The expectation for Oklahoma football is the same as always. But the excitement, under first-year head coach Brent Venables, is just a different level.

A lot of that is the infectious passion Venables has treated every single thing that has come with leading the Sooners in the last four months.

As spring football begins, though, now it shifts more to the on-field product. A lot of unknowns, a lot of questions, and 34 days until the spring game to figure some of it out.

“This program, everybody’s got a blank canvas,” said Venables on Monday afternoon. “But we’re not going to go out there with depth charts. We’ve got to run out there — some guys got to go out first. But what we did today isn’t necessarily going to look like what we do tomorrow.

“And give a lot of guys the opportunity to earn the right to play and certainly to compete for positioning. This is a game of performance, not a game of potential and so we’re going to recognize performance.”

There are 21 new faces for OU fans, 11 mid-year enrollees and 10 from the transfer portal so the blank canvas statement makes a lot of sense.

The portal did, interestingly enough, give OU a lot of experience the Sooners wouldn’t have had otherwise.

Of the top 10 guys in experience, six of them came from the portal.

The buy-in is there. Now we’ll get our first glimpse to see if the results can be as well.

“Just very pleased holistically of the buy-in, of the acceptance of the reestablishment of many standards,” Venables said. “In many places, it’s very hard to reach expectations but our guys have responded. Certainly, have not been perfect.

“We’ve had some moments through the last eight weeks where maybe an individual didn’t meet the standard, so I’m not trying to paint the picture that everybody’s had an A-plus grade, but here’s what I do know. Everyone has responded the right way when they’ve had a moment where maybe they didn’t have their best day.”

OU begins spring practice Tuesday morning.

Gabriel a leader

Venables has the defensive background, but when you talk OU, you begin at the quarterback position. That man in 2022 is Central Florida transfer Dillon Gabriel.

The coaches have only had a very limited time with the players during the last eight weeks, but Venables is very pleased with the initial impressions.

“He's a leader, he's a worker, he's very ambitious and he's self-driven,” Venables said. “Very humble, incredibly confident. Great self-awareness. Understands where he needs to get better. And that's just through conversation. The best of the best make others around them better, and he's intentionally done that through relationships and through work.”

Gabriel broke his collarbone in September so it will be interesting to see how OU handles his workload and how everything is going to work out in that regard.

The belief is, however, that he checks all the necessary boxes.

“He's a good athlete, got good quickness,” Venables said. “Very, very competitive, ultra-competitive and just got a great sense of humility to him that is fun to deal with. He's a pro in every way. He knows he's got to be the example as one of the leaders in this program. Being the quarterback at Oklahoma is a big deal, man. It's a big deal. He knows it, and he values it. And he respects it.”

Pack the Palace

A goal of the former staff was to get as many fans as possible to the spring game. Nothing has changed with Venables, but OU is doing things a little differently.

No concert. No gimmicks. There is the statue unveiling for former quarterback Baker Mayfield in Heisman Park, but it’s more about family and the OU family than anything else.

“We expect to pack the Palace out, so buy your tickets now,” Venables said. “We need everybody to buy their tickets and pack the Palace out. It’s gonna be a great day for families. It’s going to be very centered on families and having a lot of fun with pregame activities and tailgating opportunities, so it’s gonna be a lot of fun. So, it’s gonna be a great day to pack that stadium out. We’re looking forward to that. Can’t get here soon enough.”

Venables is the 23rd head coach for the Sooners, and the spring game is 3 p.m. April 23. Just a happy coincidence, but just another reason Venables is excited.

Commits won’t visit other schools

With each day, week, learn a little bit more about Venables’ philosophies and how he’s going to handle certain situations as head coach instead of defensive coordinator.

One of those is in recruiting and commitments taking visits to other schools. It’s something that has been allowed at OU for a while, but Venables isn’t backing down from his stance.

Simply put, it’s not happening.

“Commitment, teach young people what commitment means,” Venables said. “I'm not gonna apologize for this. What we tell them, do not — take as many visits as you want. I think, personally, that the Oklahoma brand will stick out. You may not come here, but you're gonna really like it. OK, you may not come here, but I'm glad you didn't if you're not ready to make a real deep-seated commitment.”

Can it work in the recruiting world of 2022? That remains to be seen, but again, Venables knows this is how he wants to run the program. And it’s how he is going to run the program.

“I'm not gonna apologize for having a moral compass,” Venables said. “I want to teach our young people what commitment is, what it looks like… teach our guys, you know, ethics and morality. I’m just saying, we're trying to be the example of trying to do it the right way.

“I’m trying to tell them to go as many places as you can. Save us for last. We’re not trying to force anybody to commit. I would never do that. I have too much respect for the enormity of the decision.”

OU’s 2023 class is good, but there have been some people wondering about the lack of numbers as we kick off spring practice.

It’s not a worry or concern for Venables. If you do things the right way, the right results are going to occur.

“We recruit every guy the same way. We’re not going to change up on anybody or make promises or recruit this guy this way or recruit this guy that way. I’m going to be open, transparent and honest. That’s what will attract the right guys. Hopefully they will have some stick-to-it-ness about them. We can have longevity and stability as a program and stability as a recruiting class.

“We don’t want to be first. We want to be the right one.”