College conference media days sometimes produce remarkable quotes, especially from head coaches. New Oklahoma Sooners‘ head coach Brent Venables certainly gave us that at Big 12 Media Days Thursday with one line in particular:
Brent Venables out of context: "The firehose is fully inserted in my mouth here. We've been blowing and going."
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 14, 2022
Here’s video of that:
Brent Venables out of context pic.twitter.com/66pSvKpzQz
— Josh Callaway (@JoshMCallaway) July 14, 2022
Some context may be helpful:
Context added: This was a variation on the "drinking through a firehose" line of learning on the job as a first-time head coach.
— Pat Forde (@ByPatForde) July 14, 2022
But those comments can also be interpreted, uh, differently. And Twitter had fun with them:
https://t.co/MYxHrvOcGM pic.twitter.com/3jXAqp2TST
— RedditCFB (@RedditCFB) July 14, 2022
https://t.co/Pt53DJQYlC pic.twitter.com/56MPkPC8z1
— Logan B. Robinson (@LogansTwitty) July 14, 2022
🤔 https://t.co/jO5DR6vrtZ pic.twitter.com/DTru1NIJ1v
— Black Sinatra Targaryen Zoldyck (@Todd_Gully) July 14, 2022
Apparently, though, phrasing is not a thing at Oklahoma these days, as shown by a slogan they keep repeating:
View this post on Instagram
A slogan they also put on signs (with some questionable graphic design choices):
View this post on Instagram
At any rate, this wasn’t the only part of Venables’ press conference that drew attention. He also gave an almost six-minute opening statement, and while he spent 20 minutes speaking, he only answered three questions.
Brent Venables opening statement time: Approximately 5:40 (out of 20 allotted minutes for his podium session) #Sooners
— Ryan Aber (@ryaber) July 14, 2022
For those wondering, O/U was 3.5 questions in Brent Venables’ presser
Under hit pic.twitter.com/vsIRqbGpGc
— Parker Thune (@ParkerThune) July 14, 2022
Folks I hope you took the under on Brent Venables dais questions. It was set at 3.5.
— Eddie Radosevich (@Eddie_Rado) July 14, 2022
He also did talk about the challenges they face with huge roster turnover, but said those aren’t that bad in the grand scheme of college football:
Brent Venables gives out some OU numbers to start Big 12 Media Days:
*40% of roster (33 scholarship, 15 walk-ons) have never worn #Sooners uniform
*15 transfers, 244 games played among them
*6 back on offense, 6 on defense
*50% (half) are jrs/seniors; 13 graduate students.— Eric Bailey (@EricBaileyTW) July 14, 2022
Brent Venables is preaching that Oklahoma must strive to get better in every facet of the game.
"Our issues are probably first-world problems in the landscape of college football, but I'm not naive."
— Dean Straka (@DWStraka49) July 14, 2022
And he did discuss the Bedlam series against Oklahoma State, which has its future threatened with Oklahoma’s planned move to the SEC:
#Sooners HC Brent Venables on the future of Bedlam:
“You have to have some hate and heart for your rival. … (Bedlam) is important to so many people. It brings a lot of joy and heartache to a lot of people.” pic.twitter.com/EsHOSmsh5M
— Dean Straka (@DWStraka49) July 14, 2022
At any rate, if this press conference is any indication, Venables looks like he’ll be a pretty quotable head coach.
[Pat Forde on Twitter; photo from Jerome Miron/USA Today Sports]
