Commentary: Brent Venables' Hires are Setting Oklahoma up For Long Term Success

The new OU head coach is building his staff for sustained success in the future, even it it results in short term losses.

Brent Venables is playing the long game at Oklahoma.

After spending nearly three decades as an assistant coach and defensive coordinator, the new OU head coach didn’t cut any corners when assembling his first staff, regardless of the impact on the current roster.

One of his first moves upon arriving to Norman was to keep a bulk of the remaining offensive staff in tow, and to appoint Ole Miss offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby to the same post at Oklahoma.

Though he has a short track record as an offensive coordinator, the results have been eye-popping for Lebby over the past three seasons.

Not only did his 2019 UCF offense rank amongst the best in college football, both of his offenses at Ole Miss in 2020 and 2021 actually averaged more yards per game than Lincoln Riley’s OU offenses, and Lebby did it with a much less talented roster on paper.

Unfortunately for Venables and Lebby, until ball kicks off on the 2022 season next fall, the main thing the new-look Sooner offense will be graded on is if the duo can convince Caleb Williams to return to Norman out of the transfer portal.

Caleb Williams entered the transfer portal on Jan. 3, but left the door open to return to Oklahoma :: DOUG HOKE/THE OKLAHOMAN-USA TODAY NETWORK

But assuming Williams turns into the star he appears to be, the charismatic quarterback will spend just two more years on campus before entering the NFL Draft.

Even if Williams decides Lebby isn’t the offensive coordinator for him, it’s not sustainable to make shortsighted hires with just one single player in mind.

If Lebby is the right guy for Venables and Oklahoma, then his early success will help jumpstart offensive recruiting at Oklahoma once again, putting a band-aid over the blow USC dealt to the Sooners by stealing away Riley.

And Lebby and Venables didn’t just sit around waiting, either.

Hours after Williams made the public announcement that he would indeed test the waters in the transfer portal, Lebby reunited with a familiar face.

Less than three weeks after originally committing to UCLA, former UCF quarterback Dillon Gabriel changed course, pledging his services to the Sooners.

And while Gabriel is by no means as talented as Williams or have the same ceiling as the former 5-star, the UCF transfer has proven he can be incredibly efficient in Lebby’s system, albeit at the Group of 5 level.

Regardless of the call Williams makes, Oklahoma appears to have locked down its future at the most important position on the field for the next three seasons, the type of stability needed to make the jump to the SEC.

Venables’ long-term planning wasn’t just limited to the offense either.

Not a single on-field defensive assistant was retained by Venables, which played a role in a few 2022 recruits looking elsewhere.

Most notably, the Sooners lost the services of defensive lineman Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy, who is likely to end up a top 10 prospect in the entire 2022 class when the rankings go final.

Brownlow-Dindy’s initial commitment to Oklahoma was a major win for the program, as he’s the type of difference maker needed when the Sooners make the jump to the SEC.

And according to Brownlow-Dindy himself, OU still had a chance to keep him even after Riley and defensive coordinator Alex Grinch left.

“I was going to stay there (Oklahoma),” Brownlow-Dindy told On3. “But when my d-line coach (Calvin Thibodeaux) left, I was like ‘I’m out of here.’ You can kind of expect a defensive coordinator to go for a better job. But I built a relationship with that d-line coach. He was going to be the one I was with most of the time. And that was definitely a big thing.”

Instead of retaining Thibodeaux, Venables waited out his Clemson colleague Todd Bates, a move widely considered a home run hire for OU along the defensive line.

Brent Venables landed Todd Bates as OU's new co-defensive coordinator and defensive tackles coach after Bates was successful in the same spot at Clemson / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

While Thibodeaux is a good defensive tackles coach, Bates’ production at Clemson is frankly another level.

During his five years on staff under Venables, Clemson led the country in sacks (235) and tackles for loss (565). Bates has also been responsible for the development of three first round draft picks in the NFL Draft, meanwhile the Sooners haven’t had a defensive lineman selected in the first round since Gerald McCoy was taken No. 3 overall in 2010.

Brownlow-Dindy could be an elite lineman at Texas A&M during his time in College Station, but Venables chose to roll the dice on losing him to install who he believed was the right coach for the job over the long term.

Even the hiring of co-defensive coordinator Ted Roof was met with plenty of blowback, but Roof’s connections in the Southeast will be invaluable when it comes to opening doors to high school programs in a region of the country OU has yet to consistently dip into.

It remains to be seen if any of Venables’ gambles will payoff. He is still a first-time head coach with no track record either way of winning as the leader of a program.

But amidst all the turmoil and uncertainty, Venables has fought the urge to make reactionary hires, which is the sign of a head coach who has a clear vision on how he wants to build a program and set himself up to be successful for years to come. 

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