Oklahoma's Ted Roof Drawing on Experience to Help Streamline Spring Practice
NORMAN — Ted Roof has coached a lot of football.
Oklahoma’s new defensive coordinator has a career spanning over 35 years, and he’s made 16 different stops along the way. That also means he’s experienced at least 16 sets of spring practices where he’s had to help install a brand new defense.
Brent Venables’ defense, while effective, is notoriously complex.
The winter workouts focused on setting a culture of hard work and accountability, setting the tone for what will be a busy spring period.
“Coach (Jerry) Schmidt and his staff did a wonderful job,” Roof said in a press conference on Tuesday. “… You've got to have that strong foundation.“
Now, as the players return to action on the football field, the attention shifts to the actual instillation of Venables’ defensive system.
While the process is never easy, Venables said it’s the job of him and the coaching staff to make things as easy as possible on the players.
“I think it’s hard no matter what,” Venables said of teaching a new scheme on Monday. “I think there’s real strain and stress whether you’ve been here for 10 straight years or it’s your first year.
“I think being an effective teacher minimizes how difficult it is. I think being a good motivator and inspiring guys to learn and be hungry and show up so they can sponge it.”
Transfer defensive back Trey Morrison will start from square one, just like his new teammates, during Oklahoma's spring practices
Ryan Chapman / SI Sooners
The teaching process isn’t just limited to the player-coach dynamic, however.
There are some young pieces to Venables’ staff, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
Miguel Chavis is stepping into his first full year as an on-field coach. While Jay Valai isn’t in his first year as a position coach, he’s still a young coach who has plenty of personal growth ahead of him.
That’s an area where Roof can be an asset.
Roof has been exposed to plenty of different coaching styles and philosophies over the years, and he’s happy to help spread that knowledge to those around him.
“My job as a leader is to help develop other people,” Roof said. “There are a couple of things I get excited about when I wake up every morning. Number one, how can I get better? What can I do today to get myself better? Because we’re all in a constant journey of improvement.
“And number two, how can I help other people get better? That’s part of my why as well. I want to help other people. I want to help other people grow and develop.”
Spring practice won’t be without its bumps along the way.
Defensive lineman Jalen Redmond was the first to admit that, saying things could have gone better for his unit in picking up the playbook.
“We could be better for Day 1,” Redmond said on Tuesday. “I’m ready to be better. Usually on day one, we don’t have to learn a new playbook. When it’s snapped, everything is rolling.
“But this new playbook going in, everyone is still learning. There’s still a learning curve and a process.”
The Sooners will need Roof’s experience and wisdom to help push the process along. But that’s something Roof is more than prepared to handle, as he’s just enjoying the opportunity he’s been handed at a program like Oklahoma.
“I think when you’ve been around a lot of places,” said Roof, “I think number one that it puts in a very clear perspective when you arrive here that this is a very special place.
“The opportunity, the privilege and the responsibility that comes with being here, that part of it you get really quickly.”
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