Brent Venables responds to Lane Kiffin's signal comments: 'I take it as a compliment'

For the second straight season, Ole Miss and Oklahoma play each other as SEC foes. It’s another showdown between Lane Kiffin and Brent Venables, two of the best on their respective sides of the ball. And to kick the week off, Kiffin decided to speak to how well OU does to get opponents’ signals through studying film.

Later on Monday, Venables got an opportunity to respond. He takes Kiffin’s comments “as a compliment” before raving about his players’ preparation heading into games.

“I guess coming from Lane I take it as a compliment?” Venables said on his radio show. “Like, he must have watched our guys be really prepared. Cause that’s who they are, man. They’re relentless. Their detail, the time they spend above and beyond what’s required, that’s the proof of how we’re playing right now. That D-line, how they’re able to dominate physically.

“Honestly I don’t know of a team that hasn’t huddled. I think every single team we’ve played the last two years has huddled. And so between that and the helmet communication, I don’t know how that works, but we got enough to worry about just getting our guys lined up with the right call and things of that nature. But I guess I’ll take that as kind of a weird kind of compliment. Our guys must’ve looked pretty good on film.”

Kiffin was originally asked about what the Oklahoma defense does well compared to other teams. There could be a lot to discuss there, considering the Sooners find themselves atop a lot of statistical categories in the SEC. Elite would be the right word to describe them, and not just within the conference. On a national scale as well.

However, Kiffin responded by speaking to their ability to get signs. He even gave a specific answer, pointing right at Oklahoma’s win over Auburn earlier in the year.

“One, it’s phenomenal prep — a film study of signals,” Kiffin said during his Monday press conference. “They do a great job of that. If you study people really well, you have enough confidence as a coach to go after those. That seems what he does and they’ve got a really good beat on the plays that are coming when they’re called and they do a great job of going and taking those away. Look at the Auburn game. I told Hugh [Freeze] after the game, watching it, he might want to switch his signals. Like, it looks like they have the plays. The middle safety’s running down to steal slants, which is very abnormal.”

Kickoff in Norman is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT in a battle of ranked foes. Whether or not this adds a little extra to the fire, we will have to find out on Saturday.