Brent Venables on impact Bob Stoops has had on his career, Oklahoma

Brent Venables is thankful that Bob Stoops was there when he arrived in Norman. The new Oklahoma Sooners coach said Tuesday that watching Stoops, the team’s interim coach during Alamo Bowl against Oregon, was a great learning experience as he prepares to take the reigns in 2022.

“For me to be a fly on the wall — because initially I was like, ‘Man, I want to come in and coach (the bowl game)’ — but I would’ve put myself in a really tough position trying to do that,” Venables said. “(Stoops) said, ‘Let me take everybody through the game. You just pay attention and watch. Evaluate. Get your staff hired. Get your family moved. Do the things you gotta do off the field.’ I really appreciated that. He was just amazing. To watch that team respond to him, it gave us a glimpse of what we could’ve been all year.”

Oklahoma outscored the Ducks 24-0 in the second quarter to take a 30-3 advantage into halftime. Although Oregon woke up in the second half, it was already too late. The Sooners claimed a 47-32 victory to end the season on a high note with an 11-2 record.

The positive momentum was greatly needed for the program after a rough past month. Not only did OU drop games against Baylor and Oklahoma State to miss out on the Big 12 Championship, but it also lost coach Lincoln Riley to USC. The return of Stoops, who coached 18 seasons in Norman from 1999-2016, to the sidelines seemed to be the boost the Sooners were hoping for.

Venables said Stoops connected easily with the team, relaying a motivational message not to back down despite the way the year ended.

“We talked a lot of about how life happens,” Venables said. “It’s gonna bring you to your knees. We lost some tough games there at the end of the year in a devastating way. Very uncomfortable place not playing for a Big 12 Championship, which would have been for a record-setting seventh year in a row. That doesn’t have to destroy you or define you. You’ll ultimately always be defined by how you respond no matter what it is. On the field, off the field in football or not. Oregon was really under the same circumstances. They got whooped by their rival. They lost their coach. At halftime, our guys showed what their mindset was and how they were gonna respond. What a mark of a champion. For me selfishly I was like, ‘Man, I’m the head coach of these boys right here. I’m the head coach at Oklahoma.’ I’m not naïve. I know we’ve got a lot of work to do. But that showed what we’re capable of when we put it all together.”

Brent Venables was an original member of Bob Stoops’ very first staff at Oklahoma in 1999. The two won a national championship together in 2000 and would continue to coach together until 2012, when Venables left for Clemson. With the coach finally back in Norman after 10 long seasons, he looks to take with him the lessons he learned from Stoops not only this offseason, but in years’ past.

“His last month of helping and just picking up all the broken pieces, stabilizing the program and taking us to victory, it might’ve been the best six weeks of his entire career,” Venables said. “He’s fearless, courageous. Never flinched. He obviously saved the recruiting class. He’s a Hall of Famer. Just an amazing person of strength and clarity.”

Venables will make his head coaching debut on Sept. 3 when Oklahoma opens 2022 against the UTEP Miners.