Brent Venables goes viral for doing pull-ups during recruiting visit

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables has always prided himself on his fitness.

When he was at Clemson and at Oklahoma the first time around, it was quite common to see him in the weight room with his players or jogging around campus on marathon runs.

But Wednesday afternoon, Venables got to combine two of his passions – recruiting and the weight room – during a visit to Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit High School.

The word is out among college coaches – Jesuit's Oliva Weight Room is the place to get your workout while on the road recruiting.

Thursday afternoon, new Oklahoma coach Brent Venables cranked out 10 neutral-grip pullups. @OU_Football#AMDG l #GoTigers l #BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/O7OuqKTrOj

— Jesuit Tigers Football (@JesuitTigers_FB) January 27, 2022

According to a social media post from Jesuit’s Twitter account, Venables cranked out 10 neutral-grip pull-ups while on campus to learn more about the school’s recruits.

The tweet has gone viral with more than 1,000 interactions.

Brent Venables visiting 4-star LB at Jesuit

Jesuit is home to 2023 four-star linebacker Troy Bowles, the No. 37 player in the country according to On3.com. He’s also rated as the No. 1 linebacker in the class and the 10th-best overall player in Florida. 

The On3 Consensus – a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies – has Bowles as the No. 45 overall player and No. 3 linebacker in the 2023 cycle. He is also the son of Tampa Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles.

Brent Venables’ Sooners are on the long list of schools that have already offered Bowles. Ohio State is currently forecasted as the team to beat, according to the On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine.

Venables is not the only head coach that has worked out in the Jesuit weight room this January. Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh got some squats in when he was on campus on Jan. 20.

Harbaugh has long been known for his antics on the recruiting trail. He infamously planned a sleepover at a high school kicker’s house after a recruiting dead period, scaled a tree for another recruit, and even mimicked rapper DJ Khaled’s mantra that business is “boomin.”

Brent Venables’ time in the weight room was surely meant to make an impression on Bowles and others at Jesuit. But life on the road recruiting is tough, so it also wouldn’t be a surprise to see that Venables just needed to get his workout in.