Brent Venables opens up further about Cale Gundy resignation

Cale Gundy’s resignation for repeatedly reading a “racial charged word” has become a controversial topic across college football. After multiple statements from everyone involved, first-year Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables again took time to clarify the situation for the public.

During an interview with ESPN, Brent Venables spoke about the difficult time his program experienced over the course of Cale Gundy’s decision.

“All things considered, they’ve handled everything great and not allowed it to become a distraction,” Venables told ESPN. “You gotta go through some mud sometimes. You gotta get scarred up. You gotta go through some things, and that’s how you go get better. You don’t go get better and improve through ease and comfort in anything.”

Venables also told ESPN the situation was “very complex and very difficult” and “some of it you have great clarity and peace about,” while understanding that “what it means for people was the difficult part.”

“What I can tell you definitively is that there’s great unity on this team,” Venables added.

Venables then said he met with members of Oklahoma’s leadership council about the Gundy incident, but that it was ultimately Gundy’s decision to resign in the end.

“They don’t bear that responsibility, and I didn’t want them to feel like they needed to bear it,” Venables said. “That’s not fair to a bunch of 18-, 19- and 20-year-olds.”

Brent Venables statement on Cale Gundy resignation

After an initial statement on Cale Gundy’s resignation brought about controversy and a number of responses, Brent Venables makes it clear that Gundy repeatedly reading aloud a “racially charged word” was unavoidably actionable, which the long-time assistant understood.

“As painful as it has been dealing with Coach Gundy resigning from the program, it doesn’t touch the experience of pain felt by a room full of young men I am charged to protect, lead and love,” the statement reads. “There are a few things I would like to address.

“Coach Gundy resigned from the program because he knows what he did was wrong. He chose to read aloud to his players, not once but multiple times, a racially charged word that is objectionable to everyone, and does not reflect the attitude and values of our university or our football program. This is not acceptable. Period. Coach Gundy did the right thing in resigning. He knows our goals for excellence and that coaches have special responsibilities to set an example. He also knows that, while he will always be a part of the OU family, that his words affected many of us and did not represent the principles of our university. Again, his resignation was the right thing to do, and we will move forward positively.”