Tag: 2024 Oklahoma Sooners Spring Game

Zac Alley has been great so far in his new role at Oklahoma

Zac Alley has just been the defensive coordinator for a few months now but Brent Venables is pleased with where he is at.

Saturday’s spring game was the first time we’ve seen new defensive coordinator [autotag]Zac Alley[/autotag] call a game at Oklahoma. Obviously, the defense was very vanilla and didn’t show a whole lot. It’s still good practice to have him call plays and see how his defense communicates and executes.

Alley has spent a lot of time with his head coach, [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag]. Alley was an assistant when Venables was defensive coordinator for the Clemson Tigers. Adding Alley to the staff allows Venables to take a step back from the defense and become more of a CEO head coach.

Venables discussed how Alley has done this spring.

“He’s been great,” Venables said. “Everything has been good all spring. He’s gotten adjusted quickly, as we anticipated. He’s done a variety of things that have helped us continue to move forward, progress and get better. A lot of it language-wise. Trying to simplify some things from a language standpoint.”

Venables mentioned that when you get outside of a system and go to several places where everyone is new, you figure out how to be even more efficient. That’s something Alley has done so far, he said.

The question now for Alley is how well he will do as the play caller. He hasn’t been a play caller for very long and hasn’t done it at this level. Alley’s been incredibly successful at every coaching stop and has a talented roster. We’ll have to wait and see when the time comes this season.

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Brent Venables seeing great improvement from the back seven on defense

The Sooners defense is miles ahead in the back end than they’ve been in almost a decade.

Last offseason, the Oklahoma Sooners coaching staff lauded the improved competitive depth on the roster. That proved true, and it was arguably the most depth the Sooners have had in quite some time. It was most noticeable on the defensive side of the ball.

This year, it feels like that competitive depth has taken another significant step in the right direction. There are a number of guys that could make an impact this season. But there are ultimately not going to be enough snaps in the game to get them all playing time in the fall.

Still, Brent Venables believes they have more depth than last season.

“We’ve got tremendous experience and playmaking,” Venables said. “I really like where we’re at. We’ve made great improvement in our back seven, particularly at corner and safety. Developing the depth there and not just having guys who can go play but play at a high level. I really like what we’ve done this spring at corner. I just feel great about where we’re at. Doing the little things better than we were a year ago.”

Venables mentioned one area they don’t have a lot of experience is the interior of the defensive line. That obviously gained a boost with the commitment from Jermayne Lole on Monday, and the Sooners hope to add another player to that spot.

All in all, Venables is building a team that can compete for a national championship. That starts with having the depth necessary to compete at that level.

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