NORMAN — It wasn't difficult to notice Nate Dreiling on the practice field this spring.

Oklahoma's new linebackers coach made sure his presence was felt, and heard, each time the Sooners stepped on the field. During individual drills with the linebackers, Dreiling was assertive, outspoken and energetic.

Part of that may be his natural demeanor. But a lot of that is fueled by how grateful he is to be at Oklahoma.

Dreiling had just accepted the defensive coordinator position at Arkansas State before he was approached by OU coach Brent Venables. Dreiling joked that he had been at Arkansas State "long enough to buy a house" but didn't hesitate to jump at the chance.

"(I had just taken) the DC job at A-State and Coach V called probably three or four days before it became official asking if I was interested and all that stuff," Dreiling recalled after the Crimson Combine Saturday, "and I told him I didn’t really care what the pay was or what the title was. Let me know and I’ll get the shortest route to Norman that I can.

"I don’t know if I deserve to be here but I am very, very humbled and very grateful that I am here. It’s a privilege and I don’t take it lightly."

The jump to Norman was a big one for Dreiling. His coaching career began in 2015 as a graduate assistant at Kansas, and it's been a variety of stops since then. That includes serving as defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh State in 2018 — his alma mater — and New Mexico State in 2022 before serving as the interim head coach at Utah State last season.

But the chance to come to Norman, even as a position coach, and learn from Venables was too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"One of the reasons I wanted to take this job – the last three jobs I’ve had I was a coordinator so you kind of know your own stuff," Dreiling said. "You don’t really grow as much because it’s just you, right? So now you get to learn a new scheme, not to mention arguably one of the best schemes from one of the best coordinators over the last two decades. And then not only that, but he’s also the head coach, the defensive coordinator and he’s pretty much the linebackers coach too, right?

"So I get Coach V in all three phases in watching him and learning from him on what he wants the linebackers to look like. All of that summed up is why I wanted this job. I wanted to grow and I want to learn from the best, and it’s hard to beat Coach Venables."

Dreiling hit the ground running as soon as practices began. With the Sooners also hiring Wes Goodwin to work with the cheetahs, Dreiling has been zoned in on the inside linebackers and worked primarily with returning veterans Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie.

Dreiling has leaned heavily on their experience as he becomes acclimated to Norman.

"I’ve been at the University of Oregon, been at big places before," Dreiling said. "The difference is typically, if you have five-star players, then you have five-star problems. They don’t have that here. They have the players, but they don’t have the issues. But the linebacker group is — you guys see them do drills, you guys see them make tackles. They're even better off the field. They're so fun to be around. They're always smiling.

"But they know that there's a lot of competition in that room, but they're always helping the next person...That's the one biggest takeaway I have from this spring, was how much they wanted that room to grow, and I think it did."

Dreiling has made a quick impact on his players, too.

"He pours his all into us," Lewis said. "That’s what I love about him. You go to war with somebody who stands up for you and gives you everything that he's got, so that’s what I love about him."

The Kansas, native has coached at several different places in his career, but has never been a position coach at a Power 4 program. It's a huge opportunity for Dreiling, and one he doesn't take lightly.

"This is one the premier programs in all of college football and I get to coach linebackers at it, in probably one of the most linebacker-friendly schemes with coach Venables," Dreiling said. "And adding the fact that I’m three hours from home, it’s a dream come true. It’s been very special and time here has been awesome so far, learned a lot.

"The best thing about this place is the players Coach V brought in. We don’t have any issue kids on the team. It’s a bunch of hungry, bunch of humble kids (who are) wanting to get thing going and where it needs to be. We’re all excited about the next chapter."

Not an OUInsider.com premium member? Sign up today to get loads of inside information on Oklahoma football, softball, basketball, and recruiting, all for just a few dollars a month. Click HERE to get started!

Follow us on Twitter @OUInsider and on Instagram @ouinsiderofficial!

Subscribe on YouTube by clicking here for daily video content on all things Oklahoma!