Ted Roof compliments humility of Oklahoma newcomers

Oklahoma was in a bit of a transition period a year ago. The Sooners made the heel turn from an offensive pioneer in Lincoln Riley to handing the keys to one of the nation’s best and longest-tenured defensive coordinators when they were forced to change coaches last offseason. However, it’s not an easy process changing a culture from one with such an emphasis on scoring to a more balanced, defensive-minded program, as Brent Venables is hoping to accomplish.

That’s why the Transfer Portal is such a helpful tool. In the days of old, Venables would have had to recruit several cycles of high-end high school talent on the defensive side of the ball before he’d truly be able to build the defense he wants. Now, he can just import the necessary pieces and try to rebuild the defense overnight.

In this year’s recruiting cycle, (so far) Oklahoma has nabbed nine defensive transfers in an attempt to patch up what was still a pretty rough defensive product in 2022, considering the Sooners gave up 30 points a game, which ranked 99th out of 131 FBS teams. According to defensive coordinator Ted Roof, those transfers are already helping turn the culture around on that side of the ball. Here was his recap of their impact following spring practice:

“Well, it’s everyone of our transfers has come in here with a lot of humility. It’s not like — well, they’ve approached this the right way and that’s that’s good for your locker room and good for your football team, on top of having competitive depth, where guys are pushing each other for reps and that makes everybody better. And again, pleased with that. Still got a ways to go but we’ve made strides, we’ve got more competitive depth and we’re going to continue to make strides.”

If nothing else, Venables is adamant the Sooners have depth this time around when maybe they didn’t have as many bodies last fall. One fact is for certain: Oklahoma is all in on improving their defense.

Just look at those portal numbers: nine defensive transfers and who knows, there could be a few more on the way during the spring cycle. Plus, several of the transfers that are already on campus are looking to lock down starting spots. After a rare bad defensive season for Venables, he’s pushing all his chips towards figuring out that side of the ball in year two in Norman.