JD PicKell: The most important change for Oklahoma under Brent Venables vs. Lincoln Riley

On3’s JD PicKell recently praised the hires of true Oklahomans Brent Venables and Jeff Lebby for the Sooners football program. He thinks they can pick up right where Lincoln Riley left off while re-invigorating the program with some hometown hunger.

You can check out his comments in the video below or read what he said in entirety afterward.

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JD PicKell’s full comments on Venables, Lebby

“I think the most important thing we’re talking about this new Oklahoma under Brent Venables is a new sense of urgency. Lincoln Riley did a lot of good things at Oklahoma. And the people that know the Sooner program — and over time probably, more so than right now — will be thankful for what he did. He brought a lot of Big 12 titles back to Norman. Now, the difference with this program is you have two guys in Brent Venables and Jeff Lebby that are Sooner-born or bred. Like you cut them open and they bleed crimson and cream.”

PicKell also believes that not being the overwhelming favorite in the conference will be a big motivator in year one under the new coaching regime.

“The other piece of this is Oklahoma, for the first time in a little bit, is now climbing back to the top because they’re accustomed to bringing home that Big 12 title every single year and putting it on the mantle with the others. You won’t get complacent but kind of take it for granted.

“And this is the first time in a minute where it’s like…okay, we’re not the top dog coming into 2022. Baylor actually has what we want. Baylor is picked by the media to to it again. And so we, for the first time in a minute, now have to prove ourselves. Right now, we’re the hungry dog. We have a saying in the office here: hungry dogs run faster. Right now, Oklahoma’s a hungry dog for the first time in a minute. I think, ultimately, that’s going to serve them well.”

He then emphasized the importance of bringing true Sooners back as the heads of the program.

“Getting back to Brent Venables and Jeff Lebby, I think the fact that it means soemthing to them to be at Oklahoma — it’s not just another job. It’s not just a promotion or an exciting opportunity. It’s both of those things. But it means something to them to be in Norman. For them to be guys that really care about this program at a core level.”

Venables himself wasn’t pleased with the effort level of the team before he took over. Something he focused on fixing this offseason.

“Brent Venables, in an interview, basically just said…I watched that bowl game, I watched the spring practices, and there was a lot of nonchalantness going around. In my own opinion, some of that could be not having a head coach or whatever, but he [Venables] said…we’re not gonna have any more of that laziness. He’s been in office for a little bit now and he said [they] don’t have any more laziness.”

A new era in Sooner country according to JD PicKell. One focused on getting back to the roots of OU football while re-asserting themselves atop the Big 12 while they’re still there.