NORMAN — Brent Venables sat for his press conference on Wednesday as he acknowledged all of the ways Oklahoma needs to improve and all of the questions that need to be answered.

However, Venables made it clear — his decision to take full reins of the defensive playcalling isn't one of them.

"Do we need to be better? You're damn right," Venables said. "Does your mindset gotta change? Nope.

"And why am I going to call the defense? Because I'm good at it. And I'm confident in it."

In other words, Venables is betting on himself heading in a make-or-break season. There's a few reasons why.

It wasn't the initial plan for Venables to assume play calling responsibilities. Former defensive coordinator Zac Alley surprisingly bolted for West Virginia in late December, just one day following the Sooners' bowl game. The Sooners also took a real run at former Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles, who eventually accepted an offer from Penn State. Instead, Venables hired former Clemson defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin and former Arkansas State head coach Nate Dreiling as defensive assistants.

It may not have been the expected path, but it was arguably the logical conclusion for both Venables and the Sooners. Despite the issues that have led to a 22-17 record over the past three seasons — including 6-7 campaigns in 2022 and 2024 — defense has rarely been the issue. The Sooners have taken huge leaps defensively in all three seasons, particularly last year, when they ranked 29th in scoring defense and 19th in total defense.

And for any issues Venables has had as a head coach, his extensive success and history with calling defenses rivals anyone over the last three decades.

"I know what that looks like, and managing game day and in season, out of season, the meeting room, practice field, all those things. I know what that looks like," Venables said. "I have a good feel for that. But many people do it at a really high level, where they call an offense or call a defense, and have a lot of success. No guarantees with anything, but that's a comfort zone for me. And last year, we went 6-7, I didn't call the defense, so that didn't work very well, right?

"... Do you bring somebody in and start completely over? Somebody that you don't know necessarily what the resume looks like? Do you promote somebody from within? I know how I am. It's been on the line my whole career. When we get into that stadium on game day, and it's third-and-12 and you've gotta make the call, everything is quiet for me. It ain't loud. It ain't, 'Oh my god, all this pressure.' It ain't that way for me. It's a freaking safe place for me. It's as quiet as all get out, and that's just, for whatever reason, how it's always been for me. But I can't necessarily say that had I promoted from within."

The other side of that coin? The Sooners have made big efforts to improve the offense, which was historically bad last season in essentially every facet. They hired Ben Arbuckle as the new offensive coordinator and brought in his quarterback, John Mateer, to completely reshape the offense. They also hired John Kuceyeski, who was with Mateer and Arbuckle at Washington State last season, as an offensive analyst.

It might not be this simple, but Venables is making a probable bet that if the offense can simply improve from last season, it could be an easy solution for more success. Putting himself in charge of the defense removes an important variable in that equation.

"I feel great about coach Arbuckle on that side of the ball and what I've seen in a very short amount of time, and only since the moment we hired him and he's been here, and he's been in that environment every step of the way," Venables said. "The people that he's brought in and combined with the coaches that he's charged to lead and their willingness to plug in and adjust and adapt and be better than we've been in the past.

"... If we can continue to improve on defense and get better on special teams and then, get dramatically better in the areas that I think (we will) if we're healthy and, we play above average at quarterback, take care of the football, we'll have a chance to win every single game. In a real challenging year and schedule, that's still the expectation and the standard that I feel."

There's no question that Venables knows there's pressure heading into a pivotal 2025 season. There hasn't been enough success on the field since he returned to Norman. With so much riding on next year, Venables is betting on himself, for better or worse.

But for him, it's where he's most comfortable. It's how he's treated every season and every job he's had since he was hired by former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder as a graduate assistant in 1993.

"Every day I show up, something's on the line," Venables said. "My job's on the line. I've had that for 30 years. 'I'm gonna hire you, I'm gonna pay you $30,000 and I can't promise anything that you'll last past the summer, alright?' That's literally what I was told. And I said, 'Oh thank you, God, thank you.' And I've had the same mindset. And I believe, because I've had that same mindset that I don't go like this and (say), 'Oh everything's on the line, he's fighting for his job.'

"I've been fighting for my job every year, like somebody's holding me under the water trying to drown me. And that's been my mindset, that's been my attitude when I come to work every day. So nothing's changing for me."

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