Win or Lose, Brent Venables Says Oklahoma's Identity Doesn't Change

The Sooners' head coach seems unfazed by the idea of "rat poison" and says his opinion of his team didn't change Saturday after losing to Kansas State.

NORMAN — Three games into the season, nobody knows what the Oklahoma Sooners’ identity is.

Not even head coach Brent Venables.

But Venables is certain that his opinion of what OU’s identity is for 2022 didn’t change last Saturday night.

“No, not whatsoever,” Venables said. “And I don't know what that identity is yet.”

Surely, one-third of the way through a college football season isn’t enough time to establish a team’s identity.

Anyway, what is a team’s identity — and is that important? Or is that a concoction of the media, or desperate coaches?

“I mean, identities, yeah, absolutely it’s a thing,” Venables said Tuesday during his weekly press conference.

“Every year, you develop that as a team. Not every team's identity is the same. As a program, you want to have an identity. But every team, you know, will form their own. You know what they're kind of known for, what they're going to be about.”

Players on Monday talked about “rat poison” from media and fans, taking a taste of the good life — undefeated, ranked No. 6 in the nation — only to wind up with a 41-34 bellyache at the hands of Kansas State.

Venables said that was an “interesting term” but didn’t sound like he was buying in — as if it’s some kind of excuse for playing poorly.

Although it works for Nick Saban and Alabama, Venables hinted that a program that chases championships shouldn’t be afraid to lean into high expectations.

Rather, he said he saw a team Saturday night that was “afraid to make mistakes.”

That can’t be Oklahoma’s identity as the Sooners head to TCU this week.

“It's one thing to have a thought process for it, and it’s another to go do it,” Venables said. “And so to me, that's developed over a period of time. Sometimes, you know, by the end of the year, a body of work, this is who this team is, what their identity was, and sometimes the course of the season will have a big part of that.

“So, to me, you don't want to lose your identity. In a moment. You know, whatever you think it is becoming and then you have a bad moment, you're going to lose your identity, the things you would hang your hat on, in a moment.”

Beating Nebraska didn’t change Venables’ opinions of his team. Neither did losing to K-State.

“It’s been a very committed team,” he said, “a team that was bought in to everything that we've asked them to do. It's a very close team. It's a team that has taken accountability and responsibility. They haven't run away from that. And their coach is right there with them.

“So I don't think you lose your identity in a moment.”