Brent Venables addresses changes of recruiting to SEC

Oklahoma will be in foreign territory next season, but Brent Venables does not plan on changing his path. On Saturday, the Sooners’ head coach revealed how Oklahoma’s move to the SEC will affect his approach to recruiting.

“You want great competitive depth,” Venables said. “You want to be strong and physical. That’s the name of the game. So it’s not — the SEC are those things. There’s great skill, great depth. The lines of scrimmage are a real thing. 

“If you’ve been coaching football, offense or defense, you’re gonna try to build your team or your program or your locker room on the lines of scrimmage and dominating there first. You usually don’t get whooped on the line of scrimmage and then win most games. It’s actually the opposite.”

Venables’ emphasis on the line of scrimmage is obvious in his 2024 recruiting class. The group includes six offensive linemen and six defensive linemen, highlighted by five-star prospect David Stone. Oklahoma currently has the No. 8 recruiting class in the 2024 cycle, according to On3 Industry Rankings.

Venables’ strategy proved effective this season, as well. Oklahoma’s offensive line only allowed 1.42 sacks per game this season, ranking No. 30 in the country. Not to be outdone, Oklahoma’s defense tallied the 11th-most tackles for loss in the nation.

Brent Venables is not satisfied

Despite Oklahoma’s success, Venables wants more.

“You’re always going to want for more and you’re always going to build,” Venables said. “It’s never going to be good enough, but I like where we’re at and what we got. A lot of work to do, a lot of improvement to do.

“We’ve recruited a really mature group of young players and, again, the few guys that we get in the portal are guys that align with the values that we’ve talked about.”

Oklahoma has added four players in the transfer portal thus far, including three former three-star recruits. Nonetheless, the Sooners have lost far more than they have gained. Fourteen players have entered the transfer portal, including five offensive linemen.

Further, Oklahoma standout quarterback Dillon Gabriel committed to Oregon. Amid the setbacks, Venables is focused on adding players who fit his blueprint.

“[We want] guys that have a blue collar mindset. They value education. They’re going to run toward accountability and discipline,” Venables said. “They have a great deal of toughness to him, and they want to want to be a great teammate. They know that they’re going to be expected to leave a deposit and to be a giver and a doer, not just a taker. If they’re not interested in that, this isn’t the spot for them.”