Brent Venables discusses how he wants to put together Oklahoma's roster

New Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables is acclimating to his new role after being hired by Oklahoma this weekend. Venables has a plan in place for how he wants to build Oklahoma’s roster. That plan includes an emphasis on the current roster, but also how he wants the team to look once Oklahoma makes its impending move to the SEC.

Venables is still in the early stages of evaluating Oklahoma’s roster, but he knows that putting together a team of quality players that fit what the team is trying to do is important.

“I’m always looking, forward thinking. Certainly in the now, but in the very near future in the transition to the SEC,” Venables said when asked about constructing Oklahoma’s roster. “It’s always about the players. That’s where it’s going to start, evaluating the players and finding where our needs are and addressing those needs as quickly as we can. And then building a foundation for them both from a philosophy standpoint, structure standpoint and then the development that goes with that. That’s not an overnight thing like we all know. And then again, it’s all about game planning and once you get to that stage down the road.”

Venables is ‘incredibly excited’ about Oklahoma’s defense

Oklahoma’s defense ranked middle of the pack among Big 12 teams this season with 382 yards and 25.3 points allowed per game. The Sooners were better against the run (123.9 yards per game) than they were the pass (258.1 yards allowed per game). While Oklahoma has been inconsistent on defense, Venables said that he has been paying attention and is excited to what he sees moving forward.

“I’ve watched Oklahoma a lot. I study everybody. But we studied Oklahoma defensively. They had made this huge jump and improvement two years ago to where they were a year ago and did some really good things even this year. I’m a believer in the coaching aspect of it. When you have some statistical things where there’s large movement, I try to pay attention. When there’s this dramatic shift I’m always looking.”

As Venables begins his tenure as Oklahoma’s head coach, he is looking to find consistency on the roster on both sides of the ball. That doesn’t just go for players, either.

“There’s a lot that goes into that. In my opinion, without evaluating the personnel yet and what our needs are, I’m incredibly excited. I think any mark of any good unit, player, coach is consistency. Showing up week in and week out playing to a standard. That’s an important aspect as well.”