Brent Venables calls wife Julie 'tough,' a 'honey badger' following breast cancer surgery

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables provided a positive update on his wife Julie on Tuesday. Brent Venables revealed that Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer over the summer and underwent surgery on Friday.

Venables shared that the surgery went well and he is hopeful that further treatments can be avoided.

“We got a diagnosis on June 16^th that was knock you off your feet,” Venables said. “She had a surgery on Friday morning, and we’re hopeful that we got everything and that we maybe can avoid further treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy. We’ll find that out in the next several days. But we think it’s not in her lymph nodes, so that’s a great thing in that cancer world. So right now it was contained. And so now we’re trying to help strengthen her and get her back on her feet.”

Brent Venables announced his wife, Julie, was diagnosed with breast cancer on June 16. She underwent surgery last Friday in New Orleans. https://t.co/BwbLhc0LKJ pic.twitter.com/f7qpFMMShY

— SoonerScoop.com (@SoonerScoop) August 1, 2023

Brent Venables added that he and his family are incredibly thankful for everyone who has offered prayers and support over the past month-plus. The Venables family has relied on faith and those around them during this difficult time.

“Our real sanctuary and our true shelter is our faith and the power of prayer and we have so much support. I appreciate everybody here that has reached out. It’s been nothing short of amazing the group of people that have helped – whether it’s the doctors or administration, people that I work with, our staff, our players, our players’ parents and certainly so many friends in the Sooner Nation. So it’s been great,” Venables said.

“She’s tough. And as I said, she’s a honey badger. She’s got a medical background as a former nurse, and so she already knows the answer to the question, so get it right, doc. Again, she’s amazing.”

Venables is entering his second season as the head coach at Oklahoma, after serving as the defensive coordinator at Clemson under Dabo Swinney for 10 seasons.

The Sooners went 6-7 in Venables’ first season as head coach, ending the year with a 35-32 loss to Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl. However, there is optimism that Oklahoma will be much-improved in Year 2 under Venables.

Oklahoma opens the season on Sept. 2 when it hosts Arkansas State. The Sooners will open Big 12 play on Sept. 30 when they host Iowa State.

The 2023 season will be Oklahoma’s last in the Big 12, before the Sooners begin play in the SEC in 2024.