Brent Venables explains working relationship with Skip Johnson in recruiting

Sometimes, your biggest recruiter comes from outside the football program. Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables can thank baseball’s Skip Johnson for helping the Sooners land linebacker James Nesta and running back Taylor Tatum. Both blue-chip prospects in football, playing baseball were just as big of a reason to pick Oklahoma.

“I think the attractiveness of how well our baseball program has done,” Venables said. “The history, the tradition. Certainly, they did a great job of selling those things. I think that attracted them as much as anything. That combination of the excellence of Oklahoma football, what it’s represented. And the excellence of baseball.”

Johnson took over the baseball program in 2018 and has made the NCAA Tournament three times since then. Oklahoma made it to the College World Series in 2022 after carrying over the momentum from a Big 12 Tournament win. After a small lull for the Sooners, they have returned to competing on the national stage.

Oklahoma football has been an institution for many years, largely being considered a blue-blood program. Venables was always going to be able to sell the Sooners to recruits, especially after a nice bounce-back 2023 season.

Baseball being able to produce a nice on-field product got the Nesta and Tatum recruitments over the finish line.

“I personally don’t think we would have gotten either one of them had the football been a powerhouse and excellent and had the history and tradition and then the baseball program stunk,” Venables said. “So, a credit to Coach Johnson and the past players and the past excellence that our baseball program has represented as well. That’s the collaboration between the two staffs.”

Nesta is a linebacker on the gridiron but will pitch when he switches over to baseball. Tatum could contribute as a true freshman in the running back room and then serve as an outfielder for Oklahoma in the spring.

Both Venables and Johnson have to be happy with the additions to the program. It’s not the first time Oklahoma has pulled this off, with Kyler Murray being the most famous player to play both sports.

Tatum played high school football at Longview (TX) High School, where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 40 overall recruit in the 2024 cycle, according to the On3 Industry Rankings, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

As for Nesta, he comes out of Cornelius (NC) William Amos Hough as a four-star prospect and No. 329 in the 2024 recruiting class.