The Oklahoma Sooners held their annual training camp media day on Tuesday ahead of the first official day of fall camp practices on Wednesday. Brent Venables and Ben Arbuckle took to the podium while assistants and players also met with the media.
There's a quiet confidence about this year's Sooners' team, a team coming off of their best season of the Brent Venables era and a 10-2 regular season. But in Venables' voice, you also heard a desire to see his team prove what they're capable of in fall camp and on the field each week in the fall.
Taking questions from media in attendance, Venables spoke on quarterback John Mateer, linebackers Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke, the development of the defensive line, and how working with Jim Nagy and the front
office has made his job easier over the last year and a half.
Here's everything Venables had to say on Tuesday.
On John Mateer's development this offseason
probably understanding the gravity of being the quarterback at the University of Oklahoma. There's that peace. I think he's probably in a more peaceful place when it comes to that. Just a more comfortable understanding, all the different levels of it. And then you know, as we've been talking about for several weeks and really post-spring, just the maturity that he's taken to the offseason, looking at ways to improve in all the different ways. So that's mentally understanding what they want to do purposely as an offense in some of the responsibilities within the confines of the offense, and whether it's reads or leading things of that nature, and certainly understanding defensive structure as well, and really trying to peel that onion back to the core, and then again, just looking at all the from a fundamental standpoint, building this body, being a you know a great teammate, developing really good relationships, things that nature. You know, we have several new newcomers on offense, and so much different place than what he was a year ago.
Now, as returning started in the SEC, and what to expect week in and week out, and then you know, building you know the cohesion and the chemistry offensively speaking, as he's very natural, you know, from a relationship standpoint, he doesn't have to try to be a dude. He is, and so really proud of all the work that he's put into the out of season. Everybody's followed his lead, you know. Again, as we talked about recently, I've got incredible respect and appreciation for his athletic ability, but his best qualities, in my opinion, are you know the human being that he is, the leader that he is, the guy that shows up the depths of preparation and the level of consistency, is a very hard thing, you know, for somebody to possess, and those are strong qualities that he you know possesses.
On the development of the Defensive Line
I'm anxious to see where that goes. The offseason is certainly one piece of it. You know, we've been working since January to develop the identity of this football team, find out what we have. I think the fall camp is a real test of where we're at from a maturity standpoint, an improvement standpoint, a consistency standpoint. The things that it takes to win and be successful. I think a lot still remains to be seen. I'm anxious. I wish I had further depth of you know, evidence to brag on guys, but I think we nailed it when it comes to strength gains and the level of consistency during the summer, the improvement, the confidence that guys have gained. They've done a lot of football and the fundamentals, and you know how we do what we do. I think that's been able to see some of those things, but I want to see it now, and I want to see it during the course of the season.
Again, if you go back two years ago, a guy like (Damonic) Williams that had just gotten here as a as a transfer, he had a solid year in 24, and made a decision that he was going to come back and approach everything with a different mentality. And man, he was fantastic. And it was two different guys, just two different, completely different guys when it comes to challenging himself, holding himself accountable-that's number one. And then number two, his willingness to, you know, set the standard each and every day. You know, be the template for it, and be a tone setter. You know, set the thermostat where it needed to be and elevate. And he really did. I think a lot of our success was a lot of guys, you know, coming together defensively last year, but none bigger than Dam Williams, and it was so remarkable in all my years. It just doesn't happen as much, and so I'm going out of my way. That's what it needs to look like, and even I don't take it for granted.
David (Stone) and Jayden (Jackson) have, again, you know, Jayden had a really outstanding freshman year and was banged up and fought through. Really proud of his toughness that he played with last year, but was limited. Now, David has yet to start a college football game, and I know everybody's quick to. You know, and it's not David's fault. David's put his head down. He's been working, but a lot of people are quick to, you know, announce him as this or that. And this is a game of doing, and this is a game of longevity. This is a game of consistency. You know, when we're talking about to be a good player, it takes those things, not not great, good. That's a foundational thing.
So that's the challenge for us in that group. And again, every good defense is going to be good because you're strong at the middle of the defense. And will we be? I don't know. Do we have the potential to be? Absolutely. And but I want to go. I want to see it, and what I'm telling you is no different than anything I'm telling our guys. I'm, you know, you know, they should want to impress me, and I don't say that because I'm the head coach. I don't say that at all. But I'm gonna be the guy that is gauging, you know, the litmus test and where are we? And my job is to push people, you know, to their limits and bring out the best in them each and every day, and challenge them to improve and stay hungry and stay driven and help develop that mentality. That's what fall camp is about. And certainly, you know, we've I've talked about the fourth quarter, you know, you know when we need to be at our best. You know, with a physicality, a mentality, the build, the ability to execute at the highest level. You know, when you're when you're tired, when you're gassed, you need to play your best ball in the fourth quarter, and that's just the mentality where we want to be.
You know, as a football program, and certainly, you know, we do on defense, and so this is going to be a great test for us, you know, and opportunity for us here as we start fall camp. You know, I really believe you develop a whole nother level of toughness in your football team during fall camp, and I'm excited to see how our guys are ready to attack it.
On DE Adepoju Adebawore's potential
Yeah, it's just a body of work to try to get his body back right so he can come and have the endurance to to play, you know, quality as best football, and he has shown great signs in in a his role last year. He did some really good things, and now it's an opportunity for him to show that he's a guy that can be a pillar force. You know, on defense, he's got the talent, the want to, the ability. He's put in tremendous amount of work, and I think that's what Taylor recognizes. Not that he is just a friend, you know, and a guy that he's pulling for. I think he's seen the PJ, the sacrifice, and the work that he's put in. You know, typically that you know is a reason to believe that you know good things are in front of him, and with the talent and the desire, things of that nature.
On managing expectations after playoff appearance
I mean, I think the circumstances are different, but I don't think the approach should ever change. That's my opinion. The pressure is doesn't come from anywhere but internally that you create for yourself. You based on the standards, your own expectations, the things that you value. You know, the pressure is never bigger than what it is internally, and I think that should drive you. You know that pressure is part of your culture. It's a mentality that should be a shared belief system, and we should all feel that every single year. And if you're comfortable, you're going to get beat. Period. And comfort is something that we've got to resist. And it's hard to win, and that's not a fancy cliché. That's the truth. And so we know the margins are small. If they were small last year, they're smaller than they've ever been. That's the facts, and we have an opportunity to have a really good football team.
There's a lot of variables that go into that. I thought we were on track with that in going into 24, but it's hard when you lose, you know, nine starters on offense. It's just hard, and with a freshman quarterback, you know, you look around the country, what team is doing, you know, outstanding with a freshman quarterback. Not many, and then you, then you're not. Great around them that it's hard. So, but you learn through all of it. But to answer your question, as far as pressure and expectations, is there, is there, was there some momentum that was maybe created through, you know, the back half of the season having some success? I think it has driven hunger. I think it has probably our guys have a they feel like they have you know more to have if you will and more to prove certainly prove to themselves not to anyone else what we're we're capable of when we put it all together hey what we actually said coach was actually true and the outside, you know, cheers and boos and all of that should not affect us, you know.
And we have to be tough-minded, you know, for that to be the case. And it matters what we do, what we think, how we work, how we love, how we compete, how we respond, not what everybody else thinks. And so again, I but I like I like pressure. Pressure is a good thing when used the right way. But we need to be at our best, right? When you know the hottest moments, you know when the fire gets hot, you know that's when we should be at our best. And that's being battle tested. You know, you can utilize some of the moments from last year to have confidence from, but we also have to create it internally as much as we can, and challenge one another. Certainly as coaches, but certainly, you know, how we practice, how we compete situationally, things of that nature, to develop and harden your team, and get it, you know, battle-tested for the season.
On working with Jim Nagy and Front Office
Yeah, I mean, again, I think any time something is brand new, there's always an adjustment period, you know. And I think all change is good, you know. I think it's always an opportunity to grow and get better. And so, whether that was first came to Oklahoma back in 1999, again left a wonderful situation where we were the number one team in the country, number one defense in the country, we had a lot of work to do. I didn't like it at the time, and but it made us a lot better. We got better quickly, and then I left in 2011. Went to Clemson, and I didn't like it, but end up being pretty good. You know, situation. You learn and grow, and you learn a lot about yourself. I think I've talked about that, where you you understand at 40 years old, you get go somewhere new to a new locker room. You don't get to take everything with you. Some things travel, and a lot of things don't. You got to start completely over, and a lot of work is involved, both physically and mentally. And then, certainly, when we got here in the most disruptive time in college football history, and I get to be a head coach for the first time, so a lot to learn. To you know, I think that goes without saying.
I think that the new scouting staff and us, I think it's been it's gone really well. And my job is to always look at things from a holistic standpoint and how we can get better, how we can be more efficient. And we've tried to do that. You know, each and every offseason, and I think we've made some incremental improvement when it comes to that. For as much as changed, most of it's still the same, exactly the same. Still about evaluating and looking at your your your rooms and your sides of the ball, and you got to have a short-term lens, and you certainly have to have a long-term lens, and it's about you know finding an alignment when it comes to the type of people that you're you're identifying that can help you win, and and then again I think putting the puzzle together every year is a little bit different. It's not always the same. It's not a cookie-cutter approach in any way, shape, or form. When we do look at players. My first priority is not to look at who's going to be in the NFL. I'm I look at who's going to help make us better right now, and it's got to be a great fit, you know, for us. And you know, I think if you again you look at college rosters, whatever you know the the percentage is, you know, less than 3% It's probably higher at Oklahoma, you know, but less than 3% ever have a chance to make an opening day roster in the NFL. Okay, that old 53 man roster is hard, and it's not for everybody. And so, finding a team, you know. That is tough and physical and competitive, and again, there's an alignment with the values and the type of people that we want our locker room to build for the long haul. Is we just put more people in there that again have great experience, you know, in building locker rooms and things of that nature. So Jim, his staff, Taylor, Lake, and Charlie, Kale, Drew, all those guys have been fantastic, and they're good people, and they're competitive. They want to win, and we've blended, you know, our culture. They've they've bought into you know how we do what we do, and that was that was you know bottom line expectation, and that's no surprise. It's all gone you know really well, and it's like anything. It's like any relationship, you know. You got to work at it. You got to develop trust. That has to happen organically, and you got to go through some stuff, both good and challenging. That's all part of it. You got to have, you know, nonstop communication. You know, that's I think that's a key to all of it. You got to, you know, be willing to have hard conversations and be honest with one another. And there has to be accountability.
You know, at the end of the day, and just like offense and defense and special teams, you know, you have, you know, your your postseason analysis. You look at the good, and and that's all good, but you know you got to go right at the what what maybe where was it that we fell short, and what will we do next time, and how are we going to get better, and there has to be an alignment on what that looks like too, and we've worked hard to do that, and it's been a lot of fun, you know, because they're great people that we get to work with every day, and so when you love what you do and who you do it with, it it makes it you know limitless as far as the possibility. So, been more efficient as I said. I've talked about this a lot in front of y'all, but the piece that you know I did not like was having to do contracts and talk money and things like that. That's just that's not comfortable for anybody. And then now we're dealing with an age group of 1716, to you know 24 year old you know young people that haven't done it you know before, and there's a there's a maturity piece to it that is not an easy thing to navigate, and so not not complaining at all.
But turning that piece over has been the most peaceful part of all of it. But everything else is the exact same. You still got to recruit every single day, whether it's developing relationships or you're constantly looking at video, evaluating players. All of our coaches have that responsibility. They need to have extreme ownership in their room, and for them to to be at their best. And so, you know, we don't get to draft people. We have to recruit them. And you can have all the money, and you can have the best relationship, and you still don't get them. And it's onward, and that's just the the nature of you know college football recruiting. So, it's been good.
On Defensive Ends coach Miguel Chavis
Yeah, I mean, all of my assistants. It takes all of us certainly, but Miguel's awesome. You know, he's incredibly bright. He's got tremendous energy. He's very passionate about people. He's passionate about his opportunity. He's got a sense of humility to him. He shows up every day, willing to learn and get better and grow, and but he also has a unique perspective and experience where he can help other people grow as well. Is well received, well liked. He knows how to turn it up on somebody when he needs to, from an accountability standpoint, a toughness standpoint. He's just, you know, high level at every area of what you want in somebody you know on your staff and in your locker room, just a quality husband and father leader, a motivator, mentor. Loves the strategy of the game. Really smart and bright. Got a great great future. But he's been incredibly impactful in his space and overall, us as a defense.
On new eligibility and transfer rules
Yeah, anything's possible as far as what we might explore, and I think it's great. You know, I think it's it simplifies a lot of things. I think number one for us, it helps from a transfer portal standpoint. So if somebody's not hijacking you, you know, with the. With a redshirt year, you know, so that takes that, you know, it takes that piece out of the equation when it comes to evaluating opportunities for young men and what might happen down the road and whatnot. So it gets a little, creates a little more buy-in and incentivizes to be good right where your feet are, so I think that's great. And obviously, NCAA is trying to simplify some of the things from you know a time slot standpoint, how long guys are in college. So I like the simplicity of it. Looks like it's going to be better from a management roster management standpoint as well.
On the addition of Jason Witten
Well, I think you know I think you're going to see improvement in every part of how they play, and there's an experience standpoint, but the best part of it, the experience doesn't get you there as quickly as being an effective teacher. And he's got a natural, you know, skill set when it comes to teaching the game, how he thinks, and just he's very bright, but he's able to be an effective communicator with the guys. Inspire, motivate, challenge. It certainly has instant credibility.
But you know, if it if you can't meet the player where he's at, it's going to be hard to be effective to get the guys to play like you want them to play. So I think that's the art of all of it. But he loves what he does. So when you're passionate about what you do, I think that you have a chance to be great at it. I do think it takes that. He doesn't like it; he loves it. And you know, when I offered him the job, you know, he was willing to walk from where he was to get to Norman, and I love that. You know, there wasn't a lot of him hauling around as soon as I said I'm offering you the job, he said I'll be there, you know, in 30 minutes.
But he's hungry. He's a great teammate. I think one of his best qualities is how somebody that has had the kind of career that he has professionally, that you know how well he blends in with everyone, and not just blends in, but locks arm lock lock arms with, and you know helps move you know everything forward, you know day in and day out. And there's an art to knowing when to push and when to sit back and, you know, do as you know you're told to do so to speak. And he he he's should shouldn't be surprised because he's been in a locker room a long time. But I think there's a reason for that longevity and just a quality human being. I think that's where it starts. But he's bright, loves what he does, and the players, he's got an infectious energy about him. The players really have grown to respect him and appreciate him.
On the growth of OC Ben Arbuckle
Yeah, it's it's endless. You don't know what you don't know until you go through it, and I you know, what I've tried to help him is having people that have been there that can that can help you, you know, what's around the corner. Does that make sense? And you you feel like you have to carry this heavy weight of I'm supposed to know everything because I have that title, but in reality, how would you ever know everything? You have no capacity at that time, you know, from an experience standpoint to certainly know everything. But he's been great, you know. He's got great. He's very hungry, super bright, really smart, incredibly hard, you know, worker, when and just high standards for himself. But I've really tried to I've tried to give him some guidance along the way to try to take some of that weight off. That and you, when you have people around you that are have been good at what they do, it's it's a very healthy thing. And again, that's not an easy thing for people to do. If you're confident in what you do and you have somewhat of a an ego and having an ego, there's different degrees of having you know an ego, and you know so not an easy thing to do.
But been you know proud of him and his growth and his development and his maturity to have the right kind of lens and how do we move you know our offense forward? How do we get better? And again, we improved in 24 categories last year on offense, and we know that it's still a lot to be, you know, to improve on. And so nobody certainly was satisfied with that, or you know. But the improvement was the improvement, and although incremental, you know, it was noticeable in some areas, and again with a lot to still, you know, get better and build on. So excited about all the work and development that has taken place, and he's been a, you know, none of it can happen without him. And again, the test of time. We'll see where we're at.
But I got great faith and confidence, and you know, where we're at offensively right now, and certainly all of you know my excitement and anticipation comes from the body of work that certainly he has led. Now, but all of them on offense, players and coaches alike, have locked arms and you know put their heads down and a tremendous amount of work. You know, over the last several months.
On the energy of LB Kip Lewis
My problem with Kip is usually during the week, but believe it or not, when it's not because I love how he plays the pregame stuff. I'm worried that he's gonna, you know, blow a gasket and not make it to the fourth quarter. You know, and he likes to run around. I mean, we're trying to get the next call in, so he's got a he's going to have to do that a little more this year.
But I love his passion, his energy. Everybody, it's infectious. You know, I think he endears himself to people that that love Oklahoma football because he plays with so much energy and passion. It's it's incredibly consistent, so it's not conditional on who we're playing, where we're playing. He just that's who he is. He comes from a you know a program at Carthage High School that you know has incredibly high standards, you know tremendous tradition. He was obviously is for a player of the year. I think he was part of three state championships there, and so he brought some of those things with him. But you know, his best qualities are his energy and passion and love for the game. And you know, just he's got a great, great maturity. He wants things hard. You know, I'm talking about our schedule, and when we're trying to go indoor.
A year ago at this time, we didn't have air conditioning at our indoor facility, and and so we we've gotten AC in there now, and trying to you know with the idea of playing till Jan through January at some point in time, we've got to do a good job of being efficient and having a combination of old school toughness with modernized sports science and what that combination looks like, so we can be efficient and get exactly what we want and win on Saturdays. And Kip's telling me he doesn't want to ever go indoors. You know, he wants to be outside, and we need we need the heat and those types of things. So that's who Kip is. East Texas tough, and but man, he really raises the level of everybody around him. You know, talk about somebody, and we talk about elevating a lot in our in our in our building. And Kip has elevated everyone, even as a young freshman. It was really noticeable and has had a tremendous impact, certainly on our defense, but also on our football team. I think John picked him as the guy that you'd want, you know, if he could pick one guy in a street fight, a dark alley, or a you know a fist fight, whatever it was, you know, it was going to be Kip Lewis because of game-day Kip. And so he's left a you know big impression with everybody, and we're going to need him to be his best this year.
On Owen Heinecke and the Linebacker room
Yeah, it gives you a certain level of comfort. You know what you're getting from him. He's got a great body of work. Probably still his best football still in front of him. That's exciting. But he cares about the team. He cares deeply about the team. He's consumed about the team, and I mean I can't say that enough. He shows up in the building every day, you know, trying to raise the standard and what can I do? He wants to do more constantly, and then again, that's as I said. And you care more, you'll do more. And when you do more, that's what it looks like as far as having a chance to have a championship-type locker room. And so, just comes from incredibly high standards. Again, he grew up, you know, dreaming and asking and hoping for this moment. And he's in the middle of it, and he's not taking it for granted. He wants to maximize this small window. It's just a vapor. He understands that. So there's a great deal of maturity about Owen. You know, he's a he's a guy that he's not naive. He understands exactly what it's supposed to look like, and when it's not, probably his best quality is he calls a lot of people out, and he knows how to do it without being offensive, and people respond to it. And again, the the depth of our leadership, I've talked about it, and it's going to be one of the the key components for us to have the kind of season that we potentially can have is is the you know guys like himself you know willing to lead this football team and especially when it's hard and there's some challenges and choppy waters you know down the road but couldn't be more proud and pleased to to have him in the in the middle of our defense alongside Kip and and some other young linebackers and Cole Sullivan.
Those guys have all really meshed well, and you know he's just an epitome of what you want from a selfless and a maturity standpoint too of the to me two words is going to define you know this football team when it's all said and done our willingness to be selfless and again he could have been one of those guys that was going to worry about you know his NFL opportunity and his draft ranking and you know his NIL and I can go. You know my plays and how many reps and me, me, me, me, me, and you know he's he's focused, put every ounce of energy and time and fiber in his body into what's best for the team, not necessarily what's best for Owen, and and I love that selflessness about him. There's a maturity about that that hopefully that'll be infectious in our locker room.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Everything Oklahoma's Brent Venables said at pre-camp press conference
