The Oklahoma coaching staff has been completely overhauled. Only Demarco Murray and Joe Jon Finley are returning members of the staff, everyone else is in their first year. Some are familiar faces that have returned and others are all new. Today we’ll go through Oklahoma’s new Head Coach, Offensive Coordinator, and Defensive Coordinator and the philosophy they intend to bring.
Brent Venables: Head Coach
Previous Position: Clemson DC (2012-2021)
Brent Venables has returned to Norman. In case you forgot, Venables served in various defensive positions culminating in defensive coordinator at Oklahoma from 1999 to 2011. Coaching under Bob Stoops, Venables was a finalist for the Broyles Award, top assistant coach in college football, in 2006.
Venables was replaced by Mike Stoops in 2012 and went on to actually win the Broyles Award with Clemson in 2016. He helped them win two national titles, 2016 and 2018, and five consecutive ACC championships. He was the highest-paid assistant coach in the NCAA until leaving Clemson.
Venables’ Scheme
Venables, in stark contrast to Lincoln Riley, is a defensive-minded coach. His defensive scheme is comprised of about half split safeties and half single-high safety coverages. Venables drops a safety into the box on roughly half of his play calls. He puts a lot of faith in his outside corners and his philosophy has produced NFL corners such as AJ Terrell, Trayvon Mullen, and Andrew Booth Jr.
This scheme is similar but more complex when compared to Alex Grinch’s single-gap-rushing defense. His scheme was based on attempting to blitz gaps in the run game. Grinch likes to load the box and send everyone in the hope that all the chaos frees a rusher. He too relies on safety or corner help in the rushing game.
This example shows the Dallas Cowboys running the single-gap defense. Everyone is assigned to a specific gap in between the blockers. On the far left is a corner (#30) who is the last line of defense against the run.
Both defenses are highly aggressive against the run at the cost of allowing the pass. The key difference is in the gap approach that Grinch uses. While teaching players to attack gaps and avoid engaging with lineman sounds highly effective, it often leads to busted run coverage. The emphasis on speed on defense creates big problems when they overplay one side and the run goes the other way.
Venables and Grinch have struggled to defend pass-heavy spread offenses. Clemson was most infamously picked apart by Joe Burrow in the 2020 National Title game, but Eric Dungey, Ian Book, and Justin Fields also shredded them. Grinch’s defenses were blasted by Skylar Thompson and Brock Purdy, and Tulane’s Michael Pratt.
It will be a challenge for Venables’ system to be an overnight success. I envision a good deal of growing pains on the defensive side as players learn the new complexities behind their run coverages and adjust to the man-heavy pass sets. His philosophy will take hold though, and Oklahoma will see steady improvement on the defensive side of the ball over the next few years.
Jeff Lebby: Offensive Coordinator
Previous Position: Ole Miss OC and QB coach (2020-2021)
Lebby, who began his career as a student assistant at Oklahoma, spent the last two seasons coaching recently drafted Panthers rookie Matt Corral. Corral committed to Ole Miss as a four-star prospect and Lebby helped him throw for over 3,000 yards both years. The QB won the 2021 Connerly Trophy, the best college player in Mississippi, and was also named second-team All-SEC.
Before Ole Miss and Corral, Lebby was at UCF for two seasons as their QBs coach and passing game coordinator, and later offensive coordinator. While in Orlando he coached quarterback McKenzie Milton to a sixth-place finish in Heisman Trophy voting and coached freshman Dillon Gabriel in 2021. That year Gabriel threw for over 3,600 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Now back in Norman, Lebby is reunited with Gabriel. Their success will only be amplified by a much better supporting cast at Oklahoma. Lebby has never had an offense finish outside the top five schools in college football in total offense and that shouldn’t change this year.
Lebby’s Scheme
While Lebby and Riley have had similar success running offenses they do things differently. Lebby’s 2021 Ole Miss offense was able to grind out over 215 yards per game in the SEC. Oklahoma averaged just 188 yards per game last season. The SEC is known for its tougher rushing defenses so that level of success is even more impressive.
Expect to see more of the run game this season, but Gabriel will still air it out. Lebby stated in an interview that he understands the importance of passing regularly and using pre-snap motion to confuse defenses. His offense has been a fusion of RPO and Air Raid concepts and that should play to Oklahoma’s strengths.
Lebby has earned a reputation as one of the game’s brightest young offensive coaches. He’ll be aiming to both solidify his reputation and continue the historical dominance of Oklahoma’s offense.
Ted Roof: Defensive Coordinator
Previous Position: Clemson Defensive Analyst (2021)
Venables brought over Ted Roof to join the Oklahoma coaching staff from Clemson. Oklahoma will be the 16th stop in Roof’s career since he began coaching in 1987. He began as Georgia Tech’s defensive coordinator back in 1999, a position he held until leaving for Duke in 2002 to be their DC. Then he took over as their Head Coach in 2003 and served in that role until 2007.
He oversaw a large improvement in Duke’s defense and became known as a defensive guru. His Duke teams, while not successful, routinely sported one of the nation’s best defenses. Following that he had short but successful stints in Minnesota and at Auburn, winning a BCS National Championship with the latter.
Roof continued to bounce from team to team, going from UCF to Penn State before landing back with Georgia Tech in 2013. He stayed there for four seasons, in which the Georgia Tech defense was highly inconsistent. After that, he went through a few more one-year stops at schools including Vanderbilt and NC State before ending up at Clemson in 2021.
Roof’s career success has been through his ability to excite his players and rally them. Players and fellow coaches have raved about him in interviews throughout his career. One player at Duke described him as “a coach that really cares about you” and “he really brought us together as a team”.
The Oklahoma football team seems ready for a new era. One driven by defense and playing as a team. Venables, Lebby, and Roof all bring unique skills and traits. Venables is highly experienced in coaching some of the most successful programs in football. Lebby’s scheme is driven by modern football concepts such as the RPO and the Air Raid. While Roof is a successful journeyman known for his ability to bring a team together.
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