Just like that, we’re in the final week of Oklahoma spring football. The passion from first-year head coach Brent Venables hasn’t gone away. Neither has his message.
It’s not just another spring game in Norman. It can’t be. Venables has challenged the team, challenged the fans, challenged everybody in a call to action for Saturday’s afternoon.
The Heisman statue unveiling for Baker Mayfield is going to occur at halftime of the game, but oh yea, this is going to be a game, too.
Everything the staff has attempted to put into place the last month will be on full display for one afternoon to see where the Sooners are as they wrap up spring.
“You want to see all the things you’ve been demanding all spring,” Venables said. “You want to see those things show up, how we play, how we compete, how we run on and off the field, play within the rules, do the little things right, stance, alignment, assignment, key, fundamentals, protecting the football, no blown assignments, no turnovers.
“On the other side of the ball, playing aggressive, playing physical, pursuing to the ball with violence, making plays when you get an opportunity on both sides of the ball, no big-play busts. Manage the way the coaches on the sidelines want to manage the game. So the players being able to execute at a high level. That kind of covers the gamut. And obviously you want to stay healthy through it.”
Venables said two weeks ago the teams will be split up as evenly as possible. He added Tuesday that quarterback Dillon Gabriel, at times, will play for both the Red and the White team. Other quarterbacks will play, obviously, but it’s important to get Gabriel out there as much as possible.
Splitting up the teams and welcoming home a ton of alumni. This is what Venables has been aiming for, and now everybody will get to see it.
“We’ll name the head coaches another day and will let the players know by Thursday who’s on what team and juice it up on the sidelines. I’m really excited about seeing all of the former players. There’s going to be a tremendous showing from them. That makes this place really special.”
The level of buy-in has felt like it’s been there the whole time, and following the spring game, Venables will take a hard look at the roster and where everything stands.
“We'll get started up on Monday,” he said. “I'll meet up with every guy on the team, and our coaches are doing exit meetings. They've already started those with the players, and I'll get the chance to talk with everybody over the next few weeks right after the spring game to have those same kinds of talks.”
Gabriel ready for Saturday
It’s a celebration of the program, no doubt, throughout the course of the spring game weekend. But OU fans are anxious to see what quarterback Dillon Gabriel can do.
It’s the first spring game in a long time where there feels like a bit of an unknown about the expectations of the position.
Not the really real thing, clearly, but Saturday will be pretty special for the transfer from Central Florida.
“I think a lot of things have been going a million miles per hour since I got here, right? Just trying to be focused,” Gabriel said. “Trying to keep the main thing the main thing. But kind of being on the backend of spring ball, I’m super grateful to be here.
“I love this place. I love the people I’m around. That’s something I always think about: I love what I do, where I do it and who I do it with. So whenever that aligns, man, I’m grateful. To run out in front of Sooner Nation, that’ll be super fun.”
Gabriel not worried at all about playing for both teams and excited to show OU fans he is absolutely recovered from the broken collarbone he suffered last September.
Stripling one to watch
Venables was asked about finding new leaders and who those guys might be. A lot of pretty standard answers like Gabriel and Theo Wease and guys like that.
But when he came to Marcus Stripling’s name, it felt different. One, not sure many OU fans had lumped Stripling in that same type of category.
Two, you could tell just how pleased Venables has been with the clean slate approach from Stripling and what it can do for him and the team in 2022.
“Marcus Stripling is really -- and he would be the first to tell you -- he's transforming right before our eyes,” Venables said. “It's one of the coolest things ever.
“It'd be one thing, a flash there, a flash there -- a lot of guys flash. It's easy -- have their little flash moment. How about showing up every day and changing your heart? Changing how you think. Grow and mature physically, but you grow and mature, you know, emotionally and spiritually too.”
Gray taking that step
Included in that leadership conversation by Venables was running back Eric Gray. No doubt the 2021 season wasn’t what Gray was hoping for, but it’s not deterring him from what’s in front of him now.
The running back room isn’t very deep and Marcus Major has been banged up quite a bit during spring, but Gray has been as the rock and consistent presence for the group.
“Eric's been a pro from the moment that we got here,” Venables said. “He’s been the model of what it looks like. So Eric's been a great competitor and makes guys around him better. He always has this positive, matter-of-fact quality to him just when he's calling somebody up, that's -- he's in their butt. So it's fun to watch that happen.”
Redmond, Kelley putting in the work
Tuesday marked the first time speaking with defensive tackles coach Todd Bates during the spring. A lot of talk about instilling a culture and making incremental steps, but then turned the attention to a couple of names.
One obvious inside presence is Jalen Redmond. The ups and downs and injuries of his OU career well known, if he can stay healthy, this feels like a perfect fit.
“Putting the work in. I’ll tell you this, he’s a talented pass rusher,” Bates said. “His ability to get after the quarterback, put moves on moves and cause pressure and wreak havoc, he has the ability to do that. I’ve seen from day one to now just growing in our playbook and our scheme. He’s just getting more and more comfortable with it.”
Redmond has felt on the cusp of something major the last two or three years. But the other name mentioned quite a bit by Bates and by Venables has been Jordan Kelley.
It had been said before about Kelley’s consistency, and Bates has quite simply seen a much different version of Kelley in person compared to who he watched on film.
“He’s just grown. I saw him in the first walkthrough we ever had, just the kid trying to work with technique and fundamentals,” Bates said. “He’s really hungry for it. He played some last year but didn’t play a lot. He had other guys ahead of him. I’ve seen him hungry for it and just preparing for his moment. Now that moment is here, and he’s ready.”
Walker playing to his strengths
A lot of eyes are going toward the cornerback position for the spring game because first-year coach Jay Valai was quick to say there is no depth chart.
Reports have seen that to be true because one name that keeps popping up is Louisville transfer Kani Walker.
A redshirt freshman with size at 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, he wasn’t the name coming into the spring. But he might be a huge one leaving it even as he continues to learn everything about Valai.
“I love him, though. I don't like him all the time, but I love him though,” Walker said. “He be on me all the time. I feel like he's been on me the most, but I definitely see — he sees passion in everybody.
“The same way he's going to coach me is the same way he's going to coach a walk-on or somebody that just feels like they're nobody, because it's like everybody can really change their ways or change their life around if you really choose to.”
A big part of what Valai has been stressing is the fact he’s going to coach players to their strengths. You don’t coach Walker and Jaden Davis the same way. Not how it works, and that’s bringing the best out of Walker.
“He just says, 'Play with grit.' Of course, my last year, I'd honestly say I wasn't playing with the same grit I have this year,” Walker said. “So when he says play big, it's just like, just kill everybody in front of you. I am 6-2 and 200 pounds, why not use all of it to my advantage?”
