Report: Brent Venables' wife, Julie, reveals she has 'zero cancer' after 2023 diagnosis

Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables received amazing news recently regarding his wife, Julie. After a battle with breast cancer over the past year, Julie has “zero cancer” according to a report from The Oklahoman.

“I’m doing routine blood screenings, but right now there’s zero cancer,” she said.

Julie was first diagnosed with breast cancer this past June. It was a tough moment for the Venables family, as she and Brent have been married since 1997 and have four kids together. Now they can celebrate together as things are starting to look up.

Julie still had to get her blood drawn Tuesday, but was able to make it out to her daughter Laney’s playoff basketball game for Community Christian School. It was an exciting moment for her to get to cheer her daughter on as CCS defeated Roland by a score of 45-37 in the 3A state quarterfinals.

“It’s still stressful, but it’s a little more relaxing than (Brent’s) games,” Julie said. “It’s fun. It’s a different speed, for sure.”

Brent Venables announced on July 28 that Julie underwent surgery for the breast cancer. He expressed hope and optimism at that time as doctors were “optimistic” that the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes.

Thankfully the cancer was caught in time for treatment to be effective and now all Sooners fans can rejoice along with the Venables family. Oklahoma begins spring practice soon and Brent Venables will have one less thing to worry about off the field.

He is thankful for the fans and members of the football program who were there for him throughout this difficult time.

“It’s been nothing short of amazing the group of people that have helped, whether it’s the doctors or administration, people I work with, our staff, our players, our players’ parents and certainly so many friends and the Sooner nation,” Venables told ESPN this summer.

Brent Venables is set to enter his third year as head coach at Oklahoma. He has directed the Sooners to a 16-10 record over his first two seasons, including 10-3 in 2023.

OU is set to join the SEC in 2024, a major transition for the Sooners into college football’s premier conference. It will be interesting to see how OU fares in this critical season as Venables looks to get it back in the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019.

Oklahoma opens the 2024 season on Aug. 31 against Temple.