WATCH: Bob Stoops, Brent Venables give hilarious answer to sharing head coach office
Brent Venables is the new Oklahoma head coach, but he won’t be the most recognizable face around for Sooners fans until after the Alamo Bowl.
Former Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops is currently serving as an interim head coach to help shelter the newcomer through the rest of the 2021 season and prepare for the Dec. 29 bowl game against Oregon.
Venables and Stoops joined “Sooner Sports Talk” on Tuesday and discussed how they are sharing their space adjacent to Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.
“Coach Stoops,” Venables said confidently when asked who gets the big office right now. “I’m like ‘Whose museum is this? Who lives here?’”
“Brent told me yesterday, he goes ‘Hey I’m just over in this corner. You got the other side,’” Stoops responded. “I go ‘No, man. I’m across the hall in the waiting room. I don’t need any big office.’
“When we built the office, we had been in it 2.5, three weeks before everyone realized I’m retiring. Everybody kept trying to help me get (stuff) out of my boxes and get the room set up, and I’m like ‘We’ll do that tomorrow, just hang on a minute.’ So I didn’t spend much time in there.”
Stoops was the Oklahoma head coach from 1999-2016, had a lifetime record of 190-48, and won a national championship in 2000.
Venables was on his staff for the 2000 title, serving as the co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 1999-2003. He moved on to be defensive coordinator and associate head coach from 2004-2011 prior to serving as defensive coordinator at Clemson where he remained until returning to Norman this season. He will make $7 million as a first-time head coach.
Venables building star-studded staff
While preparing for the bowl game, Venables is putting together a staff full of experience.
The most notable addition is Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, although Lebby is finishing out his time in Oxford and taking the Rebels to the Sugar Bowl before officially turning his attention toward Norman.
Jerry Schmidt and Brandon Hall are both returning to Oklahoma, and Miguel Chavis is also joining Venables’ staff from Clemson. Schmidt will be Oklahoma’s director of sports enhancement and strength and conditioning, Hall will be the Sooners’ safeties coach, and Chavis will coach Oklahoma’s defensive ends.
Schmidt previously worked at Oklahoma from 1999 to 2017. He then had a four-year stint in the same role at Texas A&M before returning to Norman.
“That’s a critical hire on so many levels,” Venables said of adding Schmidt to Oklahoma’s staff. “Jerry’s values, expectations and standards align with mine and ours as a program. He’s a detail guy, is super consistent and tough, but he’s reasonable. He’s the same guy whether you’re winning by 40 or down by 14. I think it’s important from a leadership standpoint that we have someone who has clear vision about what all of that looks like. So while his experience is tremendous, he’s also an effective communicator and excellent motivator.
“He’s going to bring out the absolute best in our guys. He’ll stretch them and squeeze them in ways maybe they haven’t been before, but it’s going to benefit them and create the transferable skills both on the field and off. He’s going to set them up for success for the rest of their lives.”
Hall is an Oklahoma alum and was formerly an assistant on the Sooners staff. He has worked at Troy for the previous four years.
On3’s Stephen Samra contributed to this report.