Brent Venables reflects on legacy of Josh Heupel at Oklahoma

Josh Heupel left his mark on the Oklahoma football program as both a player and coach, including leading the Sooners to the 2000 national title as the starting quarterback.

Current Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables discussed Heupel’s legacy at Oklahoma this week before the Sooners welcome Heupel’s Tennessee team to Norman on Saturday.

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“There can’t be someone with a stronger legacy,” Brent Venables said. “He’s a national championship [quarterback]. And timing’s everything. And there was a period where Oklahoma hadn’t had a winning season for, I don’t know how many years in a row was it, five straight years of not going to a bowl game.

“And the first year going 7-5. And then out of nowhere to go 13-0. And several games within that year, Oklahoma was an underdog or had to come from behind in those games where you really felt Sooner Magic was reignited and he was a catalyst of that. And people won’t forget that.”

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Venables was on staff as the co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma when the Sooners won the 2000 national title.

As he said, OU had not gone better than .500 for five consecutive years when Josh Heupel arrived in Norman. He was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year in 1999 after leading the Sooners to a 7-5 record. The following season Oklahoma won it all, going undefeated in the process.

Josh Heuepel was named the AP College Football Player of the Year that season and was a consensus All-American.

“As we all know, man, that’s one of the coolest things about college football. It brings so much joy,” Venables said. “You reflect to so many moments that enriches your life because of those moments of success and winning and overcoming. We all feel like we were a part of that – both personally and professionally.”

While Brent Venables and Oklahoma fans are very appreciative of Josh Heupel and everything he did for the program, there’s no doubt that the Sooners will be rooting for his Tennessee team to struggle Saturday night and to lose to Venables’ squad.

“Make no mistake, Oklahoma fans wanna see coach Heupel take a loss on Saturday night. And there will be nobody that feels bad if they don’t do well. We know that,” Brent Venables said. “But people pull for people. And I think this is one of those times that you put the logo aside, and he’s got an amazing legacy at this University.”

Josh Heupel was a grad assistant at Oklahoma in 2004, before being an assistant with the Sooners from 2006-14. He was let go following the 2014 season but has continued to work his way up since and now is doing well as the head coach at Tennessee.

“Sometimes God, his way is the right way even though we don’t understand it and we make a hard right-hand turn. And he’s got something better for you, and that’s exactly what happened for Josh and his family,” Venables said.