Brent Venables wants a locker room full of players like Drake Stoops

Oklahoma suffered a tough three-point loss at home to Baylor this weekend, their fourth of the season. The Sooner’s season has been filled with highs and lows, but apparently one of the most consistent parts has been wide receiver Drake Stoops. Head coach Brent Venables was asked about Stoops, and what his redshirt senior does for the team through leading by example on and off the field.

“You want to have a full locker room of guys like that, just young people of excellence,” Venables said. “Obviously you want as many guys like that as you can, you hope other people learn from him.”

Stoops is the son of legendary Sooners coach Bob Stoops, and walked onto the team in 2018. He’s earned Academic All-Big 12 First Team honors multiple times off the field, but also earned himself a scholarship in 2021 following the team’s spring game.

CLICK HERE to subscribe for FREE to the On3 YouTube channel

He’s proven himself at Oklahoma as a product of hard work on and off the field, going from a walk on with two catches his freshman season to scoring his sixth career touchdown this weekend versus Baylor.

“I think environment is important, and I think people are contagious, so having a bunch of guys like that know how to work, how to respond, how to show up with the right attitude every day. What they do off the field is the same things they do on the field, again autographing all their work with excellence and Drake has certainly been a great example of that,” Venables said.

It’s clear Venables is fond of Stoops and the example he sets for his team, but also made it clear that he isn’t the only player on the team with those qualities. And hopefully for the Sooners, those players can continue to be contagious for them as they head into the home stretch of their inaugural season under Venables.

“And we’ve got a bunch of other guys that are committed in the same way, but we want to continue to nurture that and be a program that represents that. I think that’s a great observation on your part and knowing that we want to have a whole locker room full of guys like that,” Venables said to a reporter.

Stoops and the Sooners can be seen in action this Saturday as they hit the road to take on West Virginia at noon in a game that airs on FS1, seeking their sixth win that would secure them bowl eligibility.