NORMAN — When Brent Venables stepped off the jet at Max Westheimer Airport on Dec. 5, 2021, he knew he had his work cut out for him.

In the previous five seasons, OU football ranked 60th (2021), 28th (2020), 64th (2019), 101st (2018) and 68th (2017) nationally in team defense.

A day after arriving, during his introductory news conference, Venables promised to bring a physical, punishing, relentless, suffocating defense back to Oklahoma. The Sooners were often mocked during the pre-Venables years as purely an offensive program that couldn’t figure out defense.

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