Oklahoma Sooners additions on defense allowing them to be creative at unique position in Brent Venables defense
Ever since Brent Venables was hired as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, he has brought with him a unique position to their defense that they didn't have previously. Venables' "Cheetah" position is a bit of a hybrid linebacker-safety role. More often than not, that position has been synonymous with a "big nickel" label. […]
Ever since Brent Venables was hired as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, he has brought with him a unique position to their defense that they didn't have previously.
Venables' "Cheetah" position is a bit of a hybrid linebacker-safety role. More often than not, that position has been synonymous with a "big nickel" label. While it's not quite the same, there is enough of an overlap that the label makes sense on the surface.
The Cheetah player is there to add a bigger body in the run game without sacrificing coverage ability. At Clemson, this role was made rather famous by Isaiah Simmons, who was a key playmaker in Clemson's defensive dominance in the late 2010s.
For the last two years at Oklahoma, Kendel Dolby has manned that role and has thrived there as one of the Sooners' most disruptive defenders. However, the addition of former Oklahoma State linebacker Kendal Daniels has allowed them to be more creative with how they deploy their "cheetahs" in 2025, something the team lacked in 2024 despite their successful season defensively.
Sooners' "Cheetah" coach and Outside Linebackers coach Wes Goodwin, a protégé of Venables who worked with him at Clemson, spoke about Oklahoma's unique ability to match personnel with the guys they have in that room, compared to last season.
"I think there’s kind of two body types that we’ve used in that role. You can label those a big cheetah, little cheetah. So, big cheetah being more of a true linebacker body type. So just guys historically, Isaiah Simmons, Dorian O’Daniel that played for the Chiefs? Kendal Daniels, obviously. But then you could also say little cheetah guys. So Kendel Dolby and Reggie Powers, Andrew Makuba that we had at Clemson, those type of guys. So it just depends on what you kind of want to use with that, that type of skill set. You know, bigger guys on early downs to set the edge, blitz them, having that big body to set the edge on all the screen game, and then maybe third down you personnel it and get more of a speedy, cover guy in that role."
Last season, Dolby went down with an injury, forcing Woodi Washington and Samuel Omosigho to rotate there at an unfamiliar position. Now with Dolby's return, the emergence of Reggie Powers, and the addition of Kendal Daniels, it finally feels like Cheetah is a position of strength and true weapon for the Sooners on defense.
I love the idea of the little vs big cheetah, especially in a conference like the SEC. The conference is booming with wide receiver talent, but it feels like every team also has a sneaky good or better tight end prospect or running back that is a devastating catcher who a bigger body would be best suited for covering.
If Oklahoma can legitimately mix and match their talents there with little dropoff, it adds another level of flexibility to their defense that they haven't had in recent years.
Opposing quarterbacks constantly have to focus on what the Cheetah will do as the "Apex" defender, and if they don't have any obvious tells there and can match personnel easily, it makes life that much harder for the quarterback to pick up what the defense will throw at them snap-to-snap. With athletes like Dolby, Daniels, and Powers in the mix, the possibilities feel endless.
The pieces are starting to click for Brent Venables to build yet another top-flight defense this season. We just have to see them in action.
