College Football

Is Oklahoma close to being back? Brent Venables, Dillon Gabriel, Drake Stoops weigh in

Updated Jul. 19, 2023 6:32 p.m. ET

We know that Texas is, as of now, not back. But the Longhorns' rivals from Oklahoma have also underwhelmed in recent years.

The Sooners were dealt a massive blow after failing to reach the College Football Playoff in 2021, when head coach Lincoln Riley stunningly left Norman to take the same job at USC, and then took star quarterback Caleb Williams with him via the transfer portal.

Oklahoma rebounded by bringing back former defensive coordinator Brent Venables as head coach and landing quarterback Dillon Gabriel in the transfer portal, as well as keeping incumbent talent like wide receiver Drake Stoops — son of legendary Sooners head coach Bob Stoops (Venables' former boss) — on the roster. But it was still a rough first year with Venables at the helm, as the Sooners went 6-7 and missed out on the playoff for the third straight season.

The Sooners' fan base still has national championship expectations, though, and Venables finished his first full recruiting cycle as Oklahoma head coach with a consensus top-five class in the nation. So in their last Big 12 season, can the Sooners challenge for their first national title since 2000? FOX Sports' RJ Young got Venables, Gabriel and Drake Stoops to weigh in during Big 12 media days.

Venables, of course, has a more insightful perspective than most other current head coaches in college football. Not only was he an assistant under Bob Stoops on that 2000 team, but he was also the defensive coordinator on Clemson squads that played in four national championship games, winning in 2016 and 2018.

"You have to have a lot of things go your way — leadership, experience, staying healthy," Venables said. "You've got to build it the right way. You don't just look up and show up in the national championship game, you have to have a lot of good things go your way. So for us, building this thing the right way — obviously, you've got to have great quarterback play, you've got to start on the lines of scrimmage, you've got to build competitive depth, so you can have the competitive stamina that it requires, and you've got to have playmakers on both sides of the ball."

One of the leaders in the group of playmakers is the younger Stoops, now a sixth-year senior and former walk-on at Oklahoma. And Drake Stoops expects big things for the Sooners' 2023 wide receiver corps.

Interviews: OU's Brent Venables, Drake Stoops and Dillon Gabriel

"I expect everyone to contribute," Stoops said. "We've had a heck of a spring and a heck of a summer. We just continue to learn and continue to grow in our position group. Guys like Jalil Farooq, Nic Anderson, Jayden Gibson, Andrel Anthony just transferred in, myself, Gavin Freeman who exploded on the scene last year, and even Jaquaize Pettaway coming in as a freshman, and we have Brenen Thompson coming in from Texas.

"We just have a lot more competitive depth and I think that will help us down the stretch of games and down the stretch of a long season. We definitely have a lot of guys that are hungry and ready to contribute all across the board."

Venables does not know when Oklahoma will get back to challenging for a spot on the mountaintop, but he believes his Sooners are on the way thanks to what the program is doing on the recruiting, in the transfer portal, and in player development as well.

"There is no question that we are doing this thing the right way," Venables said. "[But] we've got a lot of improvement to do before we're worried about [national championships]."

One of the players tasked with shepherding that improvement is Gabriel, who is in his second year at Oklahoma after transferring from UCF. Gabriel is excited about the additions Venables has made to the roster in the team's bid to make its 2022 season a momentary dip and nothing more.

"Coach [Venables] has done a really great job of bringing in guys who understand what we're about our culture and pouring into one another," Gabriel said. "With the combination of our leaders being vocal and putting cohesion at the forefront of what we're about, and then guys coming in and accepting that, it's been really good for us."

Still, Venables embraces the high standards that fans have set for the Sooners.

"One of the things that makes Oklahoma so incredibly special is the passion, the enthusiasm and the hunger from our fan base to be successful," Venables said. "They have high expectations, and so do we. I can promise you nobody has higher expectations of the Oklahoma Sooners than we do inside our locker room, but I welcome that [pressure]. That's one of the reasons I took this job. … I want to continue to build those expectations and that enthusiasm, and the passion that these fans have. That's what makes this such a special place."

Gabriel, too, is well aware of what the standard is at the program he has now spent a year within, especially for fans looking to win one more Big 12 conference title before next year's departure for the SEC.

"It would mean everything," Gabriel said. "That's what the standard is here. That's what we're about and what we expect. That's our goal and where we want to be. We've just got to take the necessary steps, one step at a time, and being where our feet are, and when that moment comes, being in that moment and being ready for it."