OU notepad: Notable quotes from Venables' spring press conference

NORMAN — Spring football is just under a week away for Oklahoma, and there's plenty of storylines to follow.

Brent Venables, along with 35 new players, met with the media on Wednesday to preview the start of spring practices, which begin on Monday, March 11.

Here's the highlights from Venables' 40-minute session with reporters:

Venables opened his press conference with the news that Harrington will be back next season for his seventh year of eligibility.

Harrington missed most of last season after suffering an ACL injury. Harrington appealed for a medical exemption to return for another year, and it was granted by the NCAA.

It's a big win for the Sooners, as Harrington should be in the mix for significant snaps at the cheetah position next year.

"Justin is a highly invested guy," Venables said. "He’s talented and can do a lot of different things. Always looking for big, long, fast, physical guys. He is those things and understands what commitment is and how we do what we do. He’ll bring the experience from that standpoint."

In addition, Venables gave an update on Anthony, who missed the second half of last season with an ACL injury. The wide receiver led the Sooners in receiving over the first six weeks of the year.

Venables said both Anthony and Harrington will miss the spring, but barring any setbacks they will be a "full go" this summer.

Before the press conference, the Oklahoman reported that Venables' wife, Julie, was recently determined to be cancer free. Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer last year.

Venables confirmed the report during his press conference.

"Whatever it was, several weeks ago, maybe a month or so ago, we were able to just get good news, praise Jesus, that she's cancer free," Venables said. "Anybody that's gone through that journey, it's terrifying. You're never real comfortable. So keep everything in perspective, but real thankful. We had a great team of doctors and nurses and things of that nature, but she's tough as all get out. She's been doing great. So appreciate that. Appreciate everybody's prayers as well."

Since Venables last spoke with the media following the Alamo Bowl in December, the Sooners made a significant move with the hiring of Alley as co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Alley replaced Ted Roof after a two-year tenure with the Sooners.

"Just felt like this was the right time for us and continuing to grow as a defense and as a program," Venables said. "Get a guy with some fresh ideas and again a new voice, a new face as we move into the SEC. I thought this was the right time to do that. And again (he's) a guy that will show up with his hair on fire. A lot of energy. A really bright guy. Works well with people. No ego whatsoever. He figures things out. He’s a great teammate and he’s tough as all get out. Really understands offense and understands defense and understands how to take advantage of the players that you have on your roster and built things around that group.

"So he’s been great along with the rest of our defensive coaches at developing and understanding for all of it, how you work cohesively in a staff room and deciding on foundational the things that you want to install in the course of the spring and what that schedule looks like."

As the college football landscape continues to change with the rise of the transfer portal and name, image and likeness, some programs have opted to hire or promote someone as a general manager to help in a variety of roles.

While Venables didn't give a specific answer, he said the Sooners have looked at several options.

"I think we'd be naive if we didn't look at the change that's going on in college football, both currently and the landscape," Venables said. "The toothpaste is definitely out of the tube and it's not going, you're not putting it back in. So we are always looking at all of our processes, our programs, our support systems on how we can continue to improve and be efficient, be really good at what we're doing...

"I always look at trying to hire people who are smarter than me and to surround myself with really good intelligent people that have either the experience where you want to go or they have acumen to learn and grow and get better and lead. So we're always looking at ways to get better. There's some restructuring and reorganization that we're looking at doing over the next... and we've been working on this for 16, 18 months. Where a lot of it's where we feel like college football is going and making sure that we were in a position of strength, we're not reacting and when it does happen."

Former OU player Curtis Lofton, who has been a part of the Sooners' SOUL MISSION the last couple of years, has reportedly been serving in a general manager-like role in recent weeks.

"Curtis has been doing what he has been doing in the last couple of years. He's been fantastic. S.O.U.L. Mission as a whole is fantastic, and remember, S.O.U.L. Mission isn't just one job. It's, again, holistic development. And they're leaders, they're mentors, they're recruiters, they're therapists, they're competitors. And Curtis brings a lot to the table. The same things that he did as a player, now he's using those same transferrable skills as a leader in our program. So he's been fantastic."

The NCAA rules committee has recently proposed implementing the use of coach-to-player communication via a player's helmet. Similar to the NFL, the rule change would allow a coach to directly communicate to a player while he's on the field, with the communication automatically turning off when the play clock hits 15 seconds.

Venables discussed the potential idea.

"They give every team in college football that's doing that, they're giving them all three headsets to use in the spring," Venables said. "And so you've gotta figure out your three guys you want to practice with. You're still gonna have to signal unless everybody decides they're gonna huddle. There's no other way to get everybody the call. In the NFL you see a lot of huddles, both sides of the ball. You've got defensive huddles because the offense is over there huddling. That's how they do it there but I don't... maybe more wristbands, people have to do more wristbands if they don't want to signal.

"But I think it's a technology that's good for the game and you gotta be careful not trying to over coach. Sometimes you can over coach... you’re able to do that to one guy, on both sides of the ball. Obviously, most people on offense you have that with the quarterback. Ann then defensively, is a little bit different than the NFL. Some ways we’re modeling it after the NFL, but our rosters are different. The pace of the huddle in the NFL is much different. But we’ll manage all that and figure it all out. We’ll continue to find ways to be more efficient with your processes, your pre-snap. So I think it’s a good thing.”