After two losing seasons in three years, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables is taking advantage of all the help he can get to turn the Sooners around and also save his job.
Venables knows a head coach is only as good as the staff he surrounds himself with, so he made an effort this offseason to add some spectacular coaches with a lot of experience, including former two-time head coach Kevin Wilson. Venables was recently asked by SoonerScoop's George Stoia about Wilson's role in his first season back at OU.
"Kevin will be a part of everything," Venables told Stoia. "He'll have involvement with me and things I need to be heads up with. He'll be involved with the offense, too.
"We have analytics, and that information is nonstop. Somebody is saying that nonstop to me about things we have to be aware of and consider or if this happens or that happens and be prepared to make X decision. We've already played a lot of those scenarios. You might have said in the first quarter, 'If this happens, this is what we're going to do.' You've already played the game before you get to game day."
In that same conversation, Venables also told Stoia that he will rely on his staff more this season for game management as he juggles duties as both head coach and defensive play-caller. Wilson, though, could be the most impactful mind to hold things together, especially with a new 29-year-old offensive coordinator in Ben Arbuckle.
“It’s a collaboration. It’s all of us like it always has been," Venables said. "I have an amazing staff.”
Brent Venables detailed Wilson's role at Oklahoma
Wilson is no stranger to managing a program or even finding success at OU. Wilson was the Sooners' offensive coordinator for nine seasons under Bob Stoops. In 2008, Wilson won the Broyles Award as the top assistant in college football. Quarterback Sam Bradford also won the Heisman Trophy that season in Wilson's system.
In 2011, Wilson got his first head-coaching job at Indiana, where he spent six seasons. Then after a six-season stint as Ohio State's OC, Wilson led Tulsa for two years before getting fired near the end of last season.
Wilson never found much success as a head coach, but he gained eight years worth of experience. And he's almost never failed as an assistant on an offensive staff.
There's no issue with Venables relying on Wilson. Everyone has to rely on others to succeed, and Venables wasn't going to fix everything by himself. The offense was the biggest problem after being historically bad last season, and that's Wilson's forte.
Venables took a risk bringing in such a young OC with only three seasons of play-calling experience. And after that move, he then decided to take over the defense, removing him even further from the offensive side of the ball. However, thanks to Wilson being around, that risk has somewhat been negated, making Wilson the secret weapon behind the Sooners' possible turnaround in 2025.
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