With spring football coming to a close this Saturday, the transfer portal will once again be a priority in college football. And Oklahoma is sure to once again be a participant.

OU welcomed 11 scholarship transfers this spring and is expected to add to that before the summer, with the second window for the portal being April 15-30. Head coach Brent Venables spoke extensively about the portal Thursday following OU’s final spring practice but didn’t leave any hints about what positions they might be looking to add.

“Yeah, but I’m not going to announce it to anybody,” Venables said. “But y’all will figure it out. Not much, but there are some spots we definitely need to.”

For Venables, dipping into the portal in the spring is something he believes can be useful, but it’s also not something he wants to rely on.

“You look at your roster, what your needs are, and where you feel like somebody could make you better if it’s short-term or maybe, again, if we’d really have somebody that has a few more years in the program,” Venables said. “You might have some great, young players, but they might not be ready just yet, so maybe it’s a one-year guy that you’re looking for that can help you continue to grow and develop as a program, maybe create a bridge for those guys to mature and be ready. So there’s a lot that goes into it.”

Oklahoma has already lost two players to the portal this spring and could lose more following this weekend. Senior cornerback Jaden Davis and redshirt junior defensive lineman Kori Roberson both announced this past week their intentions to transfer.

Davis played in 47 games, making 22 starts in four seasons, totaling 104 tackles. Roberson played in 26 games, recording 29 tackles, but did not play last season.

“Looking for a better opportunity. I’m not one to speak for them,” Venables said of Davis and Roberson. “But Jaden, obviously he played. He had a more of a substantial role. Kori was still just a young guy, coming up. Both of them are two really good young guys that, again, I think are looking for more of an opportunity. Jaden really wants an opportunity to play more inside in the slot as a defensive back, a nickel position. And if he was going to stay here, I was going to need him to be corner. I’ve got guys to play inside. That’s it. He has one last window to continue to develop and maybe enhance his opportunities with a better, clearer opportunity for himself.

“I just appreciate those guys, all their hard work while they were here.”

Venables made it clear he’s willing to help players who want to leave or don’t fit the direction of the program. He wants to be “relational, not transactional” in his intentions with players, meaning it’s not just about on-the-field, but off-the-field development.

So when he and his staff start to look in the portal again this spring, and as others maybe consider leaving, Venables’ goal is transparency.

“I don’t want to trick anybody into coming to Oklahoma,” Venables said. “I want them to have a very clear vision about what our expectations are, how challenging it is going to be. I don’t think it’s any different here than it is in whatever locker room you go into, it’s going to be really hard. Our job, as a staff, is to help them manage life – life is very hard and the game of football is very hard – the best they possibly can.”

Numbers game

Bringing in more transfers this spring also means Oklahoma will have to play a numbers game with its 85 scholarships. Currently, with Davis and Roberson transferring, Oklahoma is at 76 scholarship players with 12 more freshmen coming in – meaning they will soon be over the limit by three scholarships.

Either OU will need three more scholarship players to transfer this spring or scholarships could be pulled from former walk-ons.

“When we put some of those guys on (walk-ons), there’s an arrangement and an agreement of, ‘this is what it’s going to look like here in a few months,’” Venables said. “Trying to help guys where we can and make sure that you’re able to address all your needs and help everybody when you can because the grind and demand is real for everybody, even if they don’t have a substantial role out there. You want to be able to help support everybody if and when you can.

“Getting the numbers is not an easy thing. There are a lot of moving parts. I don’t know if it ever stops moving to be honest with you.”

Spring game attendance

Last year, Oklahoma set a school record with over 75,000 fans in attendance at Venables’ first spring game. While it’s unexpected for OU to hit that number again this year, Venables hopes fans realize the value in showing up Saturday.

“It’s at the top of the Richter scale. Again, environments matter,” Venables said. “Guys want to come and play in a championship-type of environment where people are passionate, there’s intensity, there’s an expectation, there’s high standards, there’s support and this is an opportunity for us to show that we’ve been an uncommon program. We all play football, but we all ain’t the same.

“This is the winningest program in the modern era. This is a program that has set the standard in college football for competing and winning championships.”

It will be a big recruiting weekend for the Sooners, with over 30 prospects expected to attend, which is why Venables is imploring fans to attend.

“Certainly we’ll have a hundred guys and their families here and as they evaluate their opportunities – we’re not competing against a junior college or an NAIA school,” Venables said. “We’re recruiting against the best of the best in college football. Everything matters in their decision process and this is a big part of it for them to be able to play the game they love in front of a packed house and a hostile environment. Even if it’s just a spring game, people love the Sooners.”

Major’s injury

Senior running back Marcus Major will not play in Saturday’s game after fracturing his hand this spring. Major has had issues staying on the field previously, having missed several games last year with an ankle injury.

Major has only played in 20 games during his four years at Oklahoma.

“He came back and was practicing and then he banged up his hand. Just a slight fracture,” Venables said. “He’ll be back and at it here in a couple of weeks. Hate it for him, but we intentionally held him out. We could have started Day 1 at spring ball to be full-go, but just want to help him continue to get strong, get healthy and not risk him, but it really created an opportunity for those other guys.”

Major joins sophomore Jovantae Barnes as the other running back who will miss the spring game, after Barnes recently had surgery on his foot.

“Jovantae (Barnes) was out here for the first half spring ball and then Gavin (Sawchuk) and Tawee (Walker) and Kalib Hicks and (Daylan) Smothers – it gave them all a great opportunity to get a bunch of reps and I’m really impressed with that group of guys,” Venables said.