Former Oklahoma HC Bob Stoops knows what it takes to win the ‘National Coach of the Year’ award, as he has won it twice. He called out the committee for snubbing Brent Venables.

“Ridiculous,” said the Sooners’ ex-head coach on Thursday. “Guy (Brent Venables) calling the defense does it so well. One of the top five defenses in America, it is. It’s wrong.”

This season, Oklahoma’s defense is a brick wall under Venables’ direction, ranking fifth nationally against the run at just 81.4 YPG and seventh in scoring defense at 13.7 points allowed. But what really stood out is that the Sooners gave up only 67 total points to Alabama, LSU, Tennessee, and Missouri. While that kind of dominance signals more than just a good defense, Stoops’ stance clearly shows his frustration that Venables’ efforts have gone unnoticed.

“I don’t get what their criteria is,” said Stoops. “Everybody, if you look ahead at the year, if we could, you know, win 6, 7, 8 games, that was amazing. We go 10 and 2 with one of the top three, four toughest schedules in the country, and they don’t recognize it. So short-sighted on their part, it’s wrong.”

Being a six-time Big 12 Coach of the Year and a two-time National Coach of the Year, Stoops’s words speak volumes. Although under Stoops, Oklahoma found success through its high-scoring offense, their defense needed work and now it is in rise under Venables.

Despite that progress, Brent Venables’ snub didn’t sit well with Stoops. Now, while the Sooners’ head coach’s efforts went unnoticed, Curt Cignetti’s certainly didn’t. The Indiana head coach won the Walter Camp National Coach of the Year in back-to-back seasons, becoming the first coach ever to do so and making CFB history.

Indiana’s achievements, their back-to-back playoff berths, entering this year’s postseason undefeated, and capping it off was the B1G title win after taking down OSU, all helped honor Cignetti once again. While one cannot blame the committee for awarding Cignetti, but Stoops made it clear that a lack of recognition won’t stop Venables from winning.

“Brent doesn’t care. I know that just wins,” said the ex-head coach. “You know, that’s what he’s going to keep doing.”

Now, as Venables’ squad, known for its aggressive defense, heads into next Friday’s first-round home game against Alabama, the head coach is making his stance clear on the defensive side.

Brent Venables’ take on the Sooners’ defense

Under Brent Venables, the eighth-ranked Sooners now boast an aggressive defense that leads the nation in TLFs with 9.6 per game. While Venables has won national titles as a defensive coordinator at both Clemson and Oklahoma, he took over play-calling duties this season. With that, the Sooners are now playoff-bound after a 6–7 finish last year, and the head coach appears confident.

“I didn’t want anybody else to have to carry that burden,” said Venables. “I wanted to carry it. It’s my responsibility… I had confidence in our roster and confidence in our staff to play at this level.”

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And the heroes of this defense are many. While DE Mason Thomas leads the team with 6.5 sacks, DT Gracen Halton and LB Owen Heinecke earned second-team All-Conference honors. Then there’s DB Courtland Guillory. He made the SEC All-Freshman Team, while Taylor Wein paces the team with 14 TLFs. Considering that, Venables praised his players’ effort.

“Just their determination, their physicality, their precision—that’s where it starts,” said the head coach. “The players are the ones making whatever scheme we have really good.”

Here’s where Alabama’s head coach weighed in on the matchup.

“It’s going to be a physical game,” said Kalen DeBoer. “It’s going to be hard-fought… an awesome environment, especially on a Friday night to kick off the playoffs.”

While the Crimson Tide struggled in a 28–7 loss to Georgia in the SEC Title, Venables knows his defense can capitalize.