Latest news with #Venables
USA Today
3 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
SEC Network analyst thinks Oklahoma has the best defensive line in the SEC
SEC Network analyst thinks Oklahoma has the best defensive line in the SEC The Oklahoma Sooners have undergone a total turnaround at one key position group under head coach Brent Venables. OU's defensive line was undersized and not physical enough for the Big 12, much less the SEC when Venables was hired to replace the departed Lincoln Riley in December of 2021. The former defensive coordinator at Oklahoma (1999-2011) and Clemson (2012-2021) had built some of the greatest defenses in college football before getting his first head coaching job. When he left Norman, the Sooners were talented, physical and beefy in the trenches on defense. He built his Clemson defenses in the exact same fashion. The Tigers won national championships in 2016 and 2018 and played in two more title games in 2015 and 2019. There were also two other seasons where Clemson made the College Football Playoff, but got knocked out in the semifinals (2017 and 2020). A lot of the success was largely on the back of Venables' defenses. Meanwhile, the Sooners also had a successful era, but it was primarily due to their offensive firepower. OU made four CFPs in five years but never made it to the championship game because they couldn't stop their opposition from scoring. Under defensive coordinators Mike Stoops and Alex Grinch, Oklahoma got smaller, less physical, and less talented players on the defensive side of the ball. That was evident on the defensive line most of all. When Venables arrived in Norman, he hired Todd Bates to coach the defensive tackles and Miguel Chavis to coach the defensive ends. Over time, and through recruiting and the transfer portal, that trio has built the Oklahoma defensive line into a force again. Cole Cubelic, a college football analyst for the SEC Network, ranked the top five defensive lines in the SEC on his podcast, "Cube Show." He placed the Sooners atop his list, a remarkable transformation for a unit that used to get pushed around by the likes of Kansas State and Iowa State. "The easiest team for this list to select was number one, and it's Oklahoma. And folks, it ain't even close," Cubelic said. "I'm just going to be honest with you. This was not a debate with Texas, this was not a debate with Georgia, this was not a debate with Florida in my head. Oklahoma, by far, has the best defensive line in the SEC, and it is by a landslide. I mean, they literally have a 40-yard head start on everybody else." That's a powerful statement from Cubelic, but Oklahoma has the depth to back it up. At defensive tackle, Bates has a solid four-man group of Jayden Jackson, Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton, and David Stone to work with. It's a talented group that has experience and potential. Each player brings something a little different to the table. At the defensive end spots, the Sooners aren't quite that deep, but Chavis has R Mason Thomas returning after a breakout season a year ago. Opposite him, the tandem of Marvin Jones Jr. and Adepoju Adebawore will be looking for breakout years of their own off the edge. Cubelic also thinks Oklahoma likes what they have in Danny Okoye, who was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class. Cubelic also believes that with Venables taking control of the defensive play-calling in 2025, the Sooners will assume even more of his attacking, aggressive mentality. The best defenses Venables has had were able to dictate what the opposing offense could and couldn't do, not the other way around. There were plenty of moments a season ago where the Sooners owned the game defensively up front, most notably in the win over Alabama. Cubelic seems to believe the SEC could be in for more performances like that one from Oklahoma, as Year 4 with Venables, Bates, and Chavis could yield even bigger results. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Where did ESPN rank Brent Venables as a player?
Where did ESPN rank Brent Venables as a player? The time of year when college football fans are hankering for college football but have little recruiting or transfer-portal news to keep up with always produces some engaging offseason content. Way off-season. Over at ESPN, college football analyst Adam Rittenberg put together a tier list of every FBS coach ranked by how good that coach was in college. More specifically, he put coaches into tiers that appear largely unranked, then capped the list with a top 30. So, where does Oklahoma's Brent Venables fit in? Not as high as Tennessee's Josh Heupel, but not in a bad landing spot. The Sooners coach slotted into the "Pre-portal transfers" tier. That tier ranks sixth of eight, though, again, differentiating between the middle tiers is a matter of perspective. Venables fit there because he began his career at Garden City Community College, becoming a JUCO All-American in 1990. From there, he transferred in-state to play for his mentor, Bill Snyder, at Kansas State. In Manhattan, Venables earned All-Big Eight honorable mention status his senior year after logging 114 tackles. No other SEC coach was among the nine remaining in that tier. The top-30 rankings yielded five Southeastern Conference head coaches. At the top, of course, former Sooners Heisman Trophy winner Josh Heupel. He immediately made his presence known in 1999 with 3,850 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. Heupel then led the Sooners to a national title in 2000, recording 3,606 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. He was named AP Player of the Year, won the Walter Camp Award and consensus All-America honors, and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. - Rittenberg, ESPN Oklahoma and Tennessee meet on the field with Heupel and Venables roaming the sidelines in Knoxville on November 1 this fall. Last year, Heupel's Volunteers won the matchup in Norman, 25-15. For those with a curious bit of state pride, four coaches with ties to the Sooner State ranked in the top 30. Purdue's Barry Odom (Ada) ranked 24th, Arkansas' Sam Pittman (Grove) ranked 21st, and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy (Midwest City) ranked fifth. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Brent Venables among coaches that can improve their stock
Brent Venables among coaches that can improve their stock Every season, plenty of head coaches come into the fall with something to prove. In the case of Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables, he's looking to prove that he does, in fact, belong as a head coach at the highest level of this sport. After a 6-7 season in 2022, Venables got on track with a 10-3 season in 2023. But regressing back to a 6-7 record in 2024 has fans and analysts alike wondering if Venables has what it takes to lead the Sooners. He's made some massive changes to the program this offseason to try and set himself up as best as he possibly can for Year 4 overall and Year 2 in the SEC. Will Backus, who covers college football for CBS Sports, believes that Venables is on a shortlist of Power Four head coaches who have a chance to improve their stock the most this year. Backus cites the new offensive battery of Ben Arbuckle and John Mateer as the primary reasons why. Venables' Sooners did not take the SEC transition well. Sure, they pulled off a gigantic upset against Alabama, but they were outscored by an average of 15 points in their other four games against ranked conference opponents and then capped the whole campaign with a loss against Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl. So, in an effort to ensure Oklahoma doesn't fall too far behind, Venables made sweeping changes in the offseason. He'll handle defensive play-calling duties while handing the offensive coordinator role to Ben Arbuckle, who engineered some of the nation's most effective passing offenses at Western Kentucky and Washington State. Arbuckle's Wazzu QB, John Mateer, followed him to Norman. Oklahoma also signed five wide receiver transfers to bolster a position decimated by injuries and portal departures. As long as the offensive line takes a big leap, the rest of Oklahoma's offense should follow, and that would mean improvement for the Sooners. - Backus, CBS Sports The offensive coordinator-quarterback relationship is becoming increasingly important in the transfer portal-NIL era of college football. The Sooners look like they'll have one of the nation's best in 2025 after having one of the nation's worst in 2024. Venables and Sooner Nation hope that an improved offensive output can lead to more victories this fall in Norman. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
Irish Examiner
18-05-2025
- Science
- Irish Examiner
Controversial 'robot trees' removed from Cork City centre
The so-called 'robot trees' installed in Cork City centre nearly four years ago to help clean pollutants from the air have been removed. The five devices, which were erected in August 2021 as part of a local authority initiative to provide more greening of the city, were removed from their locations on St Patrick's Street and the Grand Parade early on Sunday morning. The hexagonal platforms on which they stood remain in place. The trees, which were created by a German biotech firm called Green City Solutions, had cost taxpayers around €350,000. Their cost was covered as part of a €4m funding allocation from the National Transport Authority (NTA) to Cork City Council. Designed to filter the air and absorb the toxic pollutant called particulate matter from the air via moss filters, the trees came equipped with in-built sensors used to collate air quality data for analysis. PM2.5, known as particulate matter, is all solid and liquid particles suspended in air, such as dust, pollen, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets. They also contained 40-inch TV screens used to disseminate information about air quality in Cork City. In recent months, the trees had begun to show signs of wear and tear. The council spokesperson said that the existing seating around where the trees stood "will remain and additional planting will be undertaken in both locations". File Picture: Larry Cummins The devices have been a source of controversy since their installation. The same month they were erected, Dean Venables, a researcher at the Centre for Research into Atmospheric Chemistry at University College Cork, labelled them 'a costly and ineffectual gimmick'. In September 2023, UCC emeritus professor of chemistry, John Sodeau, also criticised the robot trees, saying they were waste of funds. 'If I had been asked about the city trees, I would have said 'don't bother'," he said at the time. Prof Sodeau also said that, pending the outcome of a data analysis of the robot trees' effectiveness, he believed the planting of hedging along the street would have been more effective at removing particulates from the air, and it would be better to tackle the root cause of air pollution, rather than trying to clean the air. "I have looked at these devices in other cities and couldn't see how they could do what they said on the tin, so to speak," he said. In November 2023, Cork City council published a report on the data collected from the robot trees which summarised the findings of two studies on their effectiveness. The data was inconclusive. Asked why exactly they were removed, a spokesperson for Cork City Council told the Irish Examiner: "The 'City Trees' on St Patrick's Street and Grand Parade are being removed this weekend". The council spokesperson said that the existing seating around where the trees stood "will remain and additional planting will be undertaken in both locations". "Cork City Council will be partnering with the UCC/MTU Joint Cork Centre for Architectural Education (CCAE) to explore a re-purposing of the structures," they added. Read More Cork City designated special EU status to unlock major funding to achieve climate neutrality by 2030
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Josh Pate believes the Sooners are loaded heading into 2025
The Oklahoma Sooners have made plenty of changes this offseason, hoping to avoid a repeat of what happened in 2024. In Year 4 under head coach Brent Venables' leadership and Year 2 in the Southeastern Conference, OU simply cannot afford another 6-7 season like the one they had last year. Otherwise, even more drastic changes will be coming to the program. But as for 2025, many national pundits are starting to believe in Venables's moves this winter and spring. That includes Josh Pate, who hosts "Josh Pate's College Football Show" and is a college football analyst for CBS Sports. He believes the Sooners have loaded up this offseason. Advertisement "Oklahoma's made some really, really good moves here," Pate said. "Quarterback was a major concern for them and they went and got (John) Mateer out of Washington State, with his offensive coordinator (Ben Arbuckle) for good measure. Check." The Sooners have made definite upgrades at both quarterback and offensive coordinator, two issues that derailed them a season ago. Jackson Arnold led Oklahoma is passing last year with the lowest yardage total since Jake Sills' 1998 mark in the final season of the John Blake era. Arnold struggled mightily, that's for sure, but he and the rest of the offense were hampered by having Seth Littrell at the controls. He was fired after just seven games. The duo of Joe Jon Finley and Kevin Johns finished out the season but didn't fare much better. Mateer and Arbuckle provide familiarity with each other and proof of concept, two things Arnold and Littrell did not have. Advantage, 2025 Sooners. But while those two moves are massive, they aren't the only changes that have Pate excited about what OU can be this year. "They got maybe the best tailback in the country that was available from Cal," Pate said. Advertisement That would, of course, be Jaydn Ott, the biggest addition for the Sooners in the spring portal window. He was banged up in 2024, but his 2023 campaign has Oklahoma fans imagining what he can do in the backfield alongside Mateer. The Sooners have had to go running back by committee since Eric Gray moved on to the NFL, and have the pieces to do so again this year. But Ott provides a player that is capable of being a game-changer when he's healthy. Speaking of game-changers, Pate is excited about a player that OU is getting back from injury this season as well. "You remember this time last year, we were talking about Deion Burks out of Purdue," Pate said. "He got hurt last year and so he wasn't the impact player we thought he'd be. But he still has that potential. And so he's there, they added a starting OT like we talked about, added two other defensive starters." Burks' decision to come back for one more year of football, and to do it in Norman, was a big boost for Venables and his staff. If he's healthy, he can be the No. 1 target that Mateer and Arbuckle will need him to be. Pate also recognized the job Venables has done in high school recruiting and in the transfer portal since taking over in December of 2021, which means that the talent is there in a lot of places on the roster for Oklahoma. Advertisement "This is a program that has stacked top 10 recruiting classes and portal classes on top of each other," Pate said. "They've got an incredibly difficult schedule this year. But they could also be a College Football Playoff team this year." Are there holes on the depth chart for the 2025 Oklahoma Sooners? Sure, there are. But last December, Venables and the coaching staff headed into an offseason when changes absolutely had to happen after a dismal showing in 2024. While the roster isn't perfect, so many of the problem areas have been addressed and improved in the last five months. But only time will tell whether Venables' moves will pay off this fall. This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Josh Pate lauds OU's offseason moves
