Brent Venables said Oklahoma Will 'Take Responsibility' for Recruiting Violations

The Oklahoma head coach said both the program and running back coach DeMarco Murray are accepting responsibility and moving on from the violations that were announced on Tuesday.

Oklahoma running backs coach DeMarco Murray during the Red River Showdown college football game between the University of Oklahoma (OU) and Texas at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. Texas won 49-0 / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

On Wednesday Oklahoma coach Brent Venables spoke publicly for the first time since the NCAA announced the Sooners had self reported recruiting violations. 

“In situations like these despite the nuances and the particulars we have to take responsibility and move on,” Venables said on the weekly SEC Coaches Teleconference. “And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

OU running backs coach DeMarco Murray was suspended for a game after he had impermissible contact with 17 recruits over a 16-month period. 

“I won’t really comment on whether or not this is the week or not,” Venables said of the timing of the suspension on Wednesday, though a source told Sooners on SI that Murray would serve his suspension this Friday in Oklahoma’s 2024 season opener against the Temple Owls.

The contact included 65 impermissible phone calls and 36 impermissible text messages, the NCAA said in a press release, and that Murray indicated he was “unaware that a COVID-19 waiver of recruiting rules had expired”. 

Per the release, Oklahoma maintained that there was proper training that the COVID-19 waiver had expired. 

Despite the Sooners putting the coaching staff through the training, Venables said the entire program can still learn from the situation. 

“It’s affirmation for despite all the education that you do, the constant monitoring and reinforcement of, ‘Hey man just follow the rules. These are what they are.’ People can still make mistakes,” Venables said. “And there’s no doubt that I’m incredibly disappointed in what took place. And I do know our staff works to be mindful of the rules and we have perimeters, very clear and strong perimeters that are in place.”

The program’s acceptance of the violation extended to Murray, as the running back coach accepted full responsibility for the mistake. 

“DeMarco knows,” Venables said. “He knows all of that and he’s accepted responsibility like I said. I know who he is but you’ve got to continue — things will still happen despite strong measures in place that try to protect you.”

The Sooners have already served a large portion of the penalties for the mistake after self-reporting and self-imposing violations. 

In addition to Murray’s one-game suspension, Oklahoma will be unable to host recruits on unofficial visits for the Temple contest and there will be a three-week ban on “recruiting phone and electronic correspondence for the football program from Dec. 8, 2024 to March 31, 2025,” the NCAA said in the release. 

There will be plenty of change for OU’s offense on full display come Friday. 

The No. 16-ranked Sooners will have an entirely new offensive line, it will mark the first home start for quarterback Jackson Arnold and it will be just the second game with co-offensive coordinators Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley at the helm, but there are known quantities to help smooth over the adversity at running back. 

Gavin Sawchuk and Jovantae Barnes were listed as co-starters on Oklahoma’s first depth chart of the year. 

Sawchuk took over down the stretch last year, closing the 2023 season with five straight games where he rushed for more than 100 yards, and by all accounts Barnes is ready to bounce back after injuries hampered him last year. 

Barnes and Sawchuk both rushed for 100 yards in the 2022 Cheez-It Bowl against Florida State, and have enough experience to keep the running game churning even without Murray on the sideline against Temple.