Brent Venables jokes about dreading Oklahoma’s game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, praises Alabama fans
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Brent Venables is all business in his quest to get the Oklahoma football program back to where it usually is.
A 22-17 record in his first 3 seasons in Norman just isn’t cutting it with a passionate, demanding fan base, and Brent Venables is well aware of that. His former offensive coordinator, Mississippi State head coach Jeff Lebby, expects Venables to right the ship in Norman, and that’s a good thing.
Last season, the Sooners struggled to a 6-7 record that included firing offensive coordinator Seth Littrell — who replaced Jeff Lebby — halfway through the year. It was mostly a forgettable season in Norman, but 1 of the biggest bright spots occurred late in the year, on Nov. 23, when the Sooners smashed Alabama, 24-3, in a primetime showdown on national TV. And while the Crimson Tide weren’t up to their usual standards either in their first season without Nick Saban on the sidelines, it was still Alabama, and it gave Venables something to build on for 2025.
Venables is hoping 2025 has more wins than 2024, but if he’s going to beat Alabama again, it’s going to have to come in enemy territory. This time, the Sooners will be at Bryant-Denny Stadium on Nov. 15, with redemption on Alabama’s mind. Venables knows that day is coming this fall, and on Wednesday during his session with reporters at SEC Media Days in Atlanta, he injected a little humor into the subject when asked if he’s excited to play at Alabama.
“Excited to go to Tuscaloosa? I’m a coach, I’m a loyalist, a traditionalist. So, I love that part of it. But there will be nothing about love in going to Bryant-Denny Stadium. Been there before with Oklahoma a long time ago in the early 2000s. Beautiful venue, it’ll be a tremendous challenge. Alabama fans are as good as it gets,” said Venables, who was referencing Oklahoma’s 20-13 victory at Alabama on Sept. 6, 2003, in a primetime showdown on national TV.
Venables was the Sooners’ co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach during that 2003 season, but now he carries a much bigger responsibility going into Tuscaloosa.
Here is Venables’s humorous and brutally honest clip from Wednesday:
Come November, we’ll find out if Oklahoma was up to that tremendous challenge, or if Alabama got its revenge on the Sooners.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
