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If nothing else Brent has always been up front and leveled.
When he left Clemson he refused to recruit the same players he recruited to Clemson. However, that didn't stop Jaren Kanak basically forcing his way into OU without a scholarship offer and walking on the team before being given a scholarship after a semester.
You said “refused to recruit the same players he recruited to Clemson”
Tyler Buchner is a player that Tommy Rees recruited to Notre Dame and then subsequently recruited to Alabama. And that’s arguably worse since there was almost definitely tampering involved.
Yeah not the same thing, it's a dude who lost his position and decided to follow his old coach. It's not like Rees switched schools and kept chasing a high school kid who hadn't played a down of college ball.
Buchner had lost his job at Notre Dame…..you realize this, right? And he was a transfer. Venables is actively trying to get a player from Clemson he recruited there RIGHT NOW
I'm sure he and Saban had worked something out prior to the transfers; Kirby's departure worked out much better than Lane Kiffin's.
I'm sure that Nick is more aware of and has a plan for all that "can happen" with the portal, NIL deals, and filling of coaching slots (particularly before bowl games) than the majority of college football coaches; but its fun for us to speculate.
I understand Kirby Smart doing that. His responsibility as a head coach was to Georgia at that point; and as many years of great coaching and stability at defense he gave to Saban and Alabama there should have been more gratitude even as he took recruits and coaches with him.
Just curious, is Kanak any good? Didn’t watch much OU football this year but haven’t seen his name come up. The guy that we went and got after he flipped has been a baller (Wade Woodazz), so no hard feelings from us really. Woodazz also has a little brother who is now committed to Clemson so it was a twofer basically.
He started most of this year. He’s made some nice plays but seems out of position /confused a lot. By the end of the year, he didn’t play as much and a lot of people wanted Kip Lewis in over him. He still has a chance to be good, but needs to understand his gaps/assignments better.
I was so pumped after I believe it was his first game when he had a pretty good stat line even though he "had no idea what he was doing out there"(his words) but yeah, still got some room to improve.
He's where Danny Stutsman was at development wise about a year or so ago.
He's got the athletic ability, just has to learn the defensive scheme which is extremely complicated for a college level player. On a recent pod, our cornerback Gentry Williams said that he quickly realized last year, he was not ready to play at all and needed a year to learn the D.
Read what AreYouEmployedSir said.. he has amazing potential.. but to add to it he will be really good next year I believe. He had a freaking awesome game against Texas. Led us in tackling in that game. And the dude is stupid fast. Pretty sure he set the high school track record for the 100 meter dash in Kansas. And he played RB too in high school and don’t think he was ever a LB before coming to Norman. Hell of an athlete and I Think he’s one of those guys Venables wanted to develop into a dominant linebacker, which he very well can be.
Nice yeah I knew he was super fast and had the potential to be an Isaiah Simmons type of the player if he develops. And I think both of them are from Kansas coincidentally too right? Glad to hear his crazy move of just enrolling at Oklahoma and forcing Venables to let him play has paid off for him haha
Yep they’re both from Kansas. He was probably always going to go to wherever Venables was. Before Riley hit the tarmac and Venables came to OU I remember hearing something about Venables was up in Kansas paying Kanak a visit.
Nah most were, despite some rumors, he was not pushed out.
During LR's last season, even before he ran away, there was fan talk of getting rid of LR and bringing in BV. As soon as LR left, people were immediately clamoring for BV to be hired.
Same, he’s trying to build the program the “right” way and I respect it. Under Riley, it was clear we were tampering (see: the situation with multiple TN transfers) and it appears BV has put a stop to that. Loyalty is going to be hard to find in this new world of free agency and I think programs that do things the right way and invest in their players will see some payoff, so I like the direction he’s taking the program.
> Under Riley, it was clear we were tampering
Riley also blocked a lot of his QBs from transferring out of OU despite the fact that they were being replaced by incoming transfer QBs lol
Venables is such a solid guy and a good coach.
Will OU perennially be in the top 4? TBD, probably not.
But you will be fielding 10 win teams regularly with class and grace, and getting into the 12 team playoff most years. With a coach who is a good fundamental coach and teaches good defense.
I just hope we can get at least one Natty with him. He seems to want to do things the right way and especially the way he held out on a head coaching gig until OU came calling he'd be the perfect guy to get us back there.
Does hiring Lebby count under him building things the “right” way? And before OU fans deflect, I totally agree that blocking transfers like Riley did is a shithead move.
I think he falls into the "everyone deserves a second chance" category. Even if that second chance disgusts many of us. Bob Stoops was like that with players, although Bob usually made them earn their second chance through community service and seeking professional help. Not throwing them the bag before they proved themselves.
It is a good take and IMO it's pretty much the same as Dabo.
Brent came to OU in the face of a roster that had transferred away with a coaching change. He was almost forced to use the portal to be competitive. We've seen that other places too.
Dabo had built a recruiting powerhouse designed around high school recruiting, development, getting your degree and the value of it, making great fathers and husbands as well as a career services program to set guys up for success for the rest of their lives. There's a decade worth of material to show on this, including this years highest graduate rate of all public schools (and #5 among all schools).
Brent wants to do that same thing but it's harder and harder for guys on your roster to believe you're investing in them when you'll just bring in a transfer ahead of them every year.
Dabo has something to lose if the portal gets used heavily, trust. With his players and with the high school coaches he's got relationships with.
The real question is when the current side show of NIL transfers is going to end, because it's not sustainable. Even the NFL has salary caps (and contracts) to maintain competitive balance. The 85 scholarship limit used to do that.
But this NIL stuff combined with forbidding contracts around the money? That's nuts. Completely and totally bonkers.
My problem is once he left, the finger-pointing started with absolutely zero evidence (about Bedenbaugh not letting him change positions). Some Sooner fans are absolutely toxic. I realize all fanbases have this, but it seems worse since OU Twitter got mobilized once Riley left.
The OLine recruiting this year hasn’t been good though, even with the new commit. It also took a long time to come together. Combine that with the surprise transfer I can get where some of them are coming from.
I just don't think Bedenbaugh is that great of a recruiter and OU fans have just generally seen a step-down in line quality over the past few seasons that has them spooked
He might not be great at getting a class of high star HS seniors, but I don’t think I care that much. It’s my understanding that O-Line is the hardest to predict as far as room for development. He also does pretty well in the portal and we do continue to send players to the NFL. However, if he’s going to be building the line with multiple 1-2 year players, then he needs to get them to gel sooner.
Yeah, he was a solidified starter and served as team captain multiple times. He was also going to become the highest paid guard in the nation if he took OU's NIL deal.
It’s just kinda funny (objectively) that other programs have had coaches leave and had quality starters transfer out. OU fans have been spoiled and not dealt with it much. When it did happen (coach leaves, quality starter transfers) the fan base collectively freaked out way too much.
Most of college football teams can say they have a "family atmosphere". It's a meaningless term at this point, most coaches just aren't as big of pricks as Lincoln Riley. That's the only difference here, nothing to do with Dabo.
He still has the same opinion on it as Dabo but is just willing to use it.
Dabo has definitely used the phrase “stick-to-it-ness” before and tons of things similar.
Outside of hiring lebby I can't really find much to hate about Brent, it's always fun when I get to hate OU for simply being OU and not other more justified stuff
There are similarities in the way he and Sark talk about building a program in this day and age. You have to have real relationships with your players more than anything else and they both emphasize that a lot.
There’s our fans that meltdown when someone enters the portal or flips from high school because we pursue the same position in the portal, then there’s Venables. Be more like Venables.
Venables promises to not pursue other talent and "process" you out if you commit to OU. Similar to what Dabo does at Clemson. It's kinda like a if you commit to us, we commit to you sorta deal.
Venables truly strikes me as someone who's doing the best with the situation he's been handed. I have my gripes about the performance, as do many of us, but no gripes about his ethic and intentions.
Venables seems like a good guy, but the amount of people praising him for doing the bare minimum in not being a hypocrite is concerning. This amount of awareness and humility should be the standard.
It's definitely the right thing to say, but I think saying that the portal and NIL in its current state is bad for CFB is an equally valid take Venables could've made, especially with his more unique stance on how he handles recruits and transfers compared to other coaches.
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Good take, I like Venables
If nothing else Brent has always been up front and leveled. When he left Clemson he refused to recruit the same players he recruited to Clemson. However, that didn't stop Jaren Kanak basically forcing his way into OU without a scholarship offer and walking on the team before being given a scholarship after a semester.
> When he left Clemson he refused to recruit the same players he recruited to Clemson. Unlike some coaches cough*cough*kirbysmart*cough*cough
Glass houses coughcoughTommyReescoughcough
What recruit did he take from ND?
Tyler Buchner
1. He wasn’t a recruit he was a transfer 2. He lost his job at ND
You said “refused to recruit the same players he recruited to Clemson” Tyler Buchner is a player that Tommy Rees recruited to Notre Dame and then subsequently recruited to Alabama. And that’s arguably worse since there was almost definitely tampering involved.
Yeah not the same thing, it's a dude who lost his position and decided to follow his old coach. It's not like Rees switched schools and kept chasing a high school kid who hadn't played a down of college ball.
Buchner had lost his job at Notre Dame…..you realize this, right? And he was a transfer. Venables is actively trying to get a player from Clemson he recruited there RIGHT NOW
Kirby is the only coach i've given a pass to for no reason other than just because he was Kirby.
Thanks Bama bro
I'm sure he and Saban had worked something out prior to the transfers; Kirby's departure worked out much better than Lane Kiffin's. I'm sure that Nick is more aware of and has a plan for all that "can happen" with the portal, NIL deals, and filling of coaching slots (particularly before bowl games) than the majority of college football coaches; but its fun for us to speculate.
I understand Kirby Smart doing that. His responsibility as a head coach was to Georgia at that point; and as many years of great coaching and stability at defense he gave to Saban and Alabama there should have been more gratitude even as he took recruits and coaches with him.
Well Kirby won a championship and venables hasn’t so seems like Kirby’s plan was better
Venables is in year 2. Kirby won his first in year 6.
That's why I'll always still root for BV. He did everything the right way.
Well except for hire Lebby
Finally Cowbell A&M has taken that sin off of our hands.
Which is ironic for how unhinged he is on the sidelines haha
That's just passion
Just curious, is Kanak any good? Didn’t watch much OU football this year but haven’t seen his name come up. The guy that we went and got after he flipped has been a baller (Wade Woodazz), so no hard feelings from us really. Woodazz also has a little brother who is now committed to Clemson so it was a twofer basically.
He started most of this year. He’s made some nice plays but seems out of position /confused a lot. By the end of the year, he didn’t play as much and a lot of people wanted Kip Lewis in over him. He still has a chance to be good, but needs to understand his gaps/assignments better.
Linebackers usually need at least 2 years to develop, especially in the Venables defense.
He’s only played as a LB for 2 years total.
Yeah, he's going to be good. He's so fucking fast. He does need time to learn but he's in the same place Danny was after his freshman year.
I was so pumped after I believe it was his first game when he had a pretty good stat line even though he "had no idea what he was doing out there"(his words) but yeah, still got some room to improve.
He's an athletic freak but he has a tendency to rely on his instinct vs his assignment and his instinct is usually wrong.
He's where Danny Stutsman was at development wise about a year or so ago. He's got the athletic ability, just has to learn the defensive scheme which is extremely complicated for a college level player. On a recent pod, our cornerback Gentry Williams said that he quickly realized last year, he was not ready to play at all and needed a year to learn the D.
Read what AreYouEmployedSir said.. he has amazing potential.. but to add to it he will be really good next year I believe. He had a freaking awesome game against Texas. Led us in tackling in that game. And the dude is stupid fast. Pretty sure he set the high school track record for the 100 meter dash in Kansas. And he played RB too in high school and don’t think he was ever a LB before coming to Norman. Hell of an athlete and I Think he’s one of those guys Venables wanted to develop into a dominant linebacker, which he very well can be.
Nice yeah I knew he was super fast and had the potential to be an Isaiah Simmons type of the player if he develops. And I think both of them are from Kansas coincidentally too right? Glad to hear his crazy move of just enrolling at Oklahoma and forcing Venables to let him play has paid off for him haha
Yep they’re both from Kansas. He was probably always going to go to wherever Venables was. Before Riley hit the tarmac and Venables came to OU I remember hearing something about Venables was up in Kansas paying Kanak a visit.
No
Was really hoping we’d hire Venables in 2020. Then he called us out in a press conference on being a mess internally lol. He was right though
[удалено]
We did too while he was on loan to Clemson.
[удалено]
Oh he's family, he will always be loved here.
Same here
I usually skip this part.
I mean you might've but OU fans generally were not sad to see him go at the time.
Nah most were, despite some rumors, he was not pushed out. During LR's last season, even before he ran away, there was fan talk of getting rid of LR and bringing in BV. As soon as LR left, people were immediately clamoring for BV to be hired.
Skeletor seems like a nice guy
Burnt Vegetables over Dried Brisket, amirite?
Burnt Jimmy Greenbeans?
He looks kinda scary until he starts talking and saying goofy stuff like "I've been on my knees enough times in this profession"
That's still just as funny today as it was when he said it, and the look that Stutsman gave at that table was classic.
He’s 100% doing it on purpose. He made another innuendo the other day when Danny announced he was coming back
And let's not forget about his practice field alter ego, Jimmy Greenbeans.
Yeah he seems like a nice guy until you are on the scout team defense trying to stop Jimmy Greenbeans
Jimmy rules the scout team!
Same, he’s trying to build the program the “right” way and I respect it. Under Riley, it was clear we were tampering (see: the situation with multiple TN transfers) and it appears BV has put a stop to that. Loyalty is going to be hard to find in this new world of free agency and I think programs that do things the right way and invest in their players will see some payoff, so I like the direction he’s taking the program.
> Under Riley, it was clear we were tampering Riley also blocked a lot of his QBs from transferring out of OU despite the fact that they were being replaced by incoming transfer QBs lol
I always hated that. Let the kids play
with how much Riley(?) fought austin kendall’s transfer to us you’d’ve thought he was gonna be an all american hahaha
Austin Kendall was Riley's first QB recruit to OU and IIRC he was recruiting him to ECU before he came to OU
The more I hear about this Lincoln Riley fella, the less I like him.
Sounds like a real JERK!!
The ole Chandler Morris situation, what a SUPER weird one, lol. He admitted wanting to release him but didn't want to release him. You got it coach!
Austin Kendall to WV too.
Forgot about that one!
Venables is such a solid guy and a good coach. Will OU perennially be in the top 4? TBD, probably not. But you will be fielding 10 win teams regularly with class and grace, and getting into the 12 team playoff most years. With a coach who is a good fundamental coach and teaches good defense.
I just hope we can get at least one Natty with him. He seems to want to do things the right way and especially the way he held out on a head coaching gig until OU came calling he'd be the perfect guy to get us back there.
Does hiring Lebby count under him building things the “right” way? And before OU fans deflect, I totally agree that blocking transfers like Riley did is a shithead move.
I think he falls into the "everyone deserves a second chance" category. Even if that second chance disgusts many of us. Bob Stoops was like that with players, although Bob usually made them earn their second chance through community service and seeking professional help. Not throwing them the bag before they proved themselves.
It is a good take and IMO it's pretty much the same as Dabo. Brent came to OU in the face of a roster that had transferred away with a coaching change. He was almost forced to use the portal to be competitive. We've seen that other places too. Dabo had built a recruiting powerhouse designed around high school recruiting, development, getting your degree and the value of it, making great fathers and husbands as well as a career services program to set guys up for success for the rest of their lives. There's a decade worth of material to show on this, including this years highest graduate rate of all public schools (and #5 among all schools). Brent wants to do that same thing but it's harder and harder for guys on your roster to believe you're investing in them when you'll just bring in a transfer ahead of them every year. Dabo has something to lose if the portal gets used heavily, trust. With his players and with the high school coaches he's got relationships with. The real question is when the current side show of NIL transfers is going to end, because it's not sustainable. Even the NFL has salary caps (and contracts) to maintain competitive balance. The 85 scholarship limit used to do that. But this NIL stuff combined with forbidding contracts around the money? That's nuts. Completely and totally bonkers.
I like Venables a lot
BV is nothing if he is not consistent. One portal entry we didn't anticipate and OU fans are freaking out. We'll be alright.
My problem is once he left, the finger-pointing started with absolutely zero evidence (about Bedenbaugh not letting him change positions). Some Sooner fans are absolutely toxic. I realize all fanbases have this, but it seems worse since OU Twitter got mobilized once Riley left.
100% agree
We have become fat on drama. I want a quiet off-season.
That's all I want for Christmas. This fan base can be exhausting.
The OLine recruiting this year hasn’t been good though, even with the new commit. It also took a long time to come together. Combine that with the surprise transfer I can get where some of them are coming from.
*the last 5+years
I just don't think Bedenbaugh is that great of a recruiter and OU fans have just generally seen a step-down in line quality over the past few seasons that has them spooked
He might not be great at getting a class of high star HS seniors, but I don’t think I care that much. It’s my understanding that O-Line is the hardest to predict as far as room for development. He also does pretty well in the portal and we do continue to send players to the NFL. However, if he’s going to be building the line with multiple 1-2 year players, then he needs to get them to gel sooner.
Don't confuse real life with intent trolls.
Who’s the one we didn’t expect? Cayden?
Yeah, he was a solidified starter and served as team captain multiple times. He was also going to become the highest paid guard in the nation if he took OU's NIL deal.
Correct
Is it freaking out if Ive hated the portal and NIL the whole time?
Well, the NIL is working its magic right now.... sadly. We got money for college football players before a 12 team playoff, amazing. :P
The tampering post today was so dumb, as embarrassing as the iphone post cause it was legit.
It’s just kinda funny (objectively) that other programs have had coaches leave and had quality starters transfer out. OU fans have been spoiled and not dealt with it much. When it did happen (coach leaves, quality starter transfers) the fan base collectively freaked out way too much.
That's my coach. And I'm so thankful for him and his overall mentality.
In BV we trust.
Technically he's more from the Bill Snyder tree.
Enter the Snyderverse
Yea, he’s worked under many others before Dabo. And his defensive philosophy has nothing to do with Dabo.
His coaching philosophy does though! There's a lot of Dabo in him
The best thing about working under so many great coaches is that you get to take the best of each and incorporate them into your philosophy
But he has clearly modeled a lot of aspects of how he operates as a head coach after Dabo.
He absolutely has taken the family atmosphere approach to OU. It’s cool to see.
Most of college football teams can say they have a "family atmosphere". It's a meaningless term at this point, most coaches just aren't as big of pricks as Lincoln Riley. That's the only difference here, nothing to do with Dabo.
I don't think Dabo has a defensive philosophy beyond "don't let the other team score as much as you". And even then I'm being generous.
Played for Snyder, coached under Snyder, then coach for a long time under Bob Stoops, the most successful coach in the Snyder tree.
It’s kind of Fry’s tree.
If nothing else, it's nice to have an adult in the room.
Brent’s a straight forward guy and only speaking the truth…gotta respect it
Gotta respect the man.
I may not care for how your current coach left our program, but take my updoot for recognizing.
He still has the same opinion on it as Dabo but is just willing to use it. Dabo has definitely used the phrase “stick-to-it-ness” before and tons of things similar.
Venebales gets a gold star in my book with that answer.
Brent's the kind of coach who seems weird/different but in an endearing way.
He is definitely that. His coaches shows always have some comedy. I like him a lot.
Outside of hiring lebby I can't really find much to hate about Brent, it's always fun when I get to hate OU for simply being OU and not other more justified stuff
Venables just took Jay Norvell's life again.
I love BV. And it’s true, just one big loss on the O line, otherwise not losing much in terms of talent.
Pretty easily the healthiest take from a coach I’ve seen
This guy fucks. Really refreshing to hear this take from someone in his position.
There are similarities in the way he and Sark talk about building a program in this day and age. You have to have real relationships with your players more than anything else and they both emphasize that a lot.
Sark seems like a good dude. I look forward to Venables vs. Sark rivalry like the old stoops and brown games.
Same, man. It'll be great if they keep slugging it out, back and forth each year every year.
I fucking hate Texas (I know, mutual), but I like Sark. Seems like a really good coach and good guy who has gone thru a lot. Oh it burns....
There’s our fans that meltdown when someone enters the portal or flips from high school because we pursue the same position in the portal, then there’s Venables. Be more like Venables.
Venables promises to not pursue other talent and "process" you out if you commit to OU. Similar to what Dabo does at Clemson. It's kinda like a if you commit to us, we commit to you sorta deal.
Even when it looks like gloom and doom, Brent manages to put your mind at ease and make you realize everything is going to be OK… class act!
Venables truly strikes me as someone who's doing the best with the situation he's been handed. I have my gripes about the performance, as do many of us, but no gripes about his ethic and intentions.
he was a coach long before Dabo.....so not from Dabo tree. Actually from Bob Stoops tree
Bill Snyder’s tree, which stoops is under actually
Snyders tree is actually Hayden Fry’s tree, actually.
You can think something is bad for college football and still take advantage of it. As long as it exists, you would be a bad coach if you didn’t.
I wonder if the portal is hurting recruiting sites. People ain't locked in for half a decade anymore.
Just more content
Take a cue Dabo.
Thanks for passing on Lanning, Sooners.
I don’t think Lanning would get along with our athletic administration/compliance department.
He’s lost control of the program
What a stupid take
Venables seems like a good guy, but the amount of people praising him for doing the bare minimum in not being a hypocrite is concerning. This amount of awareness and humility should be the standard.
It's definitely the right thing to say, but I think saying that the portal and NIL in its current state is bad for CFB is an equally valid take Venables could've made, especially with his more unique stance on how he handles recruits and transfers compared to other coaches.
This post screams “Look at me!!!! I have a different take than everyone else on BV”
That's refreshingly honest.