Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables addressed reporters after the Saturday spring game. Venables marked the Sooners’ 15 spring practices a resounding success, particularly for sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold, and said he expects his team to make another big jump when it reconvenes in the summer.
“I have been incredibly pleased with Jackson’s progress and leadership,” Venables said. “He’s been a great leader. I expect another jump over the summer. Really excited about the additions we’ve made through high school and the portal. That’s been a group of guys that have helped us and have earned trust. The summertime will be another opportunity for them to continue to enhance that.”
Venables went in-depth on the state of the Sooners’ roster exiting spring and provided a progress report on several key position groups, including the offensive and defensive line. He also singled out wide receiver Deion Burks and revealed several surprise standouts from the first half of the offseason.
INITIAL THOUGHTS ON SPRING, QB JACKSON ARNOLD
“I have been incredibly pleased with Jackson’s progress and leadership. What he does from a decision-making standpoint and in taking care of the football is what I look for. He’s been a great leader. I expect another jump over the summer. Really excited about the additions we’ve made through high school and the portal. That’s been a group of guys that have helped us and have earned trust. The summertime will be another opportunity for them to continue to enhance that.”
ON HOW OKLAHOMA HAS IMPROVED DURING SPRING
“We’re really trying to establish standards and how we do what we do from an effort and toughness standpoint. You nurture that the whole spring. There are a whole bunch of guys in the three groups that went out there who will give us a chance to be a really explosive offense. We got a lot of weapons in the backfield, at tight end, receiver and quarterback. I really liked the body of work coming out of the spring and have a great expectation that we’ll be a better version of ourselves when we start in August.”
ON TRANSFER WR DEION BURKS
“He has a tremendous work ethic. He’s wide open when it comes to practice and his passion for the game. He is incredibly competitive. He helps the guys he’s lining up against in practice and helps the guys that he’s lining up next to. He’s been fantastic. He’s a great playmaker. He’s got tremendous speed, quickness and great hands. He has a natural feel for the game. He’s really done a great job of learning what to do and transitioning that within our system.”
ON EARLY RETURNS FROM FOUR-STAR DL DANNY OKOYE
“Danny Okoye has had a really good spring. Danny is a tremendous talent. He’s got great size and speed. He’s just learning how to play the game from a process standpoint. He flashed nonstop throughout the spring. He’s still got a lot to improve, like a lot of the young guys. But I’m really excited about what he’s going to become over the course of the next few years. Hopefully, he’ll continue to make improvements, and we can count on him to be a rotation guy. He’s long, fast and explosive. He’s really competitive.”
ON SEEING CONTINUED IMPROVEMENT FROM DEFENSIVE LINE
“A lot of guys have gotten better. We gave Davon Sears the most improved award for guys on the interior. Gracen Halton has made tremendous improvement. PJ Adebawore and R Mason Thomas have really gotten better. Ethan Downs is a better player right now than what he was at the end of the season. We have some really good young guys that we feel really good about. Some of them are guys that are returning, whether it’s Markus Strong or David Stone and Jayden Jackson. Champ Sanders had an excellent spring. He’s really coming into his own. We have quite a few guys that will make another big jump. They had a great spring, not a good spring, but a great spring up front.”
ON OFFENSIVE LINE DEPTH, SPRING STANDOUTS
“I was most excited about Josh Bates’ improvement. There are a whole bunch of guys, but Josh has really improved. I remember where he was during the season last year, and we couldn’t get a good snap off. He had a great spring. He’s made tremendous improvement and leadership. Febechi Nwaiwu was another tremendous addition. He was a leader early on and a great competitor. He had a really, really good spring. Heath Ozaeta was really strong. A bunch of young guys got a bunch of quality reps, whether it was Josh Aisosa or Eugene Brooks. Those guys did a great job. Geirean Hatchett is someone we’re really counting on, and he’ll be cleared starting in June. We’re excited about his leadership.
“‘I’m really excited about Logan Howland and the improvement that he made. I expect him to have another big jump. Jake Taylor and Jacob Sexton were fantastic. They’re all playing their best football right now. Michael Tarquin made great, great improvement. Spencer Brown has done a really good job. They’re mature guys. They’ve played a lot of football. They bring a lot to that group. They’ve spent a lot of time together. The whole line group went to Maui together.”
ON SETH LITRELL’S COMMAND OF THE OFFENSE
“Seth and the rest of the offensive staff have been great. We feel really good about where we’re at. We’re trying to establish the fundamentals of what we’re doing and the effort of what we’re doing. We’ve got a lot of flexibility within those systems to be right on offense. We’re getting the players on the same page. We will be in a position to be successful. We expect to have another explosive offense. We had great, explosive plays all throughout the spring. I’m really excited about the playmaking. I really like the group the offensive staff has to work with.”
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