Ever since Brent Venables became the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners in December of 2021, he’s worked tirelessly to build the kind of defense in Norman that Sooner Nation can be proud of. It took time, but that vision has been realized over the last couple of seasons.
Venables’ defensive chops are well-known in college football circle. Oklahoma general manager Jim Nagy claimed he was the best defensive play-caller in the nation back at SEC Media Days during an interview with Brooks Austin of “The Film Guy Network.”
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“I mean the two years he’s coordinated the defense at Oklahoma (2023 and 2025), they’ve won 10 games,” Nagy said. “As the defensive coordinator, I don’t want to hear any argument who the best one is. We can have the argument who the second-best one is.”
Nagy isn’t the only one who thinks highly of Venables’ defensive prowess. On3’s Crain & Cone ranked the top defenses in college football for 2026, and they placed the Sooners right at the very top of the list.
Of course, Venables is only part of the recipe. He’s got a great staff around him on the defensive side of the ball, and there are some truly terrifying players that the Sooners will trot out this fall.
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Jayden Jackson, David Stone, and Taylor Wein are all back on the defensive line, which has become the strength for the Sooners over the past two seasons. With Jackson and Stone bullying offenses on the interior, Wein will look to get after the passer off the edge.
Kip Lewis and Owen Heinecke are veterans at the linebacker position, and they’ll form the starting inside linebacker duo for Venables this year. They are the engines that make everything happen, and they know the system inside and out.
Courtland Guillory, Eli Bowen, and Peyton Bowen highlight the defensive backfield, which has a strong mix of youth and experience. Guillory and Eli Bowen are the starting cornerback duo, while Peyton Bowen is the new leader of the safety room. OU’s secondary has grown leaps and bounds over the last few years.
At the end of the day however, it’s Venables’ show. He’s the mad scientist putting it all together. It’s his scheme, his system, his defense, and he’s going to be calling the shots again in 2026. That bodes well for the Sooners this fall.
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It’s obvious that a remarkable turnaround has occurred on defense in Norman. For many years before Venables came back, the Sooner defense would have never appeared on lists like these, much less topped them. Now, Venables has righted that ship, and Sooner Nation hopes he’s started to stack great defenses on top of each other.
“When Brent gets up in front of our team, man,” Nagy said. “You talk about owning a room and commanding a room, he’s got a gift. He’s got a gift.”
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Where does Oklahoma land on On3’s list of top 10 defenses?
