Brent Venables reveals Oklahoma's mindset, goals entering Year 2 with the program

It was a disappointing first season for Brent Venables as the head coach at Oklahoma. The Sooners struggled to a 6-7 finish, while failing to play anywhere near the level of defense Venables is accustomed to putting on the field.

With that said, Oklahoma was a few plays away from having a much different season. Of the seven losses, five were by a touchdown or less.

That number includes a seven-point loss to eventual Big 12 champion Kansas State and a three-point loss to Florida State to end the season.

Venables shared what the focus has been for the Sooners this offseason while speaking with ESPN at Big 12 Media Days on Thursday. It’s no surprise that a big area of emphasis is finishing.

“It’s having the strain and the focus to finish. It all came down to last drives in five out of the seven games,” Brent Venables said. “To finish, and what it means. So I really have seen our team improve since January in every part of our program. But that’s been our mantra all offseason.”

Venables returned to Oklahoma as the head coach after previously serving as the defensive coordinator for the Sooners from 1999-2011.

When he left OU in 2011, he went and worked under Dabo Swinney at Clemson, helping the Tigers win a pair of national titles. Venables knows what it takes to win and win big. He believes his team is close to being ready to do that, if it can do a better job of finishing games this fall.

“Going into Year 2 we have high expectations. Really excited about this group of guys,” Venables said. “We’re one more year into our systems on both sides of the ball. Setting PRs in the strength and conditioning area. And our culture has taken root. Our expectations, our standards, our players understand the values that we have as a program, which I think our critical to building the program the right way so that it has longevity.”

Things aren’t going to get any easier for Venables or the Sooners. Oklahoma has one season left in the Big 12, before joining the SEC for 2024.

The hope is that the Sooners can enter a new conference on a high note after impressing this fall.

Having a big turnaround isn’t out of the equation, as DraftKings has the Sooners with the second-best odds to win the Big 12, behind only Texas.

However, for Oklahoma to have a chance at a big turnaround, it has to finish close games.