Gentry Williams transfer influences Kirby Smart to give Brent Venables his flowers

The Oklahoma Sooners have yet to face Georgia since joining the SEC and will for the first time this season, but Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart already knows all about Brent Venables and his program.

Former OU cornerback Gentry Williams transferred to Georgia over the offseason after four years in Venables' system. Williams hasn't been in Athens long, but Smart already assumed what he'd be getting in the portal addition because of where he came from and made sure to give Venables the credit he deserves when asked about Williams at SEC Media Days this week.

Read more: Brent Venables has earned all the respect from Kalen DeBoer after 3 battles

"When you take guys from a Brent Venables defense, you know what you're getting," Smart said. "You're getting a guy that understands leverages, coverages. A lot of similarities to us defensively, teaching-wise. That's shown.

"(Williams has) played. He's got experience. He's got plenty of experience. And that's what we were searching for: some guys that could be competitive, compete for starting jobs, come in and help us. God forbid, you never know what kind of injuries you have during the year. You gotta have the ability to have six to seven defensive backs who've got play experience. He's got that."

Brent Venables losing defensive production at Oklahoma has become rare and Kirby Smart points out why

A product of Booker T. Washington High School in nearby Tulsa, Williams got to Norman in 2022 as a four-star recruit before leaving after last season. He appeared in 30 games for the Sooners with 15 starts, but injuries limited him the last two years. While Williams was sidelined, Eli Bowen and Courtland Guillory took control of the corner spots, and both return in 2026, which ultimately pushed Williams out.

The fact that Williams ended up with back-to-back SEC champion Georgia shows the talent that's there. It might reveal even more, though, just how great Bowen and Guillory are to steal his job as young players.

But the needed depth Williams gave Georgia that Smart mentioned is what was taken from the Sooners. Oklahoma lost four cornerbacks to the portal over the offseason. That depleted the Sooners' depth behind Bowen and Guillory, leaving Jacobe Johnson, with two career starts, as the only reserve corner with any sort of experience.

So, like Smart, Venables also had to go hunt depth pieces in the portal. The Sooners eventually added Prince Ijioma from Mississippi Valley State and Dakoda Fields from Oregon. Redshirt freshman Trystan Haynes is also around, as well as incoming freshman Derrick Johnson II.

Read more: Brent Venables sounds like he already has the Sooners' starting defense figured out

Still, lucking out and getting a former starter from Venables' defense like Smart did is rare. The Sooners lost 10 defenders to the portal this offseason, but none were solidified starters in 2025. That has helped make it where Venables' entire starting defense in 2026 could be made up of homegrown guys who have been at Oklahoma since graduating high school.

It's a feather in Venables' cap that an accomplished coach like Smart gives him that level of respect for the way he develops talent, but more importantly, players clearly know it too, so the Sooners can continue to reap those benefits instead of other programs like Georgia.

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