemen. The 2021 Sooners had exactly zero defensive linemen who weighed more than 300 pounds. Junior college transfers Perrion Winfrey and Isaiah Coe, at 292, were the biggest.

Now? The current roster has seven 300-pounders (three others are listed between 295 and 297), with the lightest tackle being 290-pound Nigel Smith — who was recruited as a defensive end.

And the defensive line isn’t just SEC-big. This year, a position that was mostly a liability for the last decade-plus has blossomed into arguably the best defensive line in college football. Damonic Williams, Jayden Jackson, Gracen Halton and David Stone have laid waste to enemy quarterbacks and wrought havoc for opposing offenses.

“How quickly can we get our guys comfortable, anticipating playing fast, playing physical, put together the game plan and do what we do?” Venables said. 

Pretty quickly, apparently.

More Than Stats, This Looks Like Culture

OU’s defensive rankings have generally improved each year under Venables. But this season shows something different, something beyond a marginal statistical climb. It shows culture.

Last year’s defense finished ranked No. 19 in total defense, then lost its two best players in linebacker Danny Stutsman and safety Billy Bowman — and promptly got better.

Not only that, but the offense has obviously taken massive leaps since last year, as Venables fired a friend and former player and brought in a new offensive coordinator who came ready-made with both a scheme and a quarterback.

Frankly, it’s all a strong indication that Venables continues to grow as a head coach. 

“Probably a younger version of me would (say) ‘I’m supposed to have all the answers’ and so maybe didn't welcome the input or ideas or opinions, things of that nature,” Venables said. “ … My ability as a coach and as a coordinator role is to make sure everybody in the room — I'm just one person — everybody in the room sees it the same way. 

“And I don't have all the answers. We've got a lot of really good coaches, and I'm trying to do a good job of empowering and helping. If we're going to be great, then it's going to take everybody.”