No Longer Insecure or Lacking Confidence, Oklahoma DB Key Lawrence is a Playmaker

His coaches and players say something flipped in January, and Lawrence's leadership and confidence have soared as he spearheads the Sooners' defensive turnaround.

NORMAN — You can’t see it when you watch Key Lawrence play football. Not any more.

But apparently, it used to be there.

Self-doubt. Lack of confidence. Unassuredness. Insecurity.

Lawrence, now a senior safety and a vital members of the Oklahoma defense, played the game with the same clouds overhead under which we all walk.

“Two years ago, you’d say, ‘Man, what a neat, neat guy,’ ” OU coach Brent Venables said this week as the No. 14-ranked Sooners prepared to face Iowa on Saturday night at Owen Field.

“But he'll be the first to tell you that there were always these seeds of doubt. Key was a guy that just kind of always worried about the externals, things that he can't control — other people, environment and what you might be thinking about him — instead of just, focus on himself and focus on his opportunity, and having great self awareness.”

Key Lawrence after his INT at Cincinnati / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

Lawrence has a forced fumble and two interceptions through the Sooners’ first four games. He’s been a ballhawk since he arrived on campus as a transfer from Tennessee back in 2021, delivering game-saving plays in big moments. Lawrence has a gift for punching the football out, and his interception in the end zone last week at Cincinnati showed he also has a gift for reading the quarterback’s eyes and reacting instantaneously.

“It’s just the preparation. Practice,” Lawrence said. “Coach gives us good schemes at practice a lot of times week-in and week-out. And a lot of the stuff – like the keys, we’re just reading the certain keys that’ll bring you to the ball and then just have the defense play for us. So just doing my job.”

Lawrence, at 6-foot-1 and 206 pounds, came to OU from the Vols after playing high school football in Nashville. Another Tennesseean, cornerback Woodi Washington, hails from Murfreesboro and has been waiting a long time to see Lawrence’s confidence catch up with his physical abilities.

“I grew up with Key,” Washington said. “For a guy like that to play at a high level, it’s always big. He’s been one of my friends for a while. So to see him playing at such a level is great for the team and builds confidence for everyone in our group — not only the defense but the offense. He’s a guy that was up and down last year and the last couple of years but just to see him as well as he is, it helps the team out a lot.”

Like in most cases, Lawrence’s newfound confidence comes from the work he’s put in.

“I think it's been great because it really started back in the winter, just his overall leadership,” said sophomore corner Gentry Williams. “Now it's carrying on to the field.”

“It was just my mindset,” Lawrence said. “I found myself last year just always getting down on myself, questioning things that I can’t control. So I just try to control the controllables.”

“It just started to click,” Williams added. “I think he's a senior right now, I'm pretty sure, and it's coming to an end. You have more days behind you than you have in front of you here at Oklahoma, of course. But he's been playing great ball, and I think he'll continue to do that.”

Becoming a leader on a football team with so many alpha personalities isn’t easy. It can’t be forced. And it certainly can’t be faked. But Lawrence has made it happen for himself through a roller-coaster ride of perseverance.

“Everybody's different,” he said. “You’ve just gotta carry yourself and just sit back and observe first, and then you go out there and (do things) the right way. For example, I have Isaiah Coe. He’s more of a loud guy but he’s quiet as well on the football field. Sometimes he can be loud. So you just approach him differently than you would Danny Stutsman, who’s always rowdy. No offense to Danny, y’all know how Danny is (laughs). So it’s just different approaches, and you sit back and observe before you go out there and critique.”

It’s something that actually came natural for Lawrence.

“For sure,” he said. “I always wanted to be that leader and I always wanted to have that pressure on me because it’s something that I’m naturally doing.”

Key Lawrence with another takeaway at Nebraska / Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Lawrence takes no credit for his big plays, saying the defensive system is merely working for him and his teammates have stepped up and his position coach, Brandon Hall, was a big factor for his renewed confidence.

“Coach Hall definitely stepped in that process for me and just telling me, man, like I just have to sit down and understand where I am,” Lawrence said. “Like, I have to be grateful for this. A lot of people want this opportunity, and they don’t have it, and I just have to understand that.

“Coach V as well, he’s definitely a good mentor for me because this is the first coach I’ve had (two years in a row), and just being here with him again and him believing in me definitely gave me the confidence I needed. That’s just something in a coach and player relationship that you would definitely want.”

For Venables, the reward has been to watch Lawrence not only elevate his game, but take on that leadership role. So many young athletes can stymie their own internal growth because they are hyper focused on one thing and one thing only.

“‘I gotta get better,’” Venables said. “And that's not an easy thing to do for a lot of young guys because they've always been ‘The Guy.’ But the margin for error shrinks when you get to college and it shrinks when you play better people. And he's just had an amazing transformation, I would say, probably since the start of, in January and the end of the (2022) season. I'm really, really proud of him.

Key Lawrence / Photo: Strengthening Oklahoma

“But it's also, it's another reminder for all of us that that fourth-year, fifth-year, that sixth-year player, usually, they have their best years of football on the back end, not on the front end. And every once in a while a guy like an Adrian Peterson or a Sam Bradford after a redshirt year will just like play at an amazing level. Those are unicorns. But most people, most competitors, most players aren't like that. There's a developmental process, and it's mind, body and spirit. Their body looks like this, but internally, they're not quite there for whatever reason.

“And so for me, for coaches, that's really cool. And I love to promote that. I love saying, ‘Key, man, I'm super proud of you and all the growth that's taking place — and you’re a leader now. It ain't just about you. You’re a leader now. Guys look up to you and you're a great example. And look, you start focusing on your teammates’ success, having humility, showing up every day with the right mindset and look how much improvement has taken place.’ Teammates see that. Certainly he does. And that's cool for me.”

“I didn’t know that,” Lawrence said, “but now that he did say that about me, I appreciate that. He’s been telling me that I’ve been doing a good job of practicing and holding myself better. I’m just trying to be accountable, man. Just living in the moment. Just trying to do it step by step, day by day.”

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