Why Brent Venables' consistency, intense preparation will help lead OU football in SEC

NORMAN — On a blistering hot August afternoon, Brent Venables was drenched with sweat as he approached reporters at Gaylord Family — Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

OU’s 53-year-old football coach had jogged nearly a mile and a half across campus. His whistle hung around his neck. He held his notes in his hand.

The run is part of his daily routine and equally as important as the notes.

Entering his third season as a college football coach, Venables maintains a specific consistency in his life.

At home with his family. With his faith. In the program’s offices inside the Barry Switzer Center. And on the field with his players.

Despite various challenges throughout his life, Venables carries himself with humility and joy.

He's gone from a defensive coordinator of three national championship teams to his first head coaching position. And when Year 3 with the Sooners opens at 6 p.m. Friday against Temple , the biggest challenge of his career begins.

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Venables is tasked with leading a storied program into the SEC, a juggernaut of a conference he only believes OU should run into while accepting the challenge.

"That's the foundation and the core of being a competitor as a player or coach," Venables told The Oklahoman . "You want to compete. You don't want things easy.

"Things you value the most are the hardest to get. Things that come easy, they don't last long, but things that last a long time, they don't ever come easy."

That message is one of many that serves as a crux in Venables’ life.

And this season won’t be easy. Riddled with uncertainties, OU was picked to finish eighth in the SEC preseason media poll. The Sooners are just 16-10 under Venables.

Venables knows fans expect more than that. He’s also aware of the stakes to perform in 2024.

“He’s got a deep passion and appreciation for the people (in Oklahoma),” Venables’ son Tyler said. “I think he feels that as much as anybody when they lose games, or when he doesn't feel like he meets the standard of the expectation of the people there. He's fully aware of the appreciation that the Oklahoma fans have, that the passion that they have for the university, and he, as much as anybody, does not want to let them down, does not want to let his team down.”

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Brent Venables' mantra: ‘Live by your work’

Dating back to his time as a player and assistant under legendary Kansas State coach Bill Snyder, Venables has been a ferocious notetaker.

Like Snyder, who has saved around 50 notebooks complete with his day-to-day as a coach throughout the years in his house, Venables keeps binders of all the notes he’s taken in his office, some dating back 20-plus years.

Venables often revisits old folders throughout the season trying to glean any bit of knowledge to help him in that week’s preparation. Before every season he starts a fresh notebook and process.

“It has been significant in my life and all facets of my life,” Snyder said. “There probably isn't anything I desire to do or plan, etc. that I don't write down. I don’t trust anything to memory.

“I guess it rubbed off (on Venables).”

Venables credits a lot of the consistency he tries to live with, what he learned about building a program and being a man to Snyder.

“You can always outwork people, out strategy, always have a Plan B or C,” Venables said. “He was incredibly thorough. I loved how he buried (himself in the work), he always had an us-against-the-world mentality. I've been an underdog my whole life, before Kansas State, when we were at Kansas State and when we came here they hadn’t had a winning season.

“Believing in yourself and believing in one another, getting more out of less. That's my foundation. I couldn't have been more fortunate to have been an understudy of Bill Snyder. For several years, people laughed at Kansas State and always discounted Kansas State but there was a lot of pride in the work.”

Before Venables’ sons Jake and Tyler headed to school, Venables would remind them not to forget their notebooks and something to write with for their practice. When the two graduated and joined their father at Clemson, Jake made a mistake and he knew better.

“My very first meeting in college, I was being a knucklehead and didn't take anything to write with,” Jake said. “I learned a tough lesson that day, but that was the last meeting I attended empty-handed.”

Years later at OU, film sessions, meetings and practices are just as intense. Sometimes on off days, film can run hours long. Venables often tells the group, “This is voluntary. You guys don’t have to be here,” noting who doesn’t want to be there.

Venables also hasn’t changed his habit of working late at the office. When Jake and Tyler were growing up, they’d only see their father on Saturdays postgame and Sunday mornings during church.

Venables never stops. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic when college football was put on hiatus, Venables still held virtual meetings from home with coaches and players in work attire.

“What I've said a lot to our guys is, ‘You live by your work. You don't live by your reputation,’” Venables said. “You live by your work. And that's who we want to be.”

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Brent Venables ‘wanted to provide stability’ for his family

Brent Venables always talked about being a head coach.

There was plenty of interest from schools. When he would field calls, he’d sit his family down in the living room to discuss.

“You're crazy,” Jake and Tyler would say. “You should take this job right now.”

“No, this ain’t it,” Venables would always respond. “I don’t feel this one.”

Venables prides himself on loyalty. He’s enjoyed every job he’s had. He loves going to work every day and the people he’s worked with. This was especially true in the culture Dabo Swinney built at Clemson.

When OU athletic director Joe Castiglione called to pique his interest about returning, Venables felt a certain alignment.

He had been there for 12 years, joining Bob Stoops and winning a national title.

It was the right time to take on the next challenge.

“It had to do with his upbringing,” Tyler said. “He never wanted to chase money, never wanted to chase his career. He always wanted to have stability within his family. That’s why he's only been at three places in the past 20-something years because he wanted to provide stability.”

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In a world of instability, Brent models his approach the same way he does at home. OU will need that stability in the SEC.

Venables was reeling at times last season. The Sooners were 6-7 in 2022. But his wife, Julie, was also diagnosed with breast cancer.

Julie underwent surgeries, including one in season, and told The Oklahoman in March that she was cancer-free. Brent sported a pink bracelet on his left wrist last season, leading the Sooners to 10 wins.

“There were lots of challenges with that,” Venables’ nephew Joey Eddis said. “He's very family-oriented, and that's important to him. It's not an easy challenge, but he balanced the two. If you win 10 games, you're in the upper percentile of teams. You’ve got 132 teams, or whatever it is, and most can't even win eight games once in 10 years.”

Eddis had a front-row seat to Venables’ consistency in life and on the gridiron. He and his brother moved from Kansas to South Carolina after high school to live with the Venables family while playing for the Tigers.

The brothers had to keep their heads on a swivel and hold themselves to a higher standard.

A few years ago, Brent, Jake, Joey, his brother Nick and Tyler took a boy's trip to Colorado. Stocked with PB&Js, the group hiked to the top of Quandary Peak, a 14,271-foot mountain with the highest summit of the Tenmile Range in the Rocky Mountains.

As athletes, the group thought they were in shape until it took them six hours to reach the top before they realized they had to climb down. Venables just kept on going, however, leaving them at one point to fend for themselves.

The boys were exhausted on the drive back, so Venables saw an opportunity to push them further. He pulled over at a local football field and made them do sprints before playing a game of 2-on-2.

Despite his constant intensity, Venables cherishes his brief time away from the game during the offseason. He tries to see his daughters Addie and Laney at home as much as possible and carves out time to visit his South Carolina lake house.

While Venables is intentional about seeing his family, he also allows his coaches time away for theirs.

Kansas State co-offensive coordinator Matt Wells, who was on Venables’ staff the past two seasons in Norman, says one of the things he appreciated most about working alongside him was he frequently allowed him to commute to Lubbock, Texas, to see his son.

“I was inspired by his humility,” Wells said. “For a guy that's one of the best coordinators in the last decade of college football, the guy was humble. That has always stuck with me over the last couple of years.

“Those are moments that are special for me.”

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Brent Venables 'always looked for incremental advantages'

Wells was brought onto Venables’ staff in 2022 after serving nine seasons as a head coach.

Wells had been let go by Texas Tech and sought a fresh start. Venables also hired former Duke head coach Ted Roof as his defensive coordinator and brought on former North Texas head coach Seth Littrell as an offensive assistant in 2023, before ultimately elevating him to offensive coordinator by season’s end.

Venables thought it important to have former head coaches on staff to help with all aspects of running a program. Wells met with him one-on-one before every game, reviewing all the details one last time before hitting the field. Despite early clock management and in-game struggles in his first season, Venables made significant strides in Year 2.

“I've seen Brent just become more comfortable in that chair at the end of the table,” Wells said. “He's always comfortable in front of men, he is a leader of men. He's a natural-born leader. There are two qualities that you need as a head coach. You need courage and you need humility. Brent Venables has an unlimited supply of courage, strength, and knowledge and has a lot of confidence in his abilities.”

Not only did Venables hire a veteran staff to join him at OU, but he also overhauled the Sooners’ competitive depth, which he says was nowhere near ready to compete in the SEC when he arrived. He signed three consecutive top-10 recruiting classes, earning a new six-year contract extension worth at least $51.6 million.

Will it be enough to make noise in 2024? Hall of Fame coach Steve Spurrier spent the summer pondering the same question for his beloved Florida Gators. He sees a lot of parallels between the Gators and the Sooners. Both Venables and Florida coach Billy Napier are entering their third seasons and haven’t had the success their fans have wished for in recent seasons.

Spurrier has followed OU closely since his former pupil Bob Stoops took the head gig in 1999. He’s also too familiar with Venables, having faced him as rivals in the Palmetto Series during his time as South Carolina’s coach.

“They did good things (at Clemson),” Spurrier said. “He’s got an excellent track record. The problem he has is trying to do as well as Bobby Stoops did, and I don't think that can be done again. They've recruited well, got good coaches and time will tell.”

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Venables entered the head coaching ranks right as the sport was enduring immense change. The transfer portal and NIL are everyday concerns for head coaches, not to mention the potential revenue-sharing coming to the game in 2025.

But those who know Venables best believe he can continue to adapt.

“He's always looked for incremental advantages,” said Texas Tech athletic director Kirby Hocutt, who was Venables’ roommate at Kansas State.

“He's always looked for, ‘Is there a better way to do this? Is there a better way to do that?’ And there's no doubt that, as the landscape and college athletics continues to change, he will be a head coach that has his fingerprints on how to adapt.”

Venables didn’t rush his process when he arrived. He began to lay the foundation and build a more competitive roster and a family atmosphere.

“His No. 1 goal for every player is to graduate and to make sure that they're on the right track to be successful off the field,” Venables’ son Jake said. “Because that makes it more of a personal relationship, as opposed to a transaction or business. He craves having personal relationships with everyone on this team.”

Bill Snyder has watched Venables’ first two seasons at OU with intent. He saw last season’s win over Texas as a sign of improvement.

“I have seen such a great maturity take place with Brent,” Snyder said. “He has grown in all ways. He's always been knowledgeable about the game, he's always been an extremely hard worker. He's been able to see and grasp all aspects of the game, coaching and working with young people.

“He’s working with faculty and other coaches and he's continually grown and become a very well-rounded coach.”

Entering this season, Venables has rebuilt the Sooners with the transfer portal and refined the program with all new coordinators. He craves raucous road environments like Auburn and LSU on OU’s schedule.

The supreme confidence he has in his group comes from the conviction Venables leads his life with. Family is at the center of the program Venables is building at OU where there is stability and everyone lives by their work.

“The challenge is you’ve got to lock in and understand that external circumstances don't win for you,” Venables said. “Execution does. Physicality does. The challenge of getting guys to understand and buy into that is good and hard.

“If you don't embrace that, the SEC-type of schedule that you have, then you’re in it for the wrong reasons.”

It’s taken some time, but even OU’s players understand Venables more.

When Venables returned to Norman, star linebacker Danny Stutsman found a rude awakening.

Stutsman was forced to grow up fast. He credits Venables for presenting him with a blueprint for becoming a better football player and an even better man, always passing him encouraging notes or dishing out life advice.

“That's just how he is,” Stutsman said. “He spreads himself thin, but he's that type of guy. He's a superhero, man, he can do that. And he's just trying to build upon that, it takes time.

“I don't know what it's like to be a head coach, and he's trying to figure it out, but I know he's a man who will get it down, and he already has.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Why Brent Venables' consistency, intense preparation will help lead OU football in SEC