During the most dominant era of Bob Stoops' tenure at Oklahoma, from 2000-2010, his longtime coordinators were key components of a nucleus that created sustainable success.
Brent Venables served as the co-defensive coordinator or defensive coordinator under Stoops from 1999-2011, while Kevin Wilson served in the same position for the offense from 2002-2010.
While Venables is back with the Sooners as head coach, Wilson is in the midst of his first season as Tulsa’s head coach. And for the first time ever, the two will face off as opposing head coaches when the Sooners come to Tulsa on Saturday (2:30 p.m., ESPN2).
During his weekly press conferences on Tuesday, Venables reflected on his time alongside Wilson with the Sooners.
“The battles were what they were," Venables said of facing Wilson at OU for all those years. "In the moment, it’s personal, you’re trying to win. At least that’s the goal. Very competitive. He’s a really smart coach and tough guy. That’s what it’s about. Tthe practice field is how you become a good player, a good unit, a good team. So both of us are very passionate about our craft, and Kevin’s done a great job, wherever he’s been.
“If he’s just coaching the tight ends or he’s coaching the quarterbacks, or whether he’s at Northwestern or Oklahoma or Indiana or Ohio State, now at Tulsa, he’s always done a fantastic job.”
Venables raved about Wilson too, not just as a coach, but as a person.
"He’s one of my favorite people that I’ve worked with,” Venables said. “A good friend, great dad, and great husband. A dang good football coach. Tulsa’s lucky to have him. I see his players playing aggressively and playing confidently. Even going up to Washington, traveling halfway across the country, they played in the very first third down of the game, they go first down, second down, third down, conversion. Real fearless.
“He’s kind of got a go-for-broke mindset. He’ll do a great job there. His players are representing well right now.”
Wilson shared his memories of Venables as well on Tuesday, and spoke shortly about being a father alongside the rest of the Sooners' coaching staff back then.
"What you see is what you get, [he's] very genuine," Wilson said of Venables. "Again, prayers to he and his family, with Julie. Our sons are basically the same age. My youngest son is the same age as his two guys and we'd go to the little league game and it'd be the Stoops two, the Wilson two, the Sumlin two, and the Venables two. The best deal was, we were just dads. We didn't want to coach. We just wanted to sit there and watch our guys. So that was kind of neat. All the guys were playing baseball on the same team, basketball on the same teams. So, I just remember the family.
The former Sooners' OC also remembers just how difficult it was to practice against one of the best defensive minds in college football.
"Practice was competitive, practice was hard, but practice was never personal,” Wilson said. “You were trying everything that you could. I think, as a coach, I grew a lot there because you started learning that you're going against good players and good coaches, but also, if your players aren't playing well when you have good players, sometimes you also look at how you're coaching. Are you coaching things properly? Are you getting things told properly, and how to implement and install things?
"He's a great coach, a passionate coach. He is, right now, sitting in a room with some players, he's got a grease board with a thousand lines over it and you can't see anything, but he is blowing up and stopping plays. That's what he does, and he does it as well as anybody."
The staff that Stoops assembled was one of the best in college football at the time, and it collectively led the Sooners to a lot of wins in the 2000s. From 2002-2010, when both Venables and Wilson were on staff, the Sooners won 11 or more games in all but two seasons and made it to three national championship games.
However, it wasn't just the on-field success that made the staff what it was. It was also the time spent off the field, and the family atmosphere that Stoops nurtured and grew over his tenure. Because of that, those former staff members have gone on to make major impacts in college football across campuses all over the nation, with Venables and Wilson leading the way in many respects.
"We had a lot of good times,” Venables said. “Our families, our kids growing up, that's the coaching profession. And this is a wonderful community to raise your family. And I know it was really hard, different coaches taking different opportunities. I don't think any of those opportunities, whether it was Chuck Long gone to San Diego State or Mike [Stoops] going to Arizona, or [Mark] Mangino going to Kansas or Kevin leaving to go to Indiana, Jay Norvell leaving… I don't think any of that was probably easy for anybody, but just a lot of great memories on and off the field. It was genuine. The coaches, they were a part of Bob Stoops’ staff because of his leadership. He nurtured family and relationships and it's all of us together…
”Coach Stoops is one of the most humble human beings on this planet. That’s the facts. And the byproduct of that is just a wonderful connected environment that everybody and their families benefited from. I think people felt free on the coaching side to do their thing if you will and be successful as a result."
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