Venables embracing transfer portal for now, recruiting remains lifeblood

For Brent Venables, the transfer portal isn’t something he wants to rely on every year.

Now entering his second spring as Oklahoma’s head coach, Venables is still in the process of turning over OU’s roster. And similar to his first off-season, he’s turned to the portal for help, but this time in addition to a borderline top-five recruiting class.

“The negative (side) of the portal is the guys are in and out,” Venables said Monday at his opening spring practice press conference. “And so there can be constant turnover. And at the end of the day, that's not what you ideally want. You want continuity and stability on your roster.”

It may not be what Venables wants long-term, but come Tuesday afternoon at OU’s first spring practice, that’s what it will be. Oklahoma has brought in 37 new scholarship players – 11 transfers and 26 freshmen. Last year, Venables and his staff took 14 transfers and 21 freshmen.

It’s clear though, that Oklahoma was a bit more calculated in the portal this year than it was last year. Venables seemingly valued quality over quantity this time, whereas last year he largely just needed bodies in the program.

Of the 14 transfers acquired in 2022, eight were from Power 5 programs. Of the 11 acquired in 2023, nine played at Power 5 schools. And while players such as cornerback CJ Coldon (Wyoming), defensive tackle Jeffrey Johnson (Tulane) and offensive guard McKade Mettauer (Cal), among others, were serviceable additions – the expectation is that guys like safety/linebacker Dasan McCullough (Indiana), defensive end Rondell Bothroyd (Wake Forest) and offensive tackle Walter Rouse (Stanford), among others, will have a more immediate impact. Those 11 additions are sure to be the story of not only the spring, as they all appear to be in line to compete for starting jobs, but will also inevitably play a major role in Oklahoma’s success next season.

And while Venables has brought in an abundance of new faces to the program over the past year, he’s also seen a good amount leave. Since Lincoln Riley’s departure to USC, 28 scholarship players have transferred, including 16 after Venables’ first season. Of those 16, only three have landed at Power 5 programs and seven have yet to enroll elsewhere.

That’s the type of processing Venables is aiming for.

“You have the same philosophy. You address your roster how it needs to be addressed,” Venables said. “You have to be prepared to respond if you lose a lot of guys. As I said, give guys 12 months of grace when we got here 14 months ago. We had almost half the roster and we had a lot of work to do. There were some things – I know we won some games, but there were a lot of issues off the field that we had to fix. A lot… (We) certainly gave the guys an opportunity to live up to the standards and the expectations of our program.”

The portal has proven to provide a makeshift bandaid for programs that have gone through coaching changes, such as Oklahoma. Heck, Riley did that in his first year at USC with 20 incoming transfers, some of whom were the best players available in the portal at their respective positions.

Though, bandaids fall off eventually.

“You can definitely get better quickly with experience and improved players at particular positions, no doubt,” Venables said. “The things they’re bringing to the table, whether it’s improved skill or the experience. It’s hard to manufacture experience. Within your roster, sometimes you have more of it returning than other times. This is a time to bring in the experience.

“I think the key is being able to find guys that are good enough, that meet your needs, and sometimes, look, we gotta find some bodies that can come play.”

TCU is arguably the best example of taking advantage of the portal. TCU brought in 14 players from the portal last year, with seven becoming starters and three others being regular contributors. Linebacker Johnny Hodges (Navy) and cornerback Josh Newton (Louisiana Monroe) both earned All-Big 12 honors for the Horned Frogs.

Quarterback Dillon Gabriel was Oklahoma’s transfer addition to earn Big 12 honors.

“Recruiting is not always about finding the bigger, fastest guys,” TCU coach Sonny Dykes said at the College Football Playoff in December. “Sometimes it’s about finding, especially from a transfer perspective, somebody who can come in and move the needle in a room.”

The portal is certainly a feasible short-term solution. But there’s a reason programs like Georgia and Alabama, which have won the last three national championships, rarely have to take transfers. Alabama has only taken 11 transfers over the past three years. Georgia has only taken six and was the only Power 5 program to not take a single transfer in 2022, going 15-0 and winning the national title over TCU’s island of misfit toys by 58 points.

The lifeblood of a college football program has been, and always will be, recruiting. And Venables knows that. That’s why Oklahoma’s 11 transfers will help it in 2023, but will need to decrease for Venables in the future.

“That is not going to be the norm,” Venables said. “Hopefully, you’re recruiting and developing the right guys right here in your own locker room. That, to me, is the most important portal that we have.”