Oklahoma Sooners third-year head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] is replacing coordinators for every single unit in 2024. It’s a unique place to be, but OU fans are optimistic about the new hires.
On offense, [autotag]Jeff Lebby[/autotag] had been the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for the past two seasons. When he took the head coaching job at Mississippi State in November, Venables chose to promote from within to replace Lebby, elevating offensive analyst [autotag]Seth Littrell[/autotag] and tight ends coach [autotag]Joe Jon Finley[/autotag] to co-offensive coordinators. Littrell will serve as the quarterbacks coach and primary play caller, while Finley will have more input than before and will continue to coach tight ends. Wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator [autotag]Emmett Jones[/autotag] will also factor into the game planning throughout the week. He’s been nothing but stellar since showing up in Norman.
Former special teams analyst [autotag]Jay Nunez[/autotag] left to take a job at Alabama this offseason, leading to the hiring of [autotag]Doug Deakin[/autotag], formerly at San Diego State. Special teams play was a weak spot a season ago for the Sooners, and it must be better in the unforgiving SEC.
Former defensive coordinator/linebackers coach [autotag]Ted Roof[/autotag] and the Sooners mutually parted ways this winter, and Venables hired [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag] to replace him. Defensive tackles coach [autotag]Todd Bates[/autotag] and cornerbacks coach [autotag]Jay Valai[/autotag] will serve as co-defensive coordinators under Alley, two veterans who can help the younger coordinator.
While all of these moves have to work out for the Sooners to have success, Alley’s role is an interesting one as he arrives in Norman.
He spent eight years (2011-2018) as a student assistant and graduate assistant at Clemson, spending the final seven years under Venables, who was the defensive coordinator for the Tigers. A month after he was signed to be the nickel backs coach at Charlotte, he instead ended up coaching linebackers at Boise State, where he spent two seasons. Former Louisiana-Monroe head coach Terry Bowden hired Alley as his defensive coordinator, at the recommendation of Venables in 2021. After just one year at ULM, Jacksonville State head coach Rich Rodriguez tabbed Alley for the same role. He spent two seasons at JSU, helping the Gamecocks make the move from FCS to FBS in 2023.
Now, Alley steps into a much larger role; defensive coordinator at Oklahoma. His style is extremely similar to Venables’ himself, having spent seven of his 13 seasons in coaching under his leadership. He’s been called a clone of Venables, as his mannerisms and attitude closely reflect those of OU’s head coach. The team posted a recent video on social media that features Alley, and it’s tough to differentiate his voice from Venables’
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Make no mistake about it: the Sooners will be running Brent Venables’ schemes, concepts, and formations on defense for as long as he’s in Norman. Venables was hired in December of 2021, in part because of his defensive acumen, in addition to his previous ties to the program. It’s his defense, but having someone he fully trusts as the defensive coordinator and play caller unlocks what Oklahoma can be as a team.
Alley’s presence and Venables’ comfort level allows the head coach to focus on every aspect of the game instead of having to be so hands-on with the defensive playcalling. It’s an area that improved last year for the Sooners, but still has room to improve.
Venables will likely never be a true “CEO-type” head coach. He’s got too much enthusiasm, energy, and knowledge to sit back and watch the defense. It’s something that he shouldn’t change, as players, recruits, parents, fans, and fellow coaches love that about him. However, there is still room for improvement for Venables when it comes to managing the game within the game. Understandable for someone who has only been a head coach for 26 games in his career.
Oklahoma went 0-5 in one-score games in 2022, improving to 3-2 in that stat in 2023. There will likely be more one-score games as the Sooners make the move to the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. Though it’s clearly somewhere OU has gotten better, there were two costly losses in that department last year. Losses against Kansas and Oklahoma State came right down to the wire, and mistakes on offense, defense, and special teams cost the Sooners a trip to the [autotag]Big 12[/autotag] Championship game and maybe more.
Though Venables should still have the final say on a crucial defensive moment, having someone who sees the game the same way and has a similar thought process about defense will be very beneficial throughout the season.
In fact, looking at the championship-winning coaches in recent years in college football, they’ve had a similar model to what Oklahoma has now, delegating play-calling duties in their area of expertise to focus on being a head coach.
Former Alabama head coach Nick Saban is one of the best defensive minds the sport has ever seen. Yet, he always had a defensive coordinator calling the plays, and he trusted his assistant coach. One of them, Georgia‘s Kirby Smart, has the same model, leading to two out of the last three national titles landing in Athens.
In fact, the last head coach to call plays in his area of expertise and win the title was Jimbo Fisher, who won it all at Florida State in 2013, a decade ago. Fisher eventually landed at Texas A&M, flaming out late last season. It wasn’t until 2023 that he ceded offensive play-calling duties for the first time, but it wasn’t enough to save his job.
What those coaches have achieved in recent years is what Brent Venables hopes to bring back to Oklahoma. His former boss [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] followed this model as well, and became a legend in Norman, trusting in his defensive coordinator(s). Hiring Zac Alley to be his defensive coordinator and fully trusting him to call the plays so that Venables can oversee everything that’s going on during the game could unlock the Sooners’ defense and maybe the entire program as a whole.
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