Steve Sarkisian and Brent Venables have their differences.
Sarkisian is an offensive guy who played quarterback; Venables is a defensive guru who played linebacker. Sarkisian is on his third head coaching stop; Venables in his second season as a head coach. One is a West Coast man who spent almost his entire life there before recently; the other a Florida-born guy who played college ball and coached in the Midwest and East Coast.
As for the Sooners … well, it’s complicated. Venables, previously the defensive coordinator at Clemson and Oklahoma, is “completely involved” in the Oklahoma defense, he said earlier this season. Ted Roof, OU’s defense coordinator, said in August that he calls the plays but that Venables can “override” the calls.“BV has called plays the last two years,” said one current college head coach.Believe what you want, but either way, the Sarkisian-Venables chess match is a real thing.
His defenses are complex, intense and, for an opposing quarterback, confusing. While at Clemson, Venables' defenses were known to complicate matters by changing calls within milliseconds of the snap. After the quarterback surveyed the defense’s positioning, Venables had players shift as the QB glanced down to take the snap.“They’ve got every front and every blitz,” said an SEC assistant coach. “They’re not having a ton of busts like last year.
“You can tell that Brent has the guys he wants,” said a Group of Five head coach. “They know his system and how he does things. No. 28, the linebacker [Danny Stutsman], is an absolute stud. He runs the show.” “They are huge and engulfed us,” said one coach whose team played Texas this season. “Just the overall thickness of them, they look like an SEC line now.”“Their front four is about as good as I’ve seen in a long time. They are an SEC defense,” said one Power Five coordinator. “They are so good in the front that they don’t have to take a lot of chances. They play a soft Cover 4 and give you stuff underneath because they know know you’re not going to hit big plays.
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