Sooners head coach Brent Venables unleashes a powerful new blueprint, focusing on attitude, fundamentals, and elite coaching to revitalize Oklahoma's ground game
Brent Venables has never been one to sugarcoat problems, and the Oklahoma Sooners’ ground attack has been a glaring one. Since Eric Gray rushed for 1,366 yards in 2022, the Sooners have not produced a 1,000-yard rusher.
Last season the team averaged a “pathetic” 3.5 yards per carry, Venables’ own blunt description, finishing near the bottom of the SEC.
Venables is attacking the issue head-on, and his plan starts where few schemes do: between the ears. “To me, it all starts with attitude and mindset,” he said. “You gotta have a kick-ass mindset if you wanna kick ass.”
That philosophy is not motivational wallpaper. Venables believes the talent has always been there with strong, athletic backs who can bend and deliver power, but overthinking and a passive approach have sabotaged them.
“So it starts with that,” he continued. “Being aggressive, not letting football get in the way. We’ve got good, strong, athletic dudes that got power, that can bend, that are physical. Don’t let football get in the way and overthink things.”
The second part of the transformation mirrors what Venables has done on defense: recruit tough-minded players, master fundamentals, and install schemes that fit the personnel rather than force players into complicated systems.
“It’s the same transformation,” Venables explained. “You’re not going to do it by tricking anybody. You do it by having a hard edge to you and recruiting some tough-minded guys and getting great at the fundamentals and the techniques and finding the right schemes that fit them and having an aggressive mentality. Should have the same type of aggressive mindset, attitude and scheme. That all kind of goes together.”
On the roster, two familiar names will carry the early load. Xavier Robinson and Tory Blaylock both flashed promise last season yet struggled with consistency. Behind them sits Lloyd Avant, the transfer from Colorado State who is expected to play a significant role in the rotation.
Adding depth and SEC-ready physicality are incoming freshmen Jonathan Hatton Jr. and DeZephen Walker, both of whom are built for the league’s bruising style.
The most important off-field change may be the one in the running backs room. Most observers placed much of the blame for the recent ground-game woes on former RB coach DeMarco Murray. His departure to the Kansas City Chiefs, where he landed the same title but in the NFL, was quietly celebrated inside the Oklahoma program even as it gave Murray a clear professional upgrade.
Replacing him is Deland McCullough, hired from the Las Vegas Raiders. McCullough’s résumé carries immediate credibility: he played a key role in developing Ashton Jeanty during his time with the Raiders and earlier helped shape Jeremiah Love at Notre Dame.
His track record with high-level backs who run with violence and vision gives Venables confidence that technique and scheme will finally match the desired mentality.
The pieces are now in place. Venables is not promising overnight results, but he is demanding a cultural reset. No more tentative reads, no more dancing in the backfield, no more letting defensive fronts dictate terms. The Sooners will run the football with a “hard edge,” he insists, because that is how SEC teams win games when the passing game is taken away.
For a program that has spent the last four years rebuilding its identity under Venables, fixing the run game is no longer optional. It is the next logical step in becoming the complete team he envisions.
If the head coach’s emphasis on attitude, the infusion of new talent, and McCullough’s proven developmental touch deliver as planned, Oklahoma’s ground attack could look dramatically different in 2026.
The “pathetic” 3.5-yard average would become a distant memory, replaced by the physical, aggressive style that has defined successful Venables teams elsewhere.
The message from Norman is clear: the Sooners are no longer going to talk about running the football. They are going to do it, with a kick-ass mindset and zero hesitation.