Brady Quinn sets bold expectations for Oklahoma in first year under Brent Venables

The Oklahoma Sooners are about to embark on their first year under their new head coach, Brent Venables. The Crimson and Cream have dominated the Big 12 Conference for the past few decades and Fox Sports’ Brady Quinn thinks this year should be no different with the combination of Venables, new offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby, and their prolific signal-caller they plucked from UCF in the transfer portal, Dillon Gabriel. The former Notre Dame star recently made an appearance on CBS Sports HQ to talk about his high expectations for the Sooners this season.

“Well, I’ll start off with Brent Venables. Obviously, he’s been attractive to many schools for a while now in becoming their head coach. This was the opportunity, though. He chose to actually take that step. After being a longtime assistant. He’s been extremely successful. Winning a couple of national championships during his time at Clemson and plenty of conference titles as well. But it was Oklahoma he chose to come back and save. I think the thing I love about him is he brings a different energy, different style from the defensive side of the football to a program that, when they’re playing their best, when they’re dominating the Big 12, they were leading the Big 12 defensively,” Quinn said.

“We always talk about their high-powered offense, but really defensively, too, is what flies under the radar. And it’s been one of the reasons why they’ve been able to continue to dominate. As compared with Texas, which I’m sure we’ll talk about. But, they just haven’t been able to figure out how to play defense anymore. But when you look at what Brent Venables brings to the table. Different feel. High energy. Extreme focus on taking care of the football. But also, he brought in Jeff Lebby. Jeff Lebby’s had a ton of success as an offensive playcaller. Now he’s their coordinator,” the former Notre Dame star said.

“You mentioned Dillon Gabriel their quarterback. There’s been no quarterback over the past three seasons that’s accounted for more total yards per game. Obviously, last season was cut short for Dillon Gabriel, breaking his clavicle,” Quinn said.

“But I’ve got high hopes and high aspirations for him coming back and paired back with Jeff Lebby–who was his playcaller his freshman year at UCF. But this is gonna be a team that’s gonna be dangerous. They’re gonna put up a lot of points, a lot of yards. They did replenish some of what they lost in the transfer portal. All those guys who decided to go off with Lincoln Riley or elsewhere. They replenished some of that, too. So, they are reloaded and to me, they should be the favorite to win this conference,” Quinn said.

The Oklahoma Sooners kick off their 2022-2023 season against the UTEP Miners. That one is slated for Sept. 3 at 3:30 PM EST.