Transfer portal addition can’t help but wish he met Sooners HC Brent Venables sooner in his career
Brent Venables has a way with players, and new defender Kendal Daniels now realizes that.
The results haven’t been there, yet, so I get why there is this animosity around Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables. But when the results do come, if he’s given the time, the Sooners will be grateful for Venables and everything he brings to the table.
Let’s start with the fact that his recruiting hasn’t been as bad as most make it out to be. They’re not dominantly recruiting like other blue bloods in college football, but they also are only using what they have to work with in this new era of college football. Some of these other schools have unlimited money, and the Sooners just don’t. And that’s okay.
Secondly, Venables is a defensive mastermind. He is one of the best defensive minds in the college football world, and it’s not really an argument. Look at what he was able to do defensively last season with a roster full of injuries.
And lastly, Venables is one of the best player-coaches there is. He’s extremely personal with players, close, and builds a culture and a chemistry that you can’t really replicate or fabricate. And, he puts players in the best situations possible to succeed.
Some newer players who were on the team last year are already starting to see that before they’ve even played a game.
Kendal Daniels loves what Brent Venables has done already
The Sooners entered the offseason with a huge hole on their roster. And by hole, I mean a bunch of small holes left from all of the players they lost in the transfer portal. At the time, it didn’t look great at all. In fact, that’s about when the entire fan base immediately started to hit the red button.
But, you can make a great argument that what the Sooners got out of the transfer portal made their roster even better than it was before. One of those guys is defensive back/linebacker Kendal Daniels, who actually played at Oklahoma State prior. He’s going to be a huge part of what the Sooners do on defense, and he’s already seeing the benefits of being on the Sooners, whether that’s the elite defense he’s about to be in or what he’s getting out of playing for Venables.
“I was kind of still figuring out my role,” Daniels told reporters on-site at fall camp regarding his spring camp. “I was still meeting new people, didn’t know everybody on the team. First time being coached by coach Brent Venables and seeing how he practices and adjusting to how he practices and trying to get the tendencies of what he wants to call and the plays, and adjusting, moving around everywhere on the field. So going into fall camp, had me in summer learning all the plays and meeting all the guys, spending weekends with guys, learning new people, meeting new people, learning everybody’s story.
“It’s felt more like I’ve been here for a long time… I’m not even the same person. Being with Coach V and just learning who I am and being around him, a guy like that, and the way he coaches, he’s taken me from right here to right here already, and I can already feel it. I wouldn’t say I wish I were a Sooner from the get, but I wish I were with coach Venables for way longer than I have been.”
2025 is going to be a huge year for the Sooners, especially on defense. Venables has everyone bought in, even a former bitter rival.
