Brent Venables praises freshman CB Courtland Guillory: He has a "dog" mentality

NORMAN — There were a few things that stood out about the Sooners’ depth chart for Saturday’s season opener.

But one of the biggest things? Courtland Guillory being listed atop the depth chart at cornerback. The true freshman earned a co-starting position at right cornerback and has put himself in a position to run out with the first-team defense this weekend against Illinois State.

It’s certainly not a surprise to the coaching staff, including head coach Brent Venables.

“He would be what you would call a dog,” Venables said during Tuesday’s press conference. “Just really tough mentally and physically. He loves to compete. He’s just hungry. And it’s not like he’s out there self-promoting — ‘I’m gonna be the best ever.’ He’s not like that. He’s super humble. Raised the right way. Loves his teammates.

“He’s a great teammate. He’d be third on the depth chart and he’d be cool. ‘Just whatever opportunity I get, I’m gonna go dominate that moment.’”

Guillory had grabbed the staff’s attention at Klein Oak High School in Texas, when he was a three-star prospect and named the District 15-6A Most Valuable Player as a senior. That continued in the spring, and he generated buzz about earning a real role in the fall.

That only continued in preseason camp. With injuries to notable cornerbacks Eli Bowen and Kendel Dolby, Guillory took advantage of the opportunity.

“He’s just ultra aggressive,” Venables said. “Very confident, but humble. He has great self awareness, so he knows where he may lack. But he’s willing to attack it every day. Super coachable. High energy. He’s got a lot of passion to him. He’s detailed. He’s really learned from Eli how to show up every day in the meeting room, take notes, be on the edge of your chair. Show up prepared. Show up alert and taking all the knowledge that you can.

“And then he’s one of the few young players that take everything you learn in the meeting room and a walkthrough and he applies it. Not perfect. I don’t want to paint him as a Thorpe Award winner right now. But he has a unique ability to apply it immediately. And when he makes a mistake, he learns from it quickly. So when he’s failed, and he has failed plenty, he’s gotten beat plenty of times, man, does he respond.”

That’s been the thing that has stuck out to his teammates and coaches — his mentality. Veteran linebacker Kip Lewis noted Monday that he’s not a typical freshman. OU cornerbacks coach Jay Valai praised him as “phenomenal” earlier this month.

“He was a good football player, but he’s been a violent student of the game,” Valai said. “His mindset, his hunger and effort. Effort should never be coached. You can tell by the way he plays. He’s a different guy. Very similar but different to Eli Bowen. But he can be an impact guy like that too. He’s really confident, and I’m really confident in him. He’ll be out there early ready to roll, fired up and aggressive. Can’t wait to watch him, really excited.”

If Guillory can be truly emerge as someone the secondary can count on, that’s a huge development for the Sooners. The cornerback room has been one of the lone questions on defense, but Guillory’s ascension has changed the equation for that position group.

He’ll certainly have his opportunity to prove he’s ready on Saturday.

“When you watched him in high school he was a guy who was very disruptive with the ball,” Venables said. “Had some rawness to him. But he always made plays on the ball. Disrupted the ball. Some guys are long and they don’t play that way. And he uses his length in a great way. But whether he’s off, he’s in zone, he’s in man, he’s done a lot of really good stuff on the field…. He hasn’t won every competitive play. So I don’t want to paint that picture.

“But he’s got a lot of the other stuff that you can’t coach. And the coach can’t want it more for him than he wants it for himself. And young players, one of the hardest things for them to do coming from high school is the focused intensity every single day. And he’s had that every day.”

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