Brent Venables Working to Expand Oklahoma's Recruiting Footprint
Brent Venables is trying to bring the Oklahoma defense a facelift.
The new OU head coach promised a “punishing” defense upon his arrival in Norman, and he’s already hard at work bringing some bigger bodies along the line of scrimmage to transition away from the Speed D era.
And while returning strength coach Jerry Schmidt is hard at work adding weight to the guys currently on the roster, Venables and his new defensive lieutenants are hard at work trying to usher in a new era on the recruiting trail.
At Clemson, Venables had great success recruiting the Southeast to build an elite defense, which often stood up against the best teams in the SEC in the College Football Playoff.
Much of that success came by building a defensive line overflowing with NFL talent. Those lines were built on recruiting talent from the Southeast, as both Venables and new OU defensive line coach Todd Bates had great success building recruiting pipelines into the region.
Oklahoma hasn’t been a major player in the region for defensive talent as of late. The Sooners have plucked a few players from Florida, but the new OU coaching staff is already hard at work trying to expand the Oklahoma recruiting footprint.
Throughout the entire 2022 recruiting cycle, Oklahoma issued two defensive line offers to recruits in Georgia, and one to an edge rusher in Alabama.
Since taking over at the start of December, Venables and his staff already have sent out a pair of offers to both Georgia and Alabama high schoolers.
Additionally, Jay Valai and Brandon Hall have targeted Avery Stuart, a defensive back from Montgomery, AL, and Caleb Downs, a safety prospect from Hoschton, GA.
The staff hasn’t stopped there, either.
Oklahoma is also scouting potential prospects in the 2024 class, issuing scholarship offers to another pair of defensive linemen in Georgia and linebacker Sammy Brown from Jefferson, GA.
Defensive coordinator Ted Roof will also help open doors in the Southeast, as the Georgia Tech alumnus has consistently recruited the Atlanta area throughout all of his stops around college football.
Venables has repeatedly said he’s the man to take Oklahoma to the SEC, and OU’s presence in Georgia and South Florida is an early indication he knows there is still work to do along the line of scrimmage.
Texas will always be Oklahoma’s first priority in recruiting, but if the Sooners can step into clear SEC country and pick off defensive line and linebacker prospects year after year, they’ll have a chance to return a high level of defensive football to Norman.
Even Texas A&M, who theoretically doesn’t have to leave its home state to find enough top talent to compete, spread its wings in the 2022 class.
The Aggies pulled two defensive prospects from Florida, two defensive commits from Georgia, a defensive back from Tennessee and one defender from Louisiana to help win its first recruiting crown.
Oklahoma had a pipeline from California under Lincoln Riley, but to return to the top of college football on the defensive side of the ball, Venables, Bates and company will need to mine their old stomping grounds to help add elite talent in Norman.
Want to join the discussion? Click here to become a member of the AllSooners message board community today!
Sign up for your premium membership to AllSooners.com today, and get access to the entire Fan Nation premium network!
Follow AllSooners on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest OU news.
