Sooners Preview 2022 at Big 12 Media Days

ARLINGTON, Texas — Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, quarterback Dillon Gabriel, wide receiver Marvin Mims, defensive end Ethan Downs and cornerback Woodi Washington represented the Sooners on Thursday to preview the 2022 season at Big 12 Media Day at AT&T Stadium.

Venables, Gabriel, Mims, Downs and Washington met with the media in various capacities for six hours Thursday. Segments of the day can be viewed on SoonerSports.tv.

See highlights from the day below and via Twitter and Instagram (@OU_Football) and Facebook (Oklahoma Football).

COACH VENABLES PRESS CONFERENCE

SOCIAL FEED

NOTEBOOK

Sooners Debut at Media Days

Brent Venables is entering his first season as Oklahoma head coach and participated in his first Big 12 Media Days. He was joined by returners Marvin Mims, Ethan Downs and Woodi Washington, as well as OU newcomer Dillon Gabriel.

"I'm just thankful to be here," Venables said. "I'm the new head coach at Oklahoma, but I'm not new to Oklahoma. This will be my 14th year at the university. Certainly a different capacity, but I couldn't be more thrilled and excited about the opportunity that I have in front of me."

Venables, a former OU and Clemson defensive coordinator inherits a program that won six straight Big 12 titles between 2015-20 and finished 11-2 with an Alamo Bowl victory last season, but must replace a significant amount of production on both sides of the ball. The Sooners return only 27% of rushing yards, 48% of receiving yards and 29% of scoring (along with a total of 20 passing yards), and 46% of tackles for loss and 35% of sacks. In personnel, OU must replace six defensive players who started at least 10 games and six offensive players who started at least seven games in 2021.

"You only get one opportunity, one chance to be a first-time head coach and to do things right the first time," Venables said. "We've been very patient and have tried to nurture through the process foundationally of building our program the right way, through relationships, through accountability, through structure, through discipline, and certainly there's been a lot of things from recruiting, building a staff, doing some new things from a facilities standpoint, transitioning from being an assistant to a head coach."

Gabriel's Leadership

As Venables noted in his opening statement Thursday, roughly 40 percent of the 2022 Oklahoma roster will suit up in the Crimson and Cream for the first time this fall. With the number of newcomers, team building has been a concentration of the team's spring and summer. Leading the charge in the locker room is quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who recently organized a retreat for members of the offense on to a local Oklahoma lake, naming the excursion the "Dimetime Retreat". Gabriel noted that the experience helped the team grow closer and more connected.

"The Dimetime Retreat, how it started was I've always watched Russell Wilson and how he handles things with his teams in the NFL. So I tried to replicate that and model that, and I booked an Airbnb in Lawton, Okla., and we had some throwing sessions and time on the lake with the guys. We made sure to eat every meal together. That was a big deal to me, doing everything together with no phones to really connect with one another and enjoy the time with each other. I think that had a big impact on us connecting. It was a great time."

Along with his leadership qualities, Gabriel's wideout Marvin Mims spoke about the impact he can bring to the offense.

"He's there for everybody. He has a good connection with everybody," said Mims. "On the field, he brings tremendous arm strength, tremendous accuracy. He can move well in and out of the pocket. I'm just looking forward to playing with him, it's going to be a fun season."

Entering his junior season for the Sooners, Mims has 69 career receptions for 1,315 yards and 14 touchdowns. The redshirt junior transfer, Gabriel, brings with him to Norman over 8,000 career passing yards and a 60.7 completion percentage.

New Man in Charge

Since returning to Oklahoma as head coach, Venables and his coaching staff have brought energy, toughness and accountability with the aim of building and sustaining a great program. The philosophy is well-versed to Sooners fans, but the players were asked what they like most about playing for the new head coach.

"I'm looking forward to the edge he brings," Marvin Mims said. "When he comes in meetings, it gets the team hyped up for basically anything we do as a team."

Dillon Gabriel said he is excited for "the way he challenges us in positive way. Just the way he pushes us to be the best version of ourselves while loving us even harder."

Washington noted that the defense stands to benefit from Venables' defensive mindset: "Just the way things are run around the facilities now, it's a different mentality and I'm excited for it. I think we'll have a great defense this year and different than we have been in the past. I don't think the defense is going to be a burden for us anymore."

Venables noted in his comments Thursday that the team will begin preseason camp on Aug. 4. The Sooners open the 2022 season on Sept. 4 against UTEP at Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

QUOTABLE

Head Coach Brent Venables

Opening Press Conference

On Dillon Gabriel... "There are certainly parallels in many ways (to Josh Heupel), bringing in an experienced lefty in our first year. But to me it goes back just to the people. You've got to be good enough. Dillon Gabriel is a winner. You can't say it any better than that. He's thrown for 8,000 yards, completed over 60 percent of his passes, incredible touchdown-to-interception ratio, just
a great leader ... He's about all the right stuff. He's dependable. He's reliable. He's accountable. He's humble. He's one of the hardest workers, shows up early. He's last one to leave. Always working to improve. And he leads by example, and guys follow him. He's a galvanizer of people."

On why he chose Oklahoma... "I've just been a very loyal, patient person that tried to learn from others, but I think that also comes back to just trying to be very thankful and appreciative of the opportunities that I have. I'm loyal to my players, loyal to the colleagues, loyal to the people that have believed in me, and that has served me well through my career. Countless opportunities to evaluate new opportunities, but there's only -- this was a very special opportunity for me. Oklahoma has been near and dear to my heart. I left in a very emotional state when I left Kansas State to come to Oklahoma, but my last words to Coach Snyder, as I was still learning and I had a ton of growth ahead of me, and as I told Coach Snyder, I wanted an opportunity to coach at a place like Oklahoma. It's a special place.

I say that with all humility, that this place has a standard of excellence that takes a backseat to nobody. To have an opportunity to become the head coach at a place that is near and dear to my heart, where all four of my children were born here, I've been very invested in the community in Norman, in the university and that football program."

On what Oklahoma needs to improve... "This is a group and this is a locker room that's used to winning. Do we need to improve in every area? Absolutely. We've got to get better in every area. It's not just the defense. It's every single area for us to have the kind of program that we want to have, and that's discipline, that's tough, that's precise, that's explosive, that's uncommon effort. It's being relentless, playing with chemistry and unity and playing for the name across their jerseys.

We've got a lot of work to do. There's no question about it. But I think that our issues are first-world problems in the landscape of college football, but I'm not naive; I recognize better than anybody where we're at and what we've got to do to improve. It's a process."

QB Dillon Gabriel

On his relationship with Coach Jeff Lebby... "Coach Lebby's my dude, man. Love that guy to death and like I said I wouldn't want to go to war with anyone else. From a relationship standpoint, great dude, I believe in him and of course he believes in me so when I got the call it was a no brainer."

On building relationships with his teammates... "First off, my biggest thing was just getting to know the guys off the field and whenever we do that on the field will take care of itself. Whether it's just going to dinners, hanging out or going out, that was huge on my end. I really wanted to connect with them on a different level."

On what he's improved about himself... "I think I really dove into the diet aspect of things, getting my body right where I wanted to be weight wise so I can withstand the wear and tear within a season. Of course on the mental side, just taking the next step and taking it to a whole new level. Whether it's reads, coverages, protections; just being able to have no questions when I get out there."

On support from OU fans... "I've felt it. You've got to love it too. The spring game, having 75,000 there, and then of course just the passion for this program. You can feel it. Statistics show it with the spring game and then of course the sellouts. We just want to represent our university in the right way. Represent my coaches, my teammates with class, respect and humility."

WR Marvin Mims

On Dillon Gabriel... "He brings elite leadership. He's there for everybody. He has a good connection with everybody. As far as his look to the outside world, he doesn't really care. He just wants to be there and play football. On the field, he brings tremendous arm strength, tremendous accuracy. He can move well in and out of the pocket. I'm just looking forward to playing with him it's going to be a fun season."

On Coach Lebby's offense... "We're going to play real fast. Speed, speed, speed that's the only thing he really cares about. He'll talk about it all the time. If we aren't getting lined up fast enough he'll get on us, but I'm really excited to play in Jeff Lebby's offense. He's a great guy, great family. Talked to him this morning. He's just great to be around."

On what Coach Venables has brought... "Definitely physicality. Things we do in practice are way more physical than usual. That's probably the biggest adjustment for me, the way we practice the way we are as a team on and off the field. Everything we do has to be elite. He's not going to settle for anything less. Coach Venables is back. It's a big deal for people in Norman. He's bringing back the old, gritty football the way they used to play it back in the day. We're excited. We're really looking forward to it. We've been practicing our butts off and we're just ready to go out there on the field in September."

CB Woodi Washington

On the wide receivers… "It'll be a great year for all of them. Jalil (Farooq), Theo (Wease), Marv (Mims), Drake (Stoops) and we got some new transfers in. J.J. Hester is fast and has great hands, real strong at the catch point."

On Coach (Jay) Valai's impact… "Just how he emphasizes things and tries to make me as great as I can be on and off the field. As far as on the field work, he's going to make sure I stay after practice and come in a little early before, make sure I come up and get extra film to make sure I am as prepared as I can be."

On having a clean slate… "It's definitely great. With the new coaching staff I think we've got a great shot to go back and win another Big 12 when it's all said and done."

On the defensive back room… "We all watch film together. We'll come up and do different things together on Saturdays and get some extra work in. As far as D.J. (Graham) goes, he's going to be great for us this year. Other guys are going to step up. Jaden Davis and C.J. Coldon from Wyoming I think he'll be good for us."

On impact of Venables… "It's definitely better for the defense, obviously. We haven't had that in the past so for Venables to come it's definitely going to be great for the defense. I think more people will talk about that rather than us giving up points. It'll be an emphasis on how many points we aren't giving up … he's going to bring some type of fire every day on or off the field. He's going to bring some type of competitive nature to your body. He's going want you to get up and compete. He's going to make everything sound great and the way he leads is amazing. The way he comes into meetings and the way he speaks to us just crazy."

DL Ethan Downs

On position coach Miguel Chavis… "Coach Chavis is more of a friend than a coach. He's got my back. He wants what's best for me and not just me individually he doesn't have any favorites. He says it's his responsibility to look after each and every one of us D-ends and to prepare us as best he can."

On being a leader as a sophomore… "It's always been my dream to play here at OU and I'm getting to live the dream. I'm just trying to enjoy in the moment what's happening. Getting to play in the bowl game, getting more snaps, a lot of fun trying to make an impact. This year I have a lot more confidence and I feel like I've matured a lot since last year. Not only physically but mentally. I feel more dangerous this year. I feel more capable of making an impact."

On what he wants to accomplish on the field this season… "I don't even care if the stadium sees that I'm a good player or a great player. I don't care what stats there are. I don't care what my ratings are. I just want to be great. I want to be great because I've been given so many blessings and I just want to make the most of all the moments, to enjoy every second of it and not take any of it for granted and to live in the moment. Try and be great every single day."

On the depth of the d-line… "Really deep. Jonah Laulu is ready to compete and play. Reggie (Grimes) … Marcus Stripling has had the best summer he's ever had. He's reaching a scary good element in his game he's just fast and strong and now he's confident and consistent. Clayton Smith is getting more confident, and our freshman are super talented as well. The opportunities at the defensive end position and the depth right now is huge. Even our second string, third string, everybody can play right now."