Oklahoma Coach Brent Venables Loves K-State, but 'That Was a Long Time Ago'

He's faced his alma mater and the place that launched his coaching career before as an assistant, but Saturday will be his first as a head coach.

NORMAN — Brent Venables has faced Kansas State nine times as an Oklahoma assistant coach.

His OU teams have an 8-1 record against the Wildcats.

Has there been enough time pass, enough water running under the bridge of life, that Venables’ ties to K-State — his alma mater, the Division I program that gave him a shot, the place where he launched his coaching career — that he no longer feels the deep emotional ties he once did?

Absolutely, Venables said.

“I reflect about my my opportunities and my relationships all the time,” Venables said Tuesday during his weekly press conference. “When I think about Kansas State, you know, I go back to when I played there, and the mentors that I had and the wonderful experiences I had in Manhattan.

“But it's a long time ago.”

The No. 6-ranked Sooners (3-0) and Wildcats (2-1) tangle at 7 p.m. Saturday at OU's Memorial Stadium in their Big 12 Conference opener. For the Sooners' first-year head coach, maybe some memories will come rushing back. But maybe they won't.

Recalling memories last week of past games against Nebraska, Venables twice became choked up and needed a moment to compose his emotions.

There were no such pauses this week.

“I appreciate the people that poured into me,” Venables said. “Certainly there, here, Clemson, now back here. A lot. But no more there than anywhere else.”

Venables did fondly ruminate on the man who gave him his shot as a player, and the coach who got him into the business. Sooner Nation should see the fingerprints that Bill Snyder’s impact had on Venables life even today.

However hard it was to leave Bob Stoops and Oklahoma after the 2011 season, Venables said, it was even harder to leave Snyder and K-State following the 1998 campaign.

“That might have been the hardest of all of them,” Venables said.

Venables talked about weighing loyalty with opportunity.

“I knew I needed a tremendous amount of more growth,” he said. “And I worried that if I had to just figure it out on my own, you know, it's gonna take a lot longer — and I must be honest, not what I set out (to do). I wasn't ready to be the defensive coordinator at that time. You know, I just need a lot of growing still.”

One reason Venables’ decision to leave Kansas State was so hard was because it became about more than just football.

“Really difficult,” he said. “My mom, she's telling me about loyalty and my opportunities were given there first. And I didn't disagree. And that was really hard.”

The football side of it was hard, too, Venables said.

“You know, your players were — it was an excellent football team,” he said. “So you left a team that was, for most of the years, 1, 2 or 3 or whatever that was in the country, No. 1 defense in the country. And we're going to start over at a program that hadn't had a winning season X-number of years. So there's a lot that went into that. But through prayer and just trust in your instincts, you know, this was what I needed to do, not necessarily what I wanted to do.”

“A very emotional, difficult decision, but it helped propel me. You know, from a career standpoint, there's no doubt that it has served me well. Getting out of the nest, so to speak and getting exposure from growing the tree, if you will.”