New coaches, new system, that’s all understood. That’s the case, obviously, at Oklahoma with first-year head coach Brent Venables and the defensive staff he hired.

At every other position, though, at least those new coaches had some guys to fall back on for in-game experience at the spot.

That makes what safeties coach Brandon Hall is having to do is a little bit different than the rest of the staff. The familiar names are gone. Believe it or not, Pat Fields and Delarrin Turner-Yell are no longer back there for the Sooners.

There is a lot of excitement about guys like Billy Bowman and Key Lawrence becoming the guys who will carry the torch going forward, but it’s a day-by-day process.

Because even though Lawrence and Bowman played quite a bit for OU in 2021, it was rarely in the safety role. So it has become a balancing act in trying to find starters, find leaders, install the system and have all those things click at once.

“It depends on how you look at it. You want it for them as much as they want it. So, I mean, it’s always frustrating when they’re trying to learn and you’re trying to teach,” Hall said. “But at the same time, nothing’s better as a coach than watching somebody take a technique, take a call, take a coverage, apply what you see in the meeting room and then watching them… starting to see them in that department of the game.

“It’s growing pains anytime you put a new system in. These guys are playing their butts off, man. They care. They’re doing everything you asked of them. It’s just a matter of time that that light switch clicks and you keep saying the same thing over trying to brainwash them, so to speak. And pretty soon we’re all saying the same language, going down the same road, doing the same thing.”

It’s what Hall kept repeating. He loves the buy-in from his room, but the room is very far from even close to being a finished product. Hall reiterated Venables wants Bowman to stay at safety, no matter what, and likes what Lawrence has shown in the first 10 practices.

A Roof surprise

The minute Ted Roof was named the defensive coordinator at OU, the natural assumption was his son, linebacker T.D. Roof, was going to follow him to Norman.

It turned out that way, clearly, but it wasn’t some sort of step-by-step plan that the Roof family had from the jump.

“I had graduated at Appalachian State and was just really taking a look into my life, kinda breaking it down,” T.D. Roof said. “Like, am I going to play another year, am I not? And decided that I wanted to play and then Coach V called me.

“You don't say no to Oklahoma. It worked out kinda like that. It's been awesome. When Oklahoma calls you up and says, 'Hey, do you want to come play football for Oklahoma?' You don't say no.”

Roof, a former captain at Appalachian State, said the conversations didn’t even include his dad, at least initially.

“It just was kinda between me and Coach V,” Roof said. “And then after everything was done, kinda talked to my pops and then he was pumped, everybody was pumped, so it just worked out great for us.”

In a room not full of a lot of experience, that’s no doubt something Roof gives the group.

Trust factor for Davis

Cornerback Jaden Davis just has that trust. No other way to explain it because his OU journey has been full of twists and turns to which he had zero control about.

It even goes back to his recruitment. He committed to Mike Stoops way back when, and then stuck with OU for the 2019 class when Alex Grinch and Roy Manning were hired.

Fast forward to now, and it’s Jay Valai leading the charge at cornerback. Davis seems to be just fine with that.

“Committing to Mike (Stoops), signing to Mike, going to (Alex) Grinch and now going to Roof and Coach Venables and Valai, it's been a process,” Davis said. “But I feel like everything has made me stronger to whatever my aspect is in life.

“Whether it be football or whether it be something else, I feel like it prepares you for life because you never know what's going to happen in life. I just feel like it prepared me for everything, and I feel like I learned something from every single avenue.”

Davis was quick to say 2021 just wasn’t good enough. He’s his harshest critic, and he knows last season is something that needs to be flushed.

And he’s able to identify what exactly happened.

“I think it had a lot to do with just self-confidence for me,” Davis said. “I feel like that's a big thing for me. I'm really a confident person, but certain things happened and I felt like I lost my confidence in myself.”

Stripling welcoming clean slate

Another often repeated phrase is about everything being fresh, everybody starting from scratch. That sounds like it might be a great thing for defensive end Marcus Stripling.

Stripling had one of his best games as a Sooner in the Alamo Bowl victory, and he knew he was going to be sticking with the Sooners.

“I just got to hone in on me and my game and take my game to the next level, develop for the NFL,” Stripling said. “I didn’t want to really move around and go to a different school, I just wanted to make this situation right here work because this is what I chose when I was a kid. And I have dreams, aspirations of playing in that stadium and making big things happen.”

All those RUSH linebackers who were in Nik Bonitto’s position have now been transitioned to Miguel Chavis’ room and defensive ends.

That’s not a problem for Stripling, who is ready to showcase what he can do.

“I love this defense. I feel like this defense creates a lot of opportunities for me in my skillsets and my attributes,” Stripling said. “I really can show off the type of player I am in this defense.”

Quotable

“Shoutout Dillon Gabriel, that’s my guy. Immediately when I came, we hit each other up because of the Hawaii connection. I’ve been to his house a couple of times. We’ve hung out a couple times. He’s a good dude, a good genuine dude. I can definitely see when I first came because I didn’t really know anybody, I could see how he is, how he relates to all the guys. He took the O-line out to eat, he took the receivers out to eat. So he’s definitely a good dude. I’m glad to have him as our quarterback.” – defensive end Jonah Laulu