Perfect fit, perfect timing was something said often as the first-year Oklahoma defensive coaches had their first press conference Thursday afternoon.

None of the guys were searching for a job, but after Brent Venables took over, it made all the sense in the world to leave whatever spot they were to head to Norman.

We’ll begin with defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis. It’s not just his first year at OU, it’s going to be his first year ever as a position coach.

But as Venables said in December about waiting for his perfect moment, Chavis was the same way when it came to searching for the best spot to begin his coaching career.

“The last five years, I’ve been in the Coach Venables School of Defense,” Chavis said. “Coached by a couple of legends and got to work with Todd Bates. My first year I had to learn just what the heck Coach V was saying as a support staff person. By year three, I had a pretty good grasp of the defense.

“By year four, I felt like a lion in a cage – just ready to go. Turned down some job opportunities and was just patient. Had great counsel from Coach Swinney and other people in my life, that’s not the one, just wait. That’s not the one, just wait. It was God’s perfect timing.”

The timing is paying off for the Sooners as Chavis has made an immediate impact on the recruiting trail. He was a key cog in OU finishing as strong as it did for the 2022 class as the majority of the members were top-tier defensive recruits.

He might not have known too much about OU, Norman coming into this gig, but he’s quickly making himself and his family right at home.

“When Coach V said, will you go with me? It didn’t take me long to say yes,” Chavis said. “The transition has been great. We love Norman. I have a wife of 10 years on June 29. We have four kids 6 and under so please pray for us.

“We’ve been really pleasantly surprised. The only thing I knew about Oklahoma was they won a lot of games and everything Coach V had said about it. We came out here just with excitement and ready to get going. Everything has been great so far.”

Bates bringing the elite of the elite

Chavis is the new kid on the block, but all OU fans knew about Todd Bates. And all OU fans had their own way of celebrating that Bates would be joining the staff as an assistant head coach and leading the way with the defensive tackles.

It’s been the missing ingredient for OU. To get over that college football playoff hump, it has to happen in the trenches.

Bates was able to be that guy for the Tigers for five seasons, and he gave some insight as to how he will be that same guy with the Sooners.

“It's because they're attracted a lot of times to the scheme that you run,” Bates said. “Does it highlight their skill set? Does it create a one-on-one matchup? And then you have to recruit guys that can win those. They want to play in an aggressive scheme, an attacking scheme, and that's what we've been.

“We've led the country in tackles for loss and sacks over the last decade, and that's what guys are attracted to. They want to have a chance to produce, and they want to see you produce some draft picks. So you have to be productive, and that's what we've been under Coach Venables' defense. We've been very productive, and we've been very intentional. It hasn't just happened by chance.

Since Venables came around three months ago, relational has been a word du jour. But it’s not just Venables. He has surrounded himself with people who think and feel the same way.

“That's what I would say really drives it over the edge. When you truly know your players inside and out and they truly know you, you're going to get the best out of them. And that's what we've done. We've been at our best because we've been able to get the best out of our players.”

Welcome, Valai

A lot of the other defensive connections have some easy tie to Venables, and it wasn’t hard to figure out how they ended up as the choice.

Then there’s Jay Valai. Stops at Texas and Alabama, playing football at Wisconsin, nothing seemed to stand out as to what brought Valai as a candidate to be the cornerbacks coach.

Ball coaches are going to find ball coaches, essentially.

“We actually met recruiting in Miami. And we start talking ball, and I'm a huge offseason geek,” Valai said. “You know whether it was coach Venables or my good friend up there Wisconsin, Jim Leonhard, just being with guys like that and Coach Venables really taking me under his wing.”

But just talking ball back and forth in the summer, you know, and that's where it really started. But then pouring into me as a man and going through life because we all go through our trials and tribulations and our families and, you know, just like a real connection.”

It made sense, though. Valai grew up in Euless, Texas, and it gives him an even better chance to recruit the Dallas Metroplex.

Alabama is something, and Nick Saban is obviously one of the greatest of all time. But there was something about Venables and OU.

“I knew when this opportunity came up, I told my wife if it ever came up like that too, it was gonna be decision that you know, it was more than likely going to happen,” Valai said. “And he did. It's just, I was at Bama when it happened. So which made it a little more deep.”

Tryouts?

Brandon Hall is pumped to be back at OU after years away, and he has an interesting situation that he’s walking into with the depth chart at safety.

Namely, the fact the bulk of the experience is gone. No Pat Fields. No Delarrin Turner-Yell. Not a lot of tape to go through among the returning players at the position.

Or at least game tape, game experience.

“I don’t think there is much experience, but there is some viable experience,” Hall said. “As much as there is game experience, but there is also college experience. The hardest thing for young players to do is to get used to the grind college football presents. Getting up at 5:30, going to workouts, going to treatment. Making sure they’re where they’re supposed to be.

“Life is on a curve, right, a subtle curve that you can’t even see it. You’re constantly going in the same direction at a subtle pace that you don’t even know you’re getting better. That’s what gets frustrating, right? You’re trying to do the same thing over and over and you don’t even know you’re getting better.”

He mentioned guys like Key Lawrence, Justin Broiles and Billy Bowman as guys who have played significant snaps. But they also understand the OU grind, the OU experience and how to navigate it and get the best out of themselves.