Brent Venables addresses how Oklahoma used transfer portal

The transfer portal has taken the college football world by storm, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables did his best to adapt this offseason. Coming off of a 6-7 finish in his inaugural season, Venables added 15 transfer players this offseason to help the Sooners rank No. 18 according to On3’s Transfer Portal Team Rankings.

That’s a big improvement from 2022, when OU was all the way down at No. 64 following the departure of Lincoln Riley. In a recent sit-down interview on The Number One College Football Show, Venables explained how he has changed his philosophy to keep up.

“You have to adjust and adapt to the environment, to the hand you’re dealt,” he said. “My responsibility and my loyalty is to the players that are here and then to our coaching staff and this great university and all the excellence that it’s represented for so many years. We signed 42 players our first year and we signed 37 this year. The fluidity of the roster, I’ve gotta be able to adjust and adapt to that.

“Some of that is graduation. Some of that is exhausting eligibility. Some of that is guys leaving early for the NFL Draft. Then there was a few guys that left early to the portal and then we’ve had several more that both sides maybe needed a fresh start. Either way, you’re building your roster based on the numbers that you have to build and where you’ve gotta get stronger.”

Many of Oklahoma’s transfer portal additions came on defense following a disappointing 2022 showing. The Sooners ranked ninth in the Big 12 with 461.0 yards allowed per game and allowed 40-plus points in five of their 13 games.

To address that issue, Venables added players such as Indiana linebacker Dasan McCullough, Wake Forest defensive end Rondell Bothroyd, Notre Dame defensive lineman Jacob Lacey and many others. As he went through the recruiting process with those players, he looked for a few key attributes that stood out.

“As we’ve had to address the portal, we’re looking for guys that, whatever environment they’re coming from, we’re still looking for leaders,” Venables said. “Guys that have been captains. Guys that have been good players. Guys that love their work. Guys that are passionate about the game. They literally love the game.

“…They’re choosing to come here not because I’ve painted a picture of a path of least resistance. I’ve actually painted a picture that’s very difficult and very challenging. What you’re trying to do is really, really hard. Football is really, really hard. Life is really, really hard. Life is complicated. Football’s not complicated. Get guys that want to do both when they come here, because that’s what we’re trying to build.”

The 2023 season is an important one for Oklahoma, not only to bounce back from last year’s performance, but to prepare for what lies ahead. The Sooners are set to join the SEC in 2024 and the competition will only get tougher.

That in mind, Oklahoma still has plenty of progress to make in regards to the transfer portal. Even with the improvement this offseason, the Sooners would still rank fifth among SEC teams with the players they brought in.

But Venables is not backing down from the challenge, and hopes that the work he puts in can be an example for his players of how to approaching their work on the football field.

“My job as the leader is to get these guys present in this moment,” he said. “That’s why I bring that hourglass to every team meeting to get these guys to understand and embrace that, ‘I don’t get to do this twice. This is a vapor in my life. I don’t have a day to waste.’ Get guys that have that fanatical sense of desperation to attack not only life, but their football career. I’m here to coach football, but the game teaches you so many amazing, transferrable skills. The same qualities that it takes to be the best of the best off the field in a board room, in a home, in a community. Whether that’s the NFL or that’s Wall Street or Silicon Valley.

“The best of the best are relentlessly pursuing excellence and everything that it takes. But they’re not working for a result. They wake up every day and their feet hit the ground. They’re passionate and they love what they do. To me, if we’re gonna be a great program, it starts at the top. I’ve gotta recruit guys that are passionate and in love with the game. In love with the hard work that it takes.”