Brent Venables truthfully simplified why he chose to run the Oklahoma Sooners' defense this season while also juggling the duties of being a head coach with his job on the line.
Venables announced in January that he would take over defensive play-calling duties for the Sooners in 2025. The Sooners had a vacancy after defensive coordinator Zac Alley left for West Virginia after only one season with OU.
During the search for his next defensive coordinator, Venables nearly lured Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles back to Oklahoma, but Knowles ultimately went to Penn State instead after winning a national championship with the Buckeyes and leading the best defense in the country last season.
Finally, after nearly two months without a defensive coordinator, Venables took the reins for a season in which his job is on the line after posting two losing records in three years at the helm.
Venables on Wednesday talked to media for the first time since the decision as the Sooners prepare to start spring ball on Thursday.
"Why am I going to call the defense? Because I'm good at it. And I'm confident in it and we've got a great staff," Venables assured. "If I'm going to be successful, the players are going to be successful, the product is going to be what we want it to be, it's going to be because of all of us, and somebody's got to lead it. I did that in '23, we made improvement in some areas, not as much as we wanted, so I know what that looks like, and managing game day and in-season, out-of-season, the meeting room, practice field, all those things. I know what that looks like. I have a good feel for that, but many people do it at a really high level, where they call an offense or call the defense, and have a lot of success. No guarantees with anything, but it's a comfort zone for me.
"Last year, we went 6-7. I didn't call the defense, so that didn't work very well, right? You look at a lot of different ways, and everybody has a narrative that they'll write stories, and that's, I'm not in control of that. But I like our roster, like our players, I like our leadership that we have, I love our coaching staff, as well, and how we'll work together. What's the best? Do you bring somebody in and start completely over with somebody that you don't know necessarily, what the resume looks like, and you promote somebody from within?
"And I know how I am. Again, it's been on the line my whole career. I don't have this act. When we get in that stadium on game day and it's third-and-12 and you got to make the call, everything's quiet for me. It ain't loud. It ain't, 'Oh, my God, all this pressure.' It ain't that way for me. It's a freaking safe place for me. It's as quiet as I'll get out, and that's just for whatever reason, that's how it's always been for me. But I can't necessarily say that, had I promoted from within -- we got some excellent coaches -- so I said, I don't want that on any of those guys. I'm built for that. I don't say that in any kind of egotistical way, or I would do way better than anybody else, I just know that's a very comfortable place for me, good or bad, I'm comfortable in that space."
Venables backs that statement up with his time as a defensive coordinator before getting his first head coaching job at OU in 2021. Venables made the College Football Playoff six years in a row and won two national championships as Clemson's defensive coordinator. He was also co-defensive coordinator for the Sooners the last time they won a national title in 2000.
History would say Venables is most successful when controlling a defense, and he's desperate for some success right now. However, Venables relies more on his early days than that run of dominant seasons with the Sooners and Tigers.
Venables got his coaching start as a graduate assistant at Kansas State, where, according to Venables, Bill Snyder hired him on an interim basis for pennies compared to the millions he makes today.
If Venables had a good day, then he got to keep coaching college football. If he didn't meet expectations, though, then his first opportunity could have turned into his last.
Venables coached well enough to work under Snyder for six seasons as a graduate assistant and linebackers coach. He then left in 1999 to be co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at OU.
In his second stint with the Sooners now, this time as head coach, it seems Venables again is working on an interim basis. Another losing season, and Venables will surely be fired, if he even gets to finish the year if things are bad enough.
But Venables swears that doesn't change anything for him, nor did it factor into his decision to take control of the defense.
"I've literally had that mindset my entire career," Venables said. "Every game is that way. Every day I show up, something's on the line. My job is on the line. I've had that for 30 years. I'm gonna hire you, I'm gonna pay you $30,000, and I can't promise anything that you'll last past the summer. That's literally what I was told (at Kansas State). And I said, 'Thank you, God, thank you.' And I've had the same mindset.
"I believe because I've had that same mindset that I don't go like this (mopes), everything's on the line, when he's fighting for his job. I've been fighting for my job every year -- like somebody's holding me under the water trying to drown me. And that's been my mindset. That's been my attitude when I come to work every day. So nothing's changing for me. Do we need to be better? You're damn right. Does your mindset gotta change? Nope."
Why did Brent Venables decide to call the OU defense this year?
— The REF (@KREFsports) March 5, 2025
He answered that and gave insight to what his mentality has been his entire coaching career.
“Why am I calling the defense? Because I’m good at it.” pic.twitter.com/hoYPpoKKsU