Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning

Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning

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Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning
Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning
Venables' words so forceful, so clear, they can be deafening … even to him
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Venables' words so forceful, so clear, they can be deafening … even to him

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Clay Horning
Oct 26, 2022
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Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning
Oklahoma Columnist, by Clay Horning
Venables' words so forceful, so clear, they can be deafening … even to him
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Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, center, and players celebrate 52-42 victory over Kansas on Oct. 15. The Sooners travel to Iowa State on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)

If this head coaching thing doesn’t work out for Brent Venables and going back to coordinating’s just too hard after running your own show, he can always become a coaching speechwriter.

It wouldn’t even require writing in somebody else’s voice. His voice so golden, the only challenge would be summoning it for others, because so much of what he says is just so perfect. 

Even off-base, it still sounds perfect.

It’s kind of always been that way but Tuesday, after the Sooners took a week off from their questioners, Venables was extra perfect.

Like David Gilmour’s guitar solo at the end of “Comfortably Numb,” or the “Foreplay” section of Boston’s “Foreplay/Long Time,” it’s easy to become lost in Venables’ sauce.

For example …

He was asked if the Big 12’s particularly maddening this season, every game so winnable and losable, with so little margin for error.

“That’s the game of football. You can’t cheat this game. This game will reward you for precision, for your work, for your grind, for what you do in the dark. It will reward you for that. It will punish you for mistakes.”

A moment later, this:

“This game rewards you for what you do consistently, not what you do occasionally. It doesn’t reward you for what everybody else thinks you could be. It doesn’t reward you for your potential. It rewards you for your performance.”

Also, this:

“They’re not watching a Hudl highlight tape of all your great plays. I tell the players that all the time. They could[n’t] care less about that. They’re gonna find the holes in the fence and they’re coming in, so you better fix those holes in the fence.”

Solid gold.

Priceless.

But there are times you wish the University of Oklahoma’s head football coach might hear himself the way at least a few others, listening closely, hear him, and Tuesday those moments arrived as Venables praised Iowa State coach Matt Campbell.

Oklahoma Columnist is a reader-supported venture. Free and paid versions are available, yet the best way to support this project is to take out a paid subscription for $6/month, less if you purchase 12 months. Thanks for reading — Clay

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