Tramel's ScissorTales: Brent Venables found experience for OU football in transfer portal
Brent Venables was stumped for a moment. The new OU coach rarely is at a loss for words, but my Tulsa World pal Guerin Emig stumped Venables at Big 12 Media Days last week.
Emig asked Venables what he has learned about this Sooner job that he didn’t know when he came on board last December.
Venables thought for several seconds – that's almost never done in the coaching ranks – and then gave sort of a generic answer: “I would say just things don’t happen as fast as you want sometimes. That and I’ve always believed that you have to go through stuff, right? To get stuff done, sometimes you gotta go through stuff. There has to be some patience and nurturing. That’s been probably the most revealing.
“I’m in a leadership position, so I get to control a lot of that. But there are some of those things that just have to go through their processes.”
But the more Venables talked, the more clarity he delivered. And soon enough, he was talking about roster management. Which was really interesting.
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The Thursday ScissorTales check in on a former NBA player who is smitten with the Thunder, plus Kyler Murray’s new financial standing. But we start with OU football and an underrated element of Venables’ first Sooner season as head coach.
Venables has made experience a priority. Even if it’s from outside.
“We have 40% of our roster that’s brand new,” Venables said. “And so when I said yes to the job, I wasn’t thinking one iota in that moment about the possibility that I have to change almost half of our roster.
“So I had to learn that I have to deal with this, here are some different options and some choices that I have to make. So what’s my priorities? What am I looking for?”
The roster makeover was heavy on Venables’ mind when he arrived in Arlington last week: 40% newcomers, including 33 scholarship players and 15 non-scholarship. Transfers include 13 scholarship players and two walk-ons.
“So, for example, the transfer portal, we decided in the moment to find experience and find leaders,” Venables said. “Wherever they are coming from, we want to bring that. Even if it’s a little bit lesser play. Sometimes it’s great play.”
Venables had his numbers aligned. Even written down.
Those 15 transfers have combined for 243 starts and 444 games played. Defensive lineman Jeffrey Johnson made 44 starts at Tulane. Quarterback Dillon Gabriel, 35 starts at Central Florida. Defensive back Trey Morrison, 44 starts at North Carolina. Offensive tackle McKade Mettauer, 28 career starts at California. Offensive tackle Kyle Ergenbright, 34 career starts at Northern Colorado. Defensive lineman Jonah Laulu, 18 career starts at Hawaii. Tight end Daniel Parker, 25 career starts at Missouri.
Hard to argue with Venables’ assertion that his staff placed a heavy emphasis on experience.
“As y'all can imagine, the last 7½ months, there's been a lot going on in Norman, Oklahoma,” Venables said. “You only get one opportunity, one chance, to be a first-time head coach and to do things right the first time.
“But a willingness to kind of manage that. The roster management piece is ever changing, more now than ever. It lacks a lot of stability, for obvious reasons. To me, it goes back to have to keep it stable, it’s pushing it back and go to the core and the foundation of your program. That’s relationships. It all starts with the people. To me, that gives you an opportunity to have a little more stability and longevity.”
Outside of Gabriel, the Sooners picked up no apparent stars from the transfer portal. But they did add a bunch of players who have played a bunch of football.
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J.J. Redick high on Thunder
The Thunder has a bright future, but you’re tired of hearing that. You’ve been hearing that since the Paul George trade three years ago sent Sam Presti’s club down its current reposition/replenish/rebuild track. (Hey, I got that right on my first try.)
But maybe it’s not the message that tires you. Maybe it’s the messenger.
So here’s a fresh voice, lauding the Thunder: J.J. Redick.
One of the NBA’s greatest shooters of the last 15 years, Redick retired in 2021 and now is an ESPN analyst. Redick also hosts a podcast, “The Old Man and the Three,” and produces short video commentaries in conjunction with the pod.
Redick’s most recent video centered on the Thunder and his observations after seeing Summer League. It’s entitled “Dispatches from Las Vegas: Chet Holmgren, Josh Giddey and the Future of the OKC Thunder.”
Here’s the transcript:
“Got my first chance to see Chet Holmgren play in person, and watching him and Josh Giddey operate in tandem was a real pleasure.
“The first thing that stands out with Josh Giddey is his passing. It’s not just the way he passes, it’s how he passes. Gets off the ball early throws, he throws the throw-ahead pass, and of course, his vision in the halfcourt.
“He’s able to fit the basketball into the tightest of windows. There was a play he ran with Chet Holmgren, a little pick and roll, where he gave a no-look pass through two defenders’ arms. Chet Holmgren got the dunk.
“His (Giddey’s) vision right now, there’s a similarity there, to me, with Ricky Rubio. Because he's not a ball-dominant guy. He’s got great vision, he likes the kick-ahead pass, ala Lonzo Ball. There’s just a really good feel and pace to his game, that he uses with the pass. And a lot of guys use pace by their dribble, and he uses pace by his pass.
“The big question mark, and again this was a question mark about Ricky Rubio as a young player, with Josh is his shooting. For him to unlock a superstar level potential, he’s got to become a better shooter. He struggled the game I did in Vegas, shooting the basketball. He struggled last season. He was 26% from 3; just 47% true-shooting percentage.
“But I’m not worried about that. Because a lot of young guys in this league struggle with efficiency on the offensive end. There’s so much to like about his game. His passing, his rebounding, his toughness, his competitiveness.
“But for him to reach max status, he’s got to become a better shooter.
“Watching Chet Holmgren in person was an experience. Right way, you’re taken aback by his length, his frame. But a couple of things jumped out, even during the pre-draft process and watching him play live. He’s got a confidence to his game, he’s got a competitiveness to his game. He’s got a really strong belief in self. And there were three plays that stood out to me in Vegas, watching him play live.
“The first was an iso sidestep 3 from the top of the key that he made. There’s just not many guys his size that can do that.
“Then, a couple of times, he would get the defensive rebound and bust it out in transition. And watching that frame move so fluidly, his ballhandling skills, it did remind me of a young Giannis (Antetokounmpo). I hate the comparison, because Giannis is one of one, and hopefully Chet will become one of one. But watching him move in transition, it reminded me of a young Giannis.
“And then the third play, the play that stood out the most, was when he spiked the ball against the backboard. That, to me, is his real value right now, on the defensive end. And he’s going to end up being a really efficient scorer. He can obviously shoot the basketball.
“But what he brings to the defensive end, because of his length, his ability to move his feet, he can kind of make plays everywhere.
It’s like he’s discovered the Tesseract and he can bridge space and time.
“There’s a lot to be excited about if you’re Oklahoma City. They’ve got a really strong young core, they still have draft picks, they’ve got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They just re-signed my guy, Kenrich Williams (former teammates with the Pelicans), to a long-term extension.
“This is an organization that has pivoted numerous times throughout their existence, and they have put themselves in position to have a very bright future.”
“Very bright” can mean many things. So who knows how the Thunder renaissance will play out? But at least now, you’ve heard it from a fresh voice. Check out Redick’s video.
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Kyler Murray's decision pays off, literally
Kyler Murray made the right decision. Professionally and financially.
The 2018 Heisman Trophy was the ninth overall pick in the 2018 baseball draft and indeed signed a contract with the Oakland Athletics. But the A’s agreed to let Murray play football at OU that autumn, and Murray delivered as good of quarterbacking as the Sooners have ever had.
Before the 2019 NFL Draft, Murray made the decision to forego baseball and cast his lot with football. Well-played. That spring, Murray went No. 1 overall in the NFL Draft, to the Arizona Cardinals.
Seemed like clearly the best choice then – high NFL picks succeed at a much greater rate than do high baseball picks – and seems an even better choice now.
Murray and the Cardinals agreed on a five-year, $230-million contract, ESPN reported Thursday.
Believe it or not, that would make Murray the league’s second-highest paid player, in both single-season salary ($46.1 million, trailing only Aaron Rodgers’ $50.2 million) and guaranteed money ($160 million, trailing only Deshaun Watson’s $230 million).
Murray is making more than even the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes, who is averaging $45 million per year. It’s the age-old system. The player with the most recent contract negotiation gets paid handsomely.
Murray’s signing bonus with the A’s four years ago was $4.66 million. Major League Baseball went to great lengths to entice Murray to pick its sport in 2019, even to the point of suspending its rule against giving just-drafted rookies a major-league contract.
When Murray picked the Cardinals, he had been paid a reported $1.5 million by the A’s (signing bonuses are paid out over time). Murray had to repay $1.29 million of that, so he pocketed $210,000 from Oakland.
The A’s still retain his rights, but now Murray is the No. 2-paid player in the NFL. Murray has seen his last curveball.
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The List: Revamped 2021 Big 12 football standings
The 2021 Big 12 football season was remarkable for its competitiveness. Almost half of the Big 12’s 45 conference games went down to the wire. Games not decided until the final minute or so. Games in which literally either team could have won.
Such games are great drama. But they distort the true quality of a team. Analysts in a variety of sports have shown through intensive research that games won at the wire are no great indicator of superiority. Teams that win or lose an inordinate amount of close games tend to fall back to the middle over time.
So while we crown champions and fire coaches based on winning close games, they are no great measure of a team’s true quality.
Think of it this way. Isn’t the best indicator of a team’s quality its ability to dominate? Close calls are cool, but the best teams don’t rely on close calls.
As we head to the 2022 Big 12 season, it’s instructive to see the true quality of a team.
I went back and redid the Big 12 standings, dividing games into two camps: those controlled by one side or the other, and those that were tossups until the end or near the end. And I made those tossup games a half victory. For instance, OU’s 16-13 squeaker over West Virginia became a half-win, half-loss for both the Sooners and the Mountaineers. Same with OSU’s 24-21 loss at Iowa State. Half-win, half-loss for both teams.
We usually judge a team’s prospective season in large part by how it performed the previous year. Keep these readjusted 2021 Big 12 standings in mind:
1. OSU 7-2, 10-4: The Cowboys actually finished 8-1, 12-2. OSU played all those close games early (including one-possession games against Missouri State, Tulsa and Boise State). The Cowboys got more dominant as the season progressed, but for awhile, OSU was anything but a commanding squad.
2. Baylor 6½-2½, 10½-3½: The Bears actually finished 7-2, 12-2. So Baylor was not too far off. In the ultimate example of the kind of season the Big 12 produced, the Bears beat OSU 21-16 in the Big 12 Championship Game literally by a couple of inches – the length OSU tailback Dez Jackson needed to reach the end zone when tackled by safety Jalen Pitre on the game’s penultimate play.
3. Iowa State 6½-2½, 8½-4½: Surprise, surprise. The Cyclones were a top-10 pick in the preseason and stumbled to 5-4, 7-6 season. But Iowa State lost a bunch of close games. Baylor, OU, Texas Tech, West Virginia. Iowa State in reality was about the same caliber team as Baylor.
4. OU 5½-3½, 8½-4½: The Sooners finished 7-2, 11-2. OU was the anti-Iowa State. The Sooners won a remarkable number of close games. Tulane, Nebraska, West Virginia, Kansas, Texas, Iowa State. To OU’s credit, it carved out an excellent record. But the Sooners were close to a disastrous season, by their standards.
5. Kansas State 4-5, 7½-5½: The Wildcats actually finished 4-5, 8-5, so the K-State we saw in 2021 was the real K-State.
6. Texas 4.5-4.5, 6.5-5.5: The Longhorns finished 3-6, 5-7, so Texas punched under its weight. The ‘Horns weren’t nearly as bad as their record.
7. West Virginia 4.5-4.5, 6-7: The Mountaineers finished 4-5, 6-7. WVU got what it deserved.
8. Texas Tech 3-6, 6.5-6.5: The Red Raiders, too, were almost spot on, actually going 3-6, 7-6.
9. Texas Christian 2.5-6.5, 5-7: Same with TCU, which actually went 3-6, 5-7. Seems like the wild swings came from teams nearer the top.
10. Kansas 1.5-7.5, 3-9: KU went 1-8, 2-10. The Jayhawks lost a few close games, including that crazy game against OU, but KU also beat Texas 57-56 in that crazy overtime game.
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Mailbag: Political hero Ron Norick
The recent discussion of a new Thunder arena brought some perspective on Oklahoma City leadership of the last 30 years.
Gordon: Anything going forward, at some time, should have Ron Norick’s name on it. Without him and his tenacity, there is no MAPS. He built the coalition and had the vision to get MAPS done. Yes, his predecessors contributed, but he built the foundation. He deserves the recognition and the accolades for revitalization of downtown OKC. Preferably on the arena or a new arena in conjunction with the sponsorship -- Paycom Arena at Ron Norick Plaza, something like that. You’re much better at that than I am so I leave that up to you. I don’t even know Ron Norick personally, but I do know what he did for this city. I think people should be recognized and appreciated now, instead of after they pass.”
Tramel: First, a primer. Ron Norick, now 81, was OKC’s mayor from 1988-98.
He was raised in Oklahoma City, where his dad, Jim, was OKC’s mayor from 1959-63 and 1967-71. Ron Norick attended Oklahoma City University, became manager of Norick Investments and was voted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 2009.
Norick was a big hockey fan and was instrumental in helping Clay Bennett’s ownership group make a bid for a National Hockey League franchise in the 1990s. The Ford Center was constructed with the hopes of luring an NHL franchise.
Norick and civic leaders pushed through the first MAPS vote. The Metropolitan Area Projects vote passed, somewhat surprisingly, in December 1993. A one-cent sales tax funded a variety of projects that transformed the city.
➤ The Bricktown canal and riverfront that created a recreational waterway that has become a major hub of water sports.
➤ Bricktown Ballpark, a jewel of a minor-league stadium.
➤ The Ford Center, which was sitting there ready to be inhabited when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and sent the NBA Hornets seeking a temporary home in 2005.
➤ Upgrades to the state fairgrounds.
➤ Renovations to the Myriad Convention Center.
➤ A sparking renovation of the Civic Center Music Hall.
➤ A new downtown library.
The library bears Norick’s name. So it's not like Norick’s contributions have been ignored.
In terms of Norick’s name elsewhere, on the athletic front, arena names are sold off to commercial enterprises, so no way Norick’s name is going on the building.
A plaza of some kind? Maybe. But those go corporate, too.
Norick definitely deserves to be remembered for his role in the OKC remake. The library might have to suffice.
Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Brent Venables adds experience via transfer portal
