The defensive staff at Oklahoma is as new as new gets, but that’s not the case for the offensive staff under head coach Brent Venables.

Lincoln Riley is out the door, but the majority of the offensive staff remains. Through all the chaos, and there was a lot of it, things are slowly returning to normal.

No worries about job security, just time to get back to work.

“I never have. I've coached 28 years now and never dealt with it,” said offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh about the coaching uncertainty. “Never been on a staff where somebody got fired or somebody left. I've always been in that situation where I could if I wanted to, but you have the opportunity to decide.

“I found out that Sunday. I did. It's a lot of unknowns. You don't know. You've got a family. That's the most important thing and that's the first thing that goes through your head. My kids have grown up here. My wife's from Oklahoma. And hell, I may have been forced to ... I don't wanna say 'forced,' but may have had to go.”

Bedenbaugh is joined by Cale Gundy, DeMarco Murray and Joe Jon Finley as being retained by Venables. Gundy is OU through and through. Murray and Finley were Sooners.

But Bedenbaugh? Well, Oklahoma is now home. It wasn’t where we had roots, but he can’t imagine anywhere else.

“I love Oklahoma. I love living here. I love everything about this place. I think it's special,” he said. “No matter what happens – and I've told people this. This is true. It's just like recruiting. I can't guarantee anybody anything in this profession. We just saw that two months ago. But hell, I'm gonna live in Oklahoma when I retire. I've got a house at Grand Lake. That's where I'm gonna live.

“I'm not from Oklahoma. I've said this before. I didn't play here, but this is my home now. Just glad it worked out. It was tough. It was tough on my kids and tough on my family. And everybody's gotta make their own decisions in life. What a lot of people don't see on the outside is your family, what they're going through. It worked out.”

Hindsight says Gundy could have breathed

Nobody felt that jolt of nervousness more than Gundy, perhaps. An OU staple, that one-week period brought about the unknown for one of the first times ever in his coaching career.

That trickled down to the team with guys like Theo Wease and Brey Walker entering the transfer portal only to come back. Or for rumors about Marvin Mims looking elsewhere only to stay at OU.

All the unknowns, nobody to blame.

“First of all, I’d say it’s not always like you think it is. Maybe something is out there, maybe it’s not as serious as what it’s meant to be or people think it is at all times,” Gundy said. “But everything was just unsettling. Nobody knew the direction at the time. Who’s going to be the offensive coordinator? Who’s going to be the wide receivers coach?

“There are some concerns and some question marks, obviously. It’s no different than we were as coaches. But that was part of it. It was trying to keep the pieces together.”

Gundy took it upon himself to be the ringleader. That’s what he has always sort of viewed himself anyway. He has the relationships. He knows the parents.

Now months later, he can laugh a bit because there is nobody at all worried about the direction of the OU program.

All those sleepless nights? Long gone.

“If you’d known what the outcome was going to be and how things were going to turn out, we’d probably be a lot more relaxed,” Gundy said. “If I knew Brent Venables was going to come here and be the head coach and bring the staff that he’s brought and the changes and direction that we’re going in … Jeff Lebby is the offensive coordinator, a guy that I recruited from Andrews, Texas. I would have slept a lot better at night, I promise you that.”

Finley keeps his guys

Not only did Joe Jon Finley keep his spot as tight ends coach, but he was able to keep everything steady in recruiting.

Both of the 2022 tight end commitments, Kaden Helms and Jason Llewelyn, stuck with their OU commitments. And both are mid-year enrollees.

“The biggest thing I told them, I said, listen, I understand exactly where you’re at. I’m pretty much in the same place,” Finley said. “I don’t know what ‘s going to happen around here. But I do know this. We’re going to get a really good football coach.

“Whether I’m here or not, this is Oklahoma. Kind of like what Coach Stoops said. This place is so much bigger than any one person, any one coach, any one person ever. I said, just take your time. There’s no need to rush. You’ve got plenty of time.”

Finley preached patience, and Helms and Llewelyn were open to the process. And as has been the theme, once it was Venables, breathe that sigh of relief and everybody was fully onboard and ready for the future.

“That’s what I asked them to do, and that’s what they did,” Finley said. “And then they got Coach Venables as a home run. Obviously, I was lucky enough to stay, and it worked out perfectly.”

Gray stepping up

Another year where there aren’t a whole bunch of scholarship running backs for the Sooners, but DeMarco Murray is not worried about that.

And one year removed from being the fresh face, Eric Gray is now one of the veterans and jumping all-in when it comes to the leadership department.

“He's done a terrific job. Even last year, coming to this new system, he picked it up within a week or two,” Murray said. “This offense, now we're all learning it together. He may know it better than I do right now. He's a pro. He's extremely sharp in what he does on and off the field, and he's handling it the right way.

“Even Marcus (Major). Marcus has done a really good job of picking the offense right up, so those two guys are doing it the right way on and off the field. I'm happy to have those guys back."

Jovantae Barnes came in as a mid-year guy, and Gavin Sawchuk will arrive in the summer.

Murray entering his third year as running backs coach at OU, he’s a veteran now, too. He’s grown as a coach and ready to get back to work.

“I'm excited to more importantly just get a full spring and a full summer under my belt with these guys. Obviously, the new offense, those guys have picked it up very well. They're kind of holding their own meetings and are being led by Eric Gray.”