Orlando Brown on Brent Venables leading Oklahoma into SEC: 'he's fit for it'

The first two years of Brent Venables‘ reign as Oklahoma‘s head coach have not gone exactly as the longtime defensive coordinator would have liked. The Sooners won 10 games last season but also went 6-7 the year before and have not won a bowl game under Venables. But that has not stopped the Sooner brass and former players from speaking highly of their head coach.

During Oklahoma’s celebration, officially announcing them as members of the SEC, former Oklahoma star offensive lineman turn multi-time NFL pro bowler Orlando Brown Jr. joined the SEC Network and shared his thoughts on Venables, and whether or not he believes he’s a good fit for his alma mater.

“I think he’s fit for it; he’s very fit for the SEC,” said Brown. “That’s one of the reasons I feel like they hired him as a head coach at the time, knowing that they would be moving forward with that decision. I’ve seen him create a very special culture. And it’s important, especially in college, when you’re building a team continuity, the comfortability of everyone being able to be bought into one thing, one goal, mindset, one heartbeat, all those things that you hear.”

“That’s something that Coach Venables does a great job of bringing in the right people and also allowing young men to buy in. That’s so important on that level. I think he’s going to continue to do that.”

In his first two seasons at Oklahoma, Venables has gone 16-10 and is 0-2, with two bowl appearances. Still, he is widely considered a strong leader and strong voice in the locker room, to Brown’s point. That is why he and the rest of the Oklahoma faithful have the utmost faith in Venables to lead the Sooners to a successful 2024 campaign to kick off their tenure in the SEC.

Bob Stoops on Brent Venables: ‘He’s what you want’

Former head coach Bob Stoops appeared on the SEC Network live from Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium and explained why he believes Venables is the right man to lead the Sooners into their new conference.

“Brent [Venables] has amazing, great passion and energy, connects so well with players in all the right ways,” Stoops said on Monday. “I just got total faith that he’s going to continue to build this program positively and in a great way. I’m looking forward to it. But I have a long history with Brent from recruiting him, to a player, to coaching with him here for 13 years. He’s what you want and he’ll do a great job as well as his staff.”