Bye Bye Brent.

According to NewsOK, Brent Venables has accepted the position of Defensive Coordinator for Clemson.

http://newsok.com/ou-football-brent
-venables-taking-clemson-job/articl
e/3641428

I'm not surprised and am actually glad he didn't go to K-state or the SEC.   Thank you Brent for the contributions you made to the OU program and I wish you well in your new job.    

Frankly i'm glad he's gone...like Bob said if you don't wanna be here then leave...

According to NewsOK, Brent Venables has accepted the position of Defensive Coordinator for Clemson.

http://newsok.com/ou-football-brent

-venables-taking-clemson-job/articl

e/3641428

I'm not surprised and am actually glad he didn't go to K-state or the SEC.   Thank you Brent for the contributions you made to the OU program and I wish you well in your new job.    

Same here....hope he does great at Clemson.

I have mixed feelings on this. When he teamed up with Mike in the past, we had outstanding defenses. When Mike left, our secondary became our worst issue year in and year out. 

Brent has to do what is best for him though. Bob isnt going anywhere anytime soon. I doubt Brent wants to stay DC for 30 years, just to fight for the HC job when it opens up.


How will this affect recruiting? Brent has been out recruiting, even as late as the beginngin of this week.  

Think Bob will hire a Linebackers coach just to replace Brent? Gotta admit Brent did well and is known as a linebackers coach. 

OU's defense had stagnated, whether the fault of Coach V, don't know.  But time for a change is good thing.  However, I am somewhat surprised he did not wait for a call from Coach Snyder.  He would have been a coach in waiting, while the Clemson deal could be another wait 13 years....  Of course maybe the KSU thing was only conjecture....  Coach Snyderman could be web slinging at the Little Apple for years to come....
Good Luck Coach V... 

Can't blame a guy for following the money.  Haen'y seen the final numbers, but 900,000 to a million for a DC is pretty insane.  Many HCs don't get that kind of jack.  It was definitely too rich for us at WVU.

Frankly i'm glad he's gone...like Bob said if you don't wanna be here then leave...

that has nothing to do with it. I'm sure if your boss came in and said he was hiring somebody to split your job with/possibility taking away some of you more important responsibilities, you wouldn't be real happy.

personally, I hate to see him go.

remember, hindsight is a great virture, LOL!~


Venables always was fun to be around, but during his darkest hour, he was at his best

1/18/2012 11:58:30 PM

I just finished writing tomorrow’s story for the Tulsa World print editions about defensive coordinator Brent Venables’ departure to Clemson.

It happened in a flash. He interviewed last weekend. Spoke to the press Sunday night. Wednesday afternoon reports said he’d taken the job. He said he hadn’t. At 10:30, he texted me that he had accepted the job, though it was hard. At 11:30, my main story is in and now you get to read this preview . . . or addendum, depending on what time you went to bed.

As I skim through all the Venables quotes from my eight-plus years on the beat, I realize how much I will miss Tuesday night chats with Venables during the season.

No OU coach held court with the media like Brent did.

He would tell stories about Mark Mangino versus Mike Leach, or Tony Cade versus every Sooner wide receiver (and eventually the coaching staff), or Mike Stoops versus whatever referee/player/coach just happened to be standing within eight feet of him.

And he always used, to the best of his recollection, whatever colorful language his protagonists/antagonists might have chosen.

As the post-practice media gatherings swelled from 3-5 reporters in 2004 to something more like 15-20 this year — dot coms are everywhere, you know, and they’re apparently here to stay — Venables’ tales became less colorful and less frequent.

The old-school guys are sad about this. Sad that Venables stopped telling those great stories. Sad, too, that the next generation of journalists will never know them, mostly because they refuse to put down that stupid camcorder and just listen.

Anyway, this isn’t about new journalism or old journalism. This is about Brent Venables.

The late hour of tonight’s news forced my fingers into a blurred frenzy of keystrokes. Deadline, and all. One thing I regrettably didn’t get into tomorrow’s report was a simple paragraph about Venables’ family.

He and his wife Julie have two boys, Jake and Tyler, approaching their teens, and two girls, Delaney and Addison, that could still be called toddlers. Moving for those four youngsters surely will be easier than it will be for Willie Martinez’ teenage son, whose dad “resigned” last week when Mike Stoops returned to Norman. (Martinez’ two daughters are in college.)

In looking back on all the Venables quotes — and I’ve got almost every word he spoke to the press for eight years running — the ones that really impress me the most were spoken last May.

Bob Stoops was on vacation in Italy. So when Austin Box died from a drug overdose, Venables stood firm at the microphone. Box was arguably Venables’ most beloved pupil, though he was like a father/big brother/crazy uncle to so many of them.

His square jaw softened, his lava glare cooled, his voice cracked, and he spoke with immutable resolve, seemingly forever, about Box.

The next day, Venables’ older brother, Kirk died suddenly from a seizure.

That’s too much for any one man to bear. Yet Venables bore it.

Six days later, Venables stood in front of a massive gathering inside Enid’s Emmanuel Baptist Church, eulogizing Box and undressing his emotions for all to see. He was a mountain of strength, conviction, dignity and courage, fighting back tears and sharing a laugh.

“We all have dreams, all have goals. For a lot of us, it never happens. We don’t get to live those dreams,” Venables said. “(Box) was living his dream, being an Oklahoma Sooner. He grew up his whole life wanting to do exactly what he was doing every day. He appreciated it, he respected it, he valued it. He wore it on his sleeve.”

Afterward, on the way out the door to Box’s interment, Venables saw me in the hallway. I had left him a handful of messages that week expressing my profound sadness for what he must be going through. When he spotted me, he stepped away from his wife and Bob and Carol Stoops for just a second, grabbed me and hugged me with a fearsome back slap. He shot me that glare — you’ve all seen it, only this one didn’t have the vein bulging out of his neck — and he said, simply, “Thanks.”

I suppose we were both too busy tonight for a phone call, so, in another text message, impersonal though it seemed, I finally returned the sentiment.

“Thanks,” I tapped. “For everything.”

wheat,


I assume this is Dave Sittler?  Good column.  



SMURPH,


No kidding.  I love my job right now but if another school came calling and offered me another $20,000 to teach their sixth graders, I'd go.  Money can't buy happiness but it will buy other stuff... 

John Hoover wrote it.

There was a girl who used to work on North Avenue in Chicago.  Her name was Happiness.  So in that particular case, money could buy Happiness, at least for an hour or so.

There was a girl who used to work on North Avenue in Chicago.  Her name was Happiness.  So in that particular case, money could buy Happiness, at least for an hour or so.

<span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; text-align: left;">SMURPH, 


And you know this how?  You saw it on the news, right?  


Very nice!

 

Okay guys, I've been hoping for this day for almost a decade now. But now that it is here I find myself wondering if I couldnt see that the forest for the trees. I think Mike Stoops is a superior coach and defensive play caller who simplifies the defense so that players don't have to wonder where they should be. With that said, maybe it was the combination of the two that brought the magic to the 2000 -03 teams. I don't know. I do know that for all the grief I have given Coach V on this board, I will still pull for him to do well wherever he goes.
Now we will get to see if it is truly the players or the coach that makes the difference. Let's see if Clemson's defense gets better and if we still have the "off games" that seemed to plague the Sooners since Mike went to AZ. My best guess is that the scheme is going to change dramatically at OU. Guys that are playing undersized linebacker will now be forced to safety or to the bench. When we get a talent like Ronnell Lewis we will keep him right in the middle of the field where he belongs instead of converting him to an undersized DE. I would almost bet we start playing the 3-4 instead of the 4-3 within the next two seasons. The linebackers will get bigger and the nose tackle will become the most important position on the defense.

interesting intrrview with BV, after he accepted the Clemson job.

http://www.tigernet.com/view/story.
do?id=10318

Does anyone know what Mike Stoops is making coming to OU? I wonder how much of this is to allow BV to save face in the public eye? I know we may never know who requested all the changes. Was it the administration or was Bob acting alone? Since Bob has never had any coaching turn over except those leaving for a HC job. It makes me wonder if maybe Martinez and Veneables werent decisions made above Bob. In the article posted by Wheat (thanks my brother!) BV talks about the different senarios they talked about with who was running what. Sounds like the changes may not be complete. At least one new defensive coach is headed our way. Hopefully its not one of Bob's college friends. Those guys seem to always find there way to his staff and never leave. We need to be looking for a linebacker coach that is second to none. Bring in the guy who coaches the Penn St. linebackers. ( no I'm not talking about Sandusky!). This is the guy Ron Vanderlinden http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m
-footbl/mtt/vanderlinden_ron00.html
  These guys are known as linebacker U for a reason. They just keep on turning out great prospects at linebacker and making them all pro in the NFL. Dont know that he has any ties to Bob but they are from the same neck of the woods. I'm sure the new coach at Penn St. will be looking to install his own staff. You have to appreciate that nobody really runs the ball well against Penn St. Why? The linebackers are animals!

I have a book he(Vanderlinden) wrote called "Football's Eagle and Stack Defense". Pretty good stuff..

What do you think the chances are of landing someone like this for LB coach? Who Vanderlinden consider moving to Norman if the price was right?

I think it would be great but probably unlikely. Alot of people may not like the idea but of the candidates I have heard I like Leavitt the best. I want the tenacious, fiery defense led by Lil Stoops and Leavitt. Show some emotion... play with a chip... Kick some....

I haven't been around much but i don't believe they made a change, a change for the good. I didn't think they where going to get rid of BV it was like he was a tick. well i am glad and i hope they get someone great.

Shel, they didn't get rid of BV and they did find someone who we all hope will do a great job in Mike Stoops.