Why 'Relentless' Bill Bedenbaugh is 'Consumed' With Improving Oklahoma's Offensive Line

Sooners head coach Brent Venables said his o-line coach has been "a professional" through the unit's ongoing struggles up front.

Oklahoma offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh before one of the Sooners' practices during fall camp. / Ryan Chapman / Sooners on SI

Bill Bedenbaugh isn’t backing down from his latest challenge.

That’s what Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables said Wednesday about his embattled offensive line coach.

OU’s completely rebuilt offensive line continues to be at the heart of the team’s struggles, and as the Sooners (4-4 overall, 1-4 Southeastern Conference) prepare this week to take on Maine, Venables said Bedenbaugh is facing the ongoing challenges head on. 

“I thought he's handled it really well,” Venables said on the SEC teleconference. “Like a professional.”

Bedenbaugh has been widely regarded as one of college football’s top o-line coaches. He routinely develops 3-star prospects into NFL talent. But the Sooners have struggled mightily at all five positions this season. Currently, nine of his former players are on NFL rosters.

Injuries have been critical to this year’s team, with transfer guard Geirean Hatchett out for the season with a torn biceps and starting right tackle Jake Taylor in and out of the lineup with a variety of maladies. Transfer center Branson Hickman, who was projected to be the starter, also has missed significant time with injury, and so has former transfer Troy Everett, who was hurt in the spring and only recently has returned to the field — and is now starting at center. 

Now left tackle/guard Jacob Sexton has joined the walking wounded with a sprained ankle and possible sprained knee suffered in Saturday’s loss at Ole Miss.

“You got to have perspective,” Venables said Tuesday at his weekly press conference. 

After Lincoln Riley landed just two offensive linemen in the 2021 class (Savion Byrd and Cullen Montgomery, neither of whom are still here) and two in the 2022 class (Sexton and Taylor), Venables pointed out that the Sooners have had three straight years of losing players to the NFL (or transfer) who had the option of coming back. That has pushed young players into the fray before they were ready.

“We've gone back-to-back-to-back where you have lost players where you have lost players who have chosen to come back,” Venables said. “When you lose guys early, it puts a little more pressure on the position.”

Although he’s been on the two-deep all year, true freshman guard Eddy Pierre-Louis might have to play this season instead of redshirting, Venables said recently. Another true freshman, tackle Isaiah Autry-Dent, was elevated this week from the scout team to the two-deep. Interior guys Josh Aisosa, who began the year on the two-deep at center, and Eugene Brooks, who has been on the two-deep at guard, have yet to get in a game on offense (Brooks has played four games on special teams). The Sooners' other true freshman, UK tackle Daniel Akinkunmi, has been limited by injury and hasn't played.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshmen Heath Ozaeta has been starting at left guard while Logan Howland has replaced Sexton at tackle.

All that, Venables said, has put the OU o-line in “the infant stages” of being a cohesive unit that can fall back on good experience and great chemistry.

“Heath Ozaeta's done some really good things. He's got a tremendous ceiling in front of him,” Venables said. “We really believe Logan Howland can play this game a long time. He's not there yet like you would expect. Right now, he's not an overly confident guy. At times, Heath's not.

“So that comes from going through it, and it's not a great solution, quote-unquote, but that's where we're at,” Venables said. “Bill Bedenbaugh's one of the best in the business. He's done a great job. He has a career of doing more with less in developing guys, taking undervalued guys and getting them in a position to play well. 

“That being said, if you look at a stat sheet right now, we're really bad when it comes to lots of spaces, and (quarterback) sacks is one of them. Gotta have perspective on all of it. None of it's any good, and we'll work relentlessly to improve and get better in all the ways that you can in the course of a week.”

After giving up nine sacks against South Carolina and being credited with 10 more against Ole Miss, the Sooners now rank last in the nation and are giving up 4.88 sacks per game.

Bedenbaugh, Venables said, remains unbowed, doing only what he knows how to do, and how to teach: going back to work and trying to make his players better.

“(He) cares deeply about their performance,” Venables said. “He knows how to put them in position to be successful. And again, he's dealing with both injuries and some inconsistencies with the lineup. The cohesion, the chemistry — that's very real for that position group in particular. 

“And you know, he's got a relentless work ethic, and he's consumed with it to make it better, to help his guys. And he's got a lot of pride, and he's got a lot of toughness, a lot of fight in him, and so do his guys. And we haven't been very good there this year, as everybody knows, but you know, Bill has done a great job from a leadership standpoint.”