Mark Stoops opens up on relationship with Brent Venables, thoughts on Oklahoma and Texas joining SEC

Kentucky football coach Mark Stoops is eager to welcome Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC. Already considered the toughest college football conference in the country, the league should only get stronger when the Sooners and Longhorns arrive in 2024.

In his appearance at SEC Media Days on Wednesday, Stoops highlighted the history of those two programs, with a combined 11 national championships between them.

“When I first heard about Oklahoma and Texas, my immediate reaction was, ‘wow,'” he said. “Already a great conference gonna get better. Excited about that opportunity. It will just make it that much more of a challenge with two great programs and the history of both of those programs.”

Stoops has more of a connection with Oklahoma than most other SEC coaches, as his brother Bob served as the Sooners coach from 1999-2016. That enabled him to develop a relationship with current Sooners head coach Brent Venables, who as a defensive coordinator and associate head coach under Bob Stoops for several seasons.

Knowing Venables only adds to Mark Stoops’ excitement about adding Oklahoma and Texas, and he gave a ringing endorsement in his belief of the coach going forward.

“I’ve known coach Venables for a long time back to his days at Kansas State when he started coaching with Mike and Bob at K-State and then of course at Oklahoma,” he said. “I think the world of him as a person and as a coach. I’m excited for him because I know he’ll do great things there. I think he’s a great fit and certainly very close to my family.”

Venables’ inaugural season in Norman didn’t go quite the way he hoped. The Sooners struggled on defense to rank 122nd of 131 FBS teams in yards allowed per game. They finished with a record of 6-7, their first losing season in more than 20 years.

Texas is in a similar situation as it prepares to enter its third season under coach Steve Sarkisian. After going 5-7 in 2021, the Longhorns put together an 8-5 finish this past season and enter 2023 as the favorite to win the Big 12 in their final year in the conference.

For both OU and Texas, this season will be pivotal to give themselves momentum before the move to the SEC next year. It might take some time to get used to the higher level of competition, but in the opinion of Stoops, the addition of both schools only serves to make the league that much better.