Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables Says Wife Had Recent Surgery After Cancer's Return

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables revealed awful news on Monday night during his weekly coach’s show.

His wife Julie’s cancer is back, Venables announced, and she had a surgical procedure last week to remove a tumor.

“A big part of the battle was her choice to fight, and she’s gonna keep swinging,” Venables told co-hosts Toby Rowland and Teddy Lehman in in front of a live audience, a statewide radio audience and “Sooner Sports Talk” viewers on SEC Network+. 

Julie Venables told The Oklahoman in March that recent tests showed she had “zero cancer” after her original diagnosis in June 2023 and initial surgery in August.

Venables missed last Wednesday’s SEC coaches teleconference because of what was called an “immovable conflict,” per an OU spokesman. He also was unable to attend post-practice media interviews scheduled for Wednesday night.

That came just one day after athletic director Joe Castiglione and president Joe Harroz told media following a regularly scheduled meeting of the OU Board of Regents that they had full confidence in Venables as OU’s head coach moving forward toward the end of a difficult season in which the Sooners are 5-5.

The post-regents comments and the missed media sessions fueled unnecessary speculation about Venables’ job status, but he was with his ailing wife, which multiple sources confirmed last week.