Venables will never be the guy like this

Sooner coach still hasn't learned how to think like a head coach rather than a defensive coordinator and the program's paying the consequences

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables runs onto the field with his team before the start of an NCAA college football game against Iowa State, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

It’s hard to remain angry with Brent Venables. 

Or remain consternated by him, or fully withdraw your confidence in him, or anything of the sort.

It’s hard because, three days after an embarrassing loss to Texas, sporting a more horrendous offense than any defense we’ve ever seen around here, he says something like this, describing the way he interacts with players who can’t seem to bring to games what they bring to practice.

“‘I’ll run over your coaches, throw them under the bus all you want if that’s appropriate,’” he said he tells them. “You’ve got to be open and honest and a coach has got to own it when they screw up and there’s plenty of that.

“And then the players [must] have responsibility, too. ‘Are you spending extra time to have your details down when you get in the moment?’”

Thoughts like that make it hard to stay on the other side of him because nobody who’ll say that to media is flying blind. It tells you, at some level, he’s on top of things.

Also, thankfully, Venables went deep Tuesday on his misgivings about the Sooner offense, currently ranked 125th of 133 FBS programs and third worst among all Power Four programs, gaining more yards than only Florida State and UCLA.

“As I go back, were there opportunities there? Yeah, several times, wide open,” he said. “Is the protection there when they’re wide open? Yep, it sure was. 

“Do we got to pull the trigger? Yeah, we sure do … There’s a coaching piece to that [because] what you put on the field is a reflection of what you’re coached, and then, at the same time, we’ve got to take what we practice, what we did right in practice, and we’ve got to take it to game day.”

So, you can quit thinking he’s entirely blind to what’s ailing his team.

It’s reassuring.

Well, to a point.

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In case you missed it, and many did, here’s a small piece of his Saturday evening press conference from the Cotton Bowl.

Venables was asked about how he was feeling about things through the first half, but went kind of everywhere with his answer.

“You had some things that were good in the first half. It’s 14-3 and we go back-to-back fumbles, gave up a touchdown … it’s 21-3, all right? Not ideal,” he said. “Getting the ball back to start the second half … we’re going to have to have some things go our way.

“At the end of the day, what I was most disappointed in was the defensive side of the ball. We’re better than that, and when you do that against a team that can rush the passer, and they can play great in coverage, again, the second and third level …”

Wait, stop.

What did he say?

Did Venables really slip in what he really slipped in?

He was most disappointed with the defense?

How can that be?

The house is on fire.

The fire department comes out, gets it under control, minimizes the damage until, terrible luck, it runs out of water … and Venables is most upset about the water?

The house is on fire!

The Sooners are putting out one of the nine worst offenses in the nation and, among major conferences, one of the worst three, and the thing that bothered him most in Dallas a few days ago was the side of the ball that gave his team a fighting chance in the first place?

It’s so telling, none of it’s good, and as one who’s been covering the program since John Blake’s sophomore season — and I don’t say it lightly — it is now reasonable to believe Venables simply isn’t the guy.

Doesn’t mean he can’t still be the guy. Doesn’t mean, before all support and his job is gone following a 2025 season along the same lines as this one, he can’t turn the corner and still become the next great Sooner football coach.

What it does mean, though, is enough information’s at hand to thoughtfully, not reflexively, make the judgment, because here we are, three off-seasons and two-and-half actual seasons into it and still he can’t approach things as a head coach, rather than a defensive coordinator; still what so clearly ails this team more than all the rest he can’t make his first priority because, well, he just can’t.

It’s not where he is.

Even if it must be where he is.

Bob Stoops famously went out and found an offensive coordinator that drove him nuts when he was a defensive coordinator and that was Mike Leach. When the offense ran to ground and Josh Heupel had to go, he sought another high flyer, another savant, and that was Lincoln Riley.

Venables hired Jeff Lebby, who’d never run an offense without the help of an offensive minded head coach, and then Seth Littrell, who might be fine if OU claimed an offensive line and healthy receivers, but who’s never been granted visionary status either and who’s said nothing new for weeks.

All that and, on a day his offense — presuming Venables even sees it as “his offense” — struggled to gain 200 yards and scored just three points, he was more alarmed about other things.

Tuesday, Venables was reassuring. But it’s Saturdays he’s got a problem and it’s not the defense.

He must learn.

He’s not learning fast enough.

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