SoonerScoop Sights & Sounds: OU spring practice No. 7
It was time to hear from OU head coach Brent Venables for the first occasion since spring practice has started for the Sooners.
OU is at the halfway mark of its 15 spring practices, and Venables seems pleased with the direction the team is going.
“Practice No. 7 done, so we’re close to halfway and excited about the competitive toughness that I’ve seen from this team,” Venables said. “Really, really excited about that. A lot of experience, obviously, coming back on defense, but man, we’ve had great competition from all the way back to mat drills. Whether it’s the new guys, the returning players, new players within our program that have new opportunity to go win jobs—guys are showing up with purpose and with passion and with the intensity you want to see, with the physical toughness that the game demands. So, really thrilled with those things.
“If I was having to get guys to do those things in a better way, or if we were not meeting those standards, it wouldn’t be a lot of fun, so saw a lot from the veterans that I really like, and again, a lot of first-year players that I really love too.”
OU has had some of the practices feature a scrimmage component to it. But Venables said Thursday’s practice will be a full-blown scrimmage. A chance to see what guys like David Stone, Davon Mitchell and other freshmen can really do.
“Been working on a lot of situational stuff right now and trying to take ‘em to some dark places,” Venables said. “That’s what you gotta do. This is that time of the year where they gotta take themselves and we gotta take ‘em too as coaches as we develop our team, our toughness, our mindset, our attitude. Nurture how we do what we do. When you walk through that door, what that means. Putting on the jersey, putting the pads on coming to work.
“Practice No. 7’s over. You can’t go back and do it again. So not wasting opportunities and show up here, again, with the purpose and the passion and the toughness this game requires, and our guys that you can’t pay less than what it takes. And so I like — I’m not surprising anybody when I tell them that. And so we’ve got the right guys in our locker room nurturing those things too from a leadership standpoint.”
It’s another edition of the Sights & Sounds from video editor Eddie Radosevich.
