Brent Venables officially announces multiple Oklahoma staff additions

New Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables continues to revamp his coaching staff with the Sooners. Oklahoma officially announced the additions of three members to Venables’ coaching staff on Friday.

Jerry Schmidt and Brandon Hall are both returning to Oklahoma, and Miguel Chavis is also joining Venables’ staff. Schmidt will be Oklahoma’s director of sports enhancement and strength and conditioning. Hall will be the Sooners’ safeties coach and Chavis will coach Oklahoma’s defensive ends.

Schmidt previously worked at Oklahoma from 1999 to 2017. He then had a four-year stint in the same role at Texas A&M. Now, he returns to Norman.

Hall is an Oklahoma alumnus and was formerly an assistant on the Sooners staff. He has worked at Troy for the previous four years. Venables is happy with these three additions to Oklahoma’s coaching staff.

“That’s a critical hire on so many levels,” Venables said of adding Schmidt to Oklahoma’s staff. “Jerry’s values, expectations and standards align with mine and ours as a program. He’s a detail guy, is super consistent and tough, but he’s reasonable. He’s the same guy whether you’re winning by 40 or down by 14. I think it’s important from a leadership standpoint that we have someone who has clear vision about what all of that looks like. So while his experience is tremendous, he’s also an effective communicator and excellent motivator.

“He’s going to bring out the absolute best in our guys. He’ll stretch them and squeeze them in ways maybe they haven’t been before, but it’s going to benefit them and create the transferable skills both on the field and off. He’s going to set them up for success for the rest of their lives.”

Venables on adding Hall, Chavis to Oklahoma’s staff

Similar to Schmidt, Venables is excited to be adding someone familiar with the Oklahoma program to the coaching staff in Hall.

“Brandon is an Oklahoman and someone who worked with us for 10 years,” Venables added. “He’s the epitome of what the coaching profession should be all about, as far as development, putting in the work, creating opportunities through relationships and sweat equity, figuring stuff out, being mentored, having humility and taking some chances. I’m really proud about his growth and development. He was one of the first people I met when I came to Oklahoma in 1999 when he was a student assistant.

“To see him continue to bloom at each of his stops has been really cool for me, all the way to being one of the best defensive coordinators in college football the last few years at Troy. He’s been a leader, he’s loyal, he’s tough, he’s smart, he’s really innovative and he connects well with the players. They’re in for a treat.”

For Chavis, Venables notes that his story is a little bit different. The two worked together at Clemson, and now they will reunite in Norman.

“Miguel is a great story. He’s a former player at Clemson who was recruited by coach (Dabo) Swinney and went on to play in the NFL, but he’d probably be the first to tell you he thought he would play there a lot longer,” Venables said. “After going back to school, getting his degree and becoming an ordained minister, he found his calling in coaching. He was a real blessing to me at Clemson in our room as we built that program – on defense, in particular.

“He’s very passionate, he’s intense, players love him. He’s very gifted as a coach, as a communicator, teacher and mentor. And he’s high on life. We have a lot of similarities, even in our journeys. These players are really fortunate with what they’re getting. He’s genuine and authentic and will connect with them. He’s got a unique way of pulling the best out of people – adults and young people alike. He’ll be a dynamic recruiter and a tenacious coach who will demand perfection. But he leads with optimism and love. That’s what I love about him.”