Brent Venables explains Justin Harrington's surprise return to Oklahoma

After entering the transfer portal in October, defensive back Justin Harrington is back at Oklahoma. His reappearance on the Sooners roster as a walk-on might come as a surprise to some, but first-year coach Brent Venables was willing to offer a second chance.

“He’s come to me a few times since I got the job,” Venables explained in a recent press conference. “Through a lot of conversation, not only with him but with other teammates, I got confirmation of who he was as a young man. Just was honest. He felt like maybe he made some mistakes with how he responded to some adversity and some decisions he made. I felt like he deserved some grace. We all deserve some grace. He’s walked on and he’s been good. High-effort, tough and allows you to coach and things of that nature.”

Harrington first joined Oklahoma in 2020 as the No. 1 JUCO safety in the country. He seemed a prime candidate to step in and contribute right away until doctors discovered a knee injury that required surgery and led to Harrington sitting out the entire 2020 season. The safety returned in 2021 full of hope and ready to show what he was capable of, but played only sparingly in the first four games before falling out of the rotation entirely. That’s when he decided to enter his name in the portal in hopes he could contribute elsewhere.

After not finding any school that stuck out, Justin Harrington approached Venables in search of a second chance at Oklahoma. It shocked many reporters to see the safety reappear at a recent spring practice, causing many to speculate about a potential role for him in the fall. However, Venables pushed away those questions, saying that Harrington has only been with the team for a couple of practices, and has a long way to go to make an impact in 2022.

“He’s only been out for a couple of practices, and really, everybody’s kind of on their journey to me in spring ball,” the coach said. “There’s a lot you can say about guys here and there, but his litmus test isn’t really comparable because he got he’s just been here a couple of days. Learning a new position, new language. There’s barriers for everybody, but he didn’t have the same opportunity everybody else did. He just joined. Everybody else has been here for drills and meeting and things of that nature, so he’s a little bit behind from that standpoint. But he’s aggressive, physical and he’s got a good attitude so far. Hopefully he can continue to come on and bridge that gap.”

Harrington will get his first chance since returning to show out for Oklahoma fans when the Sooners host their annual spring game on April 23.