Oklahoma's Brent Venables reveals Kyle Whittingham helped his approach

When the and . "The assuredness. The passion. The energy. You could see they had a great culture. Just this level of consistency that is rare. So, I reached out to coach (Morgan) Scalley and coach Whittingham to see if we could come out for a day and a half, and so we took our defensive staff out there. Got a chance to watch them work out... watch film. We had an agenda we got through. He was gracious enough to allow me to spend time with him as a head coach and ask lots of questions. "

The visit gave Venables an opportunity to see how Whittingham operated beyond the X's and O's. After struggling through his first season at Oklahoma, learning from a coach who built a consistently successful program provided a valuable perspective.

It also speaks to the respect Venables has for Whittingham. Rather than simply studying Utah from afar, he sought out Whittingham directly and spent time learning from him.

About four years after that visit, Venables and Whittingham will finally stand on opposite sidelines. The circumstances are significantly different from when Venables first sought out Whittingham.

win over the University of Texas at El Paso Miners, while Michigan needed a controversial final-second touchdown to escape the Western Michigan Broncos. The Sooners are looking to build on last season's 24-13 win over the Contact/Follow us Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.You can also follow Jaron on X