Brent Venables has been around coaching for a long time. All the years beginning at Kansas State, finding his groove at Oklahoma and dominating at Clemson.

An assistant for all those many years allowed him to begin to wonder that if he was ever a head coach, what would that staff look like?

He doesn’t have to wonder anymore. Venables has now been the man in charge for the Sooners for two months, and his culture is a combination of everything he has known, admired and respected.

There are bits and pieces from Bill Snyder at KSU. Of course, principles instilled from Bob Stoops. And you cannot question the success of Dabo Swinney with the Tigers in the last decade.

Three incredible teachers. Now Venables is trying to follow in their footsteps and add some of his own passion and dedication into making his next years at OU his best ones.

“Oh, yea, that's a good question ... a long time. And again, I've always been focused on being a great teammate, being loyal, being great right where my feet are,” said Venables earlier this month about compiling a staff. “I've just never ... I'm not a big network kind of guy. I'm certainly not a ... I got a strong opinion on stuff, but I'm not a self-promoter.

“I've just always believed I'm trying to be a great teammate, being patient. I want to do a great job for the players that I coach. I didn't ever want them ... I ask them to give me everything they got, and so I've always felt very indebted and very loyal to my players. I want to do everything I can to help my players, all the way till the ball's snapped sometimes. And I never want to let them down.”

Offensively, there wasn’t much to do. After Lincoln Riley abruptly left OU to become the head coach at USC, the former offensive staff pretty much decided Norman was still the place to be. Assistants DeMarco Murray (running backs), Cale Gundy (wide receivers), Joe Jon Finley (tight ends) and Bill Bedenbaugh (offensive line) stood pat.

But defensively? A lot of those guys followed Riley out west, and it was time. The first time for Venables to make the moves he wanted. The moves he knew would be successful.

“Because you got to have ... You're only as good as the people that you surround yourself with,” he said. “So I was fortunate. I can go down the list and say the same thing with virtually everybody that I've hired ... not virtually, everybody that I have. And so finding the right people has been a critical, critical thing.”

But that led to some tough calls, some tough decisions. When you’ve spent as much time as Venables did at Clemson, you build your own network, essentially.

Swinney is calling the shots, ultimately, but Venables was there building the relationships every step of the way.

When it came to naming Ted Roof as defensive coordinator or Miguel Chavis as defensive ends coach, Venables saw the opportunity he could give them. A chance to step up.

“One thing you love about college athletics is the emotion, the intensity, the passion for people and their university, loyalty,” Venables said. “That’s like this awesome thing. That’s why personally I’ve never really been attracted to the NFL because it’s kind of the anti-NFL in many ways. It is all business in the NFL and not as intimate and not as relational. At the same time those great things that make college athletics such a wonderful thing can also be painful and hurtful even.

“People want to judge you when you leave from one school to the next thinking it’s an indictment on them. Many times, it has nothing to do with the last place and everything to do with the next place. I think I can probably speak to that. That part is not personal. Some guys are just trying to continue to grow in the profession and making some of those tough decisions is not an easy thing for anybody.”

Chavis and Roof were analysts at Clemson, but the hiring of Todd Bates as associate head coach and defensive tackles was a tough one for Clemson fans to accept.

Venables has been adamant about not recruiting Clemson commitments, and he didn’t for the 2022 class. Jaren Kanak only went to OU after clearing everything up with Swinney and the Tigers staff. It wasn’t Venables making the first move.

Bates led to a dilemma, though.

“What is my rolodex? If it isn’t the guy I know intimately... That’s kind of a byproduct of you develop your coaches, you develop your family, opportunities arise,” Venables said. “That’s a good thing. That’s a very healthy thing for everybody.

“They get a chance to take so many of the great things you’ve learned, so many of the great things Coach Swinney taught all of us, me included. Now he gets a chance to have that tree extended. People continue to do things the right way in the profession. The Dabo Swinney way in many ways.”

Bates and Roof bring a ton of experience, while Chavis and cornerbacks coach Jay Valai offer the enthusiasm of youth. And guys understanding the chance they have.

Chavis has never been a position coach before, now it gets his shot with the defensive ends. Valai has bounced around from Texas (2020) to Alabama (2021) but is now looking for a permanent home.

Venables believes he has found that home for Valai and has found that dream staff he had been thinking about all those years ago.

“Just bring a ton of energy. They're super humble guys. They love the Lord. They're great husbands and fathers. And they're just like we hit the home run with those guys,” Venables said. “And they're just scratching the surface on their young careers. But man, I didn't flinch.

“Those were my first rounders. And we were able to get them right away. And both of them, both of them, the very first conversation when I reached out to them, both having great opportunities where they were at, neither one of them flinched.”

The culture pieces are in place. The staff is set. Venables has years of experience to fall back on to begin to find his way and, hopefully, years ahead to build and develop his OU culture and watch it grow.