Brent Venables explains his 'people-first' approach to recruiting at Oklahoma

Oklahoma made quick work of its head coaching search, as the Sooners’ athletic director, Joe Castiglione, needed just a week to replace Lincoln Riley with Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables.

Riley, of course, left Oklahoma for USC, where he was named head coach of the Trojans just last week. And with him went plenty of Oklahoma recruits, as the Sooners lost four-and five-star recruits after the shocking news that their head coach was shipping to the west coast. But Venables, who is familiar with the university from his time serving as Bob Stoops’ defensive coordinator, plans to get Oklahoma’s recruiting back on track — and he plans to do it with a unique approach.

“To me, instead of speeding everything up, you need to slow it down,” Venables said of his approach to recruiting. “That’s not real popular. These sophomores — they’re mad if they don’t get an offer. And I’m like, what’s so wrong with starting a full year of varsity, going on your first date, learning how to shave, maybe getting your driver’s license before you get a $120,000 scholarship. You’re made we don’t offer you when you’re 14 years old.”

Venables made the remark with a smile. He prefers to take the path less traveled when it comes to recruiting; making offers harder to earn that at other schools and slowing down the recruitment until he truly gets to know both the player and the person.

“We’re going to value our offer. It’s important to me, first of all, that we understand what those values are and what the fit is,” Venables said. “People-first. Yeah, they’ve got to be talented, that goes without saying. They’ve got to be a great player. But we’re going to look for people first because I think that’s what sustains. There will be some tough moments. You go to college, and it’s hard, especially when you are young and immature. So, I think it’s important that you find people that got the right stuff, whatever that is.”

Venables has been at Clemson since 2012, serving six seasons as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, before his promotion in 2018. Ever since then, he’s served as Clemson’s assistant head coach, in addition to his duties as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Venables was a Broyles Award finalist with Oklahoma, but he later won the distinction in 2016, while coaching Clemson. His recruiting strategy, at least at Oklahoma, seemed to work.

“Our job as a staff is having the ability to identify (the right fit),” Venables said. “Continuity can be a very good thing, as we know. I want to be a developmental program.”