Ep. 226 - Is OU Better Off Now With Brent Venables at the Helm?

In the opening take, Lee says OU's in a better position now than they were 10 days ago. Then Grant joins to talk about his favorite celebration style (5:45) before we stop messing around and talk about what we think of Brent Venables getting the head coaching job at OU (7:25). Venables addressed "why now" is the time he finally took a head coaching job. What are the chances he's going to be a good coach (14:10)? Lee begins pitching to Grant why he thinks OU is in a better place now compared to when Lincoln Riley left the program. Culture and team identity are important and it's going to chance under Venables (28:35). OU's defense is going to be better under Venables. We're excited to see how some of the current players develop under a new coaching staff (39:00). We pulled a soundbite of Venables talking about his offensive philosophy. We like that Venables is a coach who will tweak and coach game-to-game based on opponent. He also sounds like someone who wants to get the ball to his playmakers as much as possible. Lee also talks about that time the "Freezing Cold Takes" Twitter account got him (51:30). Was halftime during the OU-Georgia Rose Bowl the highest point of OU's Lincoln Riley tenure (1:02:05)? Lee continues his pitch to Grant. OU's offense will take a dip, right? Well... maybe, but also the ceiling could be higher with Venables/Lebby compared to Riley/Grinch (1:06:20). Do we think Caleb Williams is going to stay at OU? OU's got a better shot to win a National Championship in the next 2 years than USC, right (1:18:15)? We give our thoughts on Venables' coaching staff coming together. A lot of the original OU offensive staff sounds like they're staying on (1:26:35). Who the heck is Venables going to bring on as defensive assistants? No Jamar Cain is a bummer. Will anything come out on the Roy Manning/USC recruiting stuff? What's going to happen with Calvin Thibodeaux and Brian Odom (1:32:15)? Who's going to be the defensive coordinator? It's not going to be Mike Stoops is it? Jerry Schmidt is returning to OU. The gang is getting back together -- is that a good, or bad thing? Is OU more injured than other teams (1:42:40)? We do a horrible job of explaining players who have opted out of the Alamo Bowl. We're probably delirious at this point (1:53:00). We read a comment from a long time listener who has a few hot takes about the recent shake up at Oklahoma (1:55:30). Grant tells us which Bowl games he's interested in. He thinks Cincinnati has a shot to beat Alabama (2:05:20). | Like the show on Facebook: @westofeverest | Follow Grant on Twitter: @GrantBenson25 | Follow Lee on Twitter: @LeeBensonNews9