Brent Venables Hired as DC

Total defense is not the best measure of a D, scoring D is, the B12 led the nations in scoring offense last year and Venable’s D led that conference in scoring D. That is better than Texas and I do OU does not have better talent than Texas, at least not by recruiting ratings. OU recruiting was rated ahead of Texas only one year since 2006

…heavily impacted by TOs by the offense, special teams, etc.

I think a better stat than yds/game or pts/game can in many cases by yds/play. I would like to see how OU shakes out there for the years under his sole leadership (i.e. without Mike Stoops).

And how do his defenses defend a mobile QB because we know we are completely clueless in that area.

I have a couple of questions, if you don’t mind…

Certainly, there is a difference between the caliber of offenses that Venables faced at OU and what Clemson faces. However, the ACC seems to have a higher diversity of offensive style, by comparison. First, is that true? Second… Steele’s scheme, while flexible in in it’s LOS adjustments, seemed inflexible in it’s ability apply against the diversity of offensive styles. Is Venables’ scheme more flexible in this regard?

Is there enough additional zone in BV’s scheme to help with GTech and still be able to stand up to the power of VTech?

I think that it is established that Dabo wants to be aggressive. With the HUNH offense, it seems that the defensive goal is less about points and more about time on the field. In other words, if you are gonna let them score, do it quickly. If you are gonna get them off the field, do it quickly. Sorta like holding serve in a tennis match. Do you think that Dabo has that BV’s recruiting and talent id skills are more important than the scheme itself? In other words, is Dabo taking the LSU approach?

I think OU had a formation against wide open passing attack like Leach’s at TT that they would put 4 DEs on the DL replacing the 2 DTs.

It’s hard to know without digging deep, but I kinda think Dabo screwed up by not getting Shannon. In addition to his excellent record as a DC, he could have brought in tons of talent from Miami (especially with the NCAA likely to punish Miami heavily).

“Many complain of his defenses being too complex for his players.”

This worries me a bit – don’t want to stay on that path. I just hope he’s BIG on fundamentals – and shakes of our arm tackling.

Regardless of his past stats, I think these are two issues that stand out in my mind

Positive:
Open season for position battles. No more favorites playing LB, no predispositions. Guys should be busting their asses (eh em, Justin Parker) if they want to make moves on the depth chart. Freshmen like Blanks and Cortez will be right there and getting heavy reps with Hall recovering and C Lewis leaving, so if Meeks won’t wrap up and take the right angle, lets get the right guy in there. Same goes for these’s corners. Effort and intensity has been an issue w our D and that should change with open comp.

Questionable/Negative:
Assistants and staff. I would believe he would want to bring in one or two of his guys.. Would that be a proper assumption? Morris didn’t, really but hell he only has coached college ball for a couple years he didn’t have any “guys” like that. BV has been around . We need Brooks and Cheese to be here regardless, but I doubt those two go anywhere.

Thirdly- I don’t know how I feel about calling this guy "BV’ maybe thats just a twitter thing but that has got to stop!

V has been at OU for 13 years all his guys are OU guys. They will stay with MStoops. I do not think V wants to raid OU staff even if he could, that would be disloyal. I think he saw an opening to change without costing OU, they have a DC in M Stoops so he took it. He was never going to get credit for a better D at OU now, MS would, he did not get credit for it when he was there, if you listen to some of the thinks posted on the net by OU fans.

On Stickem’. If the offense cant hold the ball it won’t matter what he does. Venebles is the Brad Scott of OU defense. Should have kept Steele.

That Bob Stoops kept Venables for 12 years says something. OU isn’t in the business of being loyal to coaches who under perform regularly. And OU has been at or near the top of the Big 12 (considered the 2nd best football conference in the country by most) for the last 12 years.

I’m hoping Dabo has learned to spot a good coach who’s the right fit for the staff & program.

When I heard about Steele’s quirky game day habits (not eating, very little sleep, needing IVs,…), I was thinking he needed to go. It had nothing to do with his skill, scheme, or ranking. How can you expect kids to do what THEY need to do to be better physically prepared for game day, when their primary example (the coach) didn’t?

I’m a huge fan of leading by example.

OU’s defense has been pretty pathetic the last few years. OU fans are all giddy that they got rid of him. Stoops got to look like the bigger man by trying to convince him to stay yet is happy he’s gone. OU’s defense has had the same weaknesses as ours the last few years. Cannot stop spread offenses, cannot stop the run up the middle, cannot tackle.

I hope Venables proves me wrong…but I doubt it.

I think this is even a bigger hire than Morris last year, largely because of the pressure Morris’s offense puts on a defense. Plus, we all pretty much knew Napier wasn’t going to cut it long-term; far too inexperienced. Steele, on the other hand, was seen as somewhat reliable, especially after the 2011 when the defense was pretty solid. In addition, the sheer salary numbers of this staff have raised expectations. Venables is getting $800,000+ as our DC?? That’s insane money for a college DC. If he and Morris don’t deliver, and quick, things will turn ugly even quicker.

I guess the silver lining to all of this is that if Dabo does in deed get fired, it appears Clemson will shell out big bucks to get a coach. I feel like we’re finally spending Gary Patterson-type “big boy” football money, so hopefully we would take that approach to our next head coaching hire if Dabo is released at some point in the future.

That being said I’m willing to give Venables the benefit of the doubt. OU’s defense has been good through the years. We do have tons of talent on our defense as well, except for probably the DL. There’s no way though that a truly good LB coach can’t make studs out of Anthony, and probably Steward (depending on his knee), and likely Townsend as well.

Personally, I feel like a lot of our ills would be cured by a win over the Gamecocks. Nothing will seem right until we reclaim that title.

Was that really necessary?

how fast he settled on one guy. Why no interviews?

In my line of work I do all the hiring for my department. You never settle on the first guy, even if you like him. I’ve had the first guy come in and really impress me, but gone ahead and interviewed dozens more candidates and I’ve never hired that first guy. Somewhere around guy #12, 20, 25, etc someone comes in and is even more impressive than the first guy. Dabo seems to have gotten lucky with Morris after the same approach last year. But I’m still curious as to how Morris would’ve done without Superstar Sammy.

These two need to make out already.

Brent Venables gets a lot of flack in Sooner Nation,but make no mistake he will be missed GREATLY!!! He’s one of the best recruiter in college football excellent at schemes and firing up Defenses HE WILL BE MISSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think this guy will do well so long as we have athletes who are prepared, strength and condition wise, to play. Of course, this is a reference to the many complaints on STS about the S&C program. I wonder when some serious discussion will take place about that aspect of the game as most stuff I read says the games in the fall are won and lost NOW!