Brent Venables' 'inside-out' recruiting approach for OU football resonates with HS coaches

Mykel Patterson-McDonald started to worry when he saw David Stone’s hand drift toward the Miami cap sitting on the table.

Patterson-McDonald, the Westmoore senior football star, anxiously watched the video of longtime friend Stone, a five-star defensive lineman at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, announcing his college commitment in front of a packed crowd Saturday. Stone could have chosen the Hurricanes.

Instead, he chose home.

Stone, who grew up in Del City, lifted the crimson hat bearing a familiar slogan: “Boomer Sooner.”

“Then it was all joy,” said Patterson-McDonald, a safety who committed to OU in late July.

Stone’s decision is the crest of this summer’s wave of native Oklahomans committing to OU, the boost that pushes the trend to a new level. OKC-metro-area roots are strong with this 2024 Sooner class.

Josh Aisosa leads Edmond Santa Fe’s offensive line. Running back Xavier Robinson stars at Carl Albert, while Andy Bass quarterbacks Heritage Hall. And Patterson-McDonald, who took his college visit alongside Stone, grew up close to OU’s campus.

This is a testament to the way OU head coach Brent Venables has revamped the Sooners’ recruiting approach since his hire in December 2021, and Oklahoma high school coaches have noticed.

“It’s a (180)-degree change from what it was,” said Kyle White, who is in his ninth season as Edmond Santa Fe’s coach. “In my opinion, as a high school coach, it’s a lot better. It’s tangible. It’s authentic.”

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A win-win scenario for OU, high schools

OU and high school coaches call it “inside-out” recruiting.

Sure, the Sooner staff jets across the nation and searches for stars from other states. Starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel hails from Mililani, Hawaii, and spent his first three college seasons at the University of Central Florida.

But if you’re wondering where to find Brent Venables during an open recruiting period, there's a good chance the answer is right here in Oklahoma.

He’s creating a win-win situation.

Recruits have the chance to stay home – or, in Stone’s case, return home – and compete for a soon-to-be SEC program.

OU’s coaches save some jet fuel, but more importantly, they benefit from players who have extra investment in the program because many were toddling around in tiny Sooner jerseys from the time they could walk.

“There’s great talent here in Oklahoma,” said Nick Henderson, an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Millwood High School. “And (Venables is) willing to take that great talent and say, ‘Hey, these are kids that we can develop and these are kids that can play great football.’ He recognizes it, and guys are bought in.”

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The Sooners’ main man has visited Carl Albert in Midwest City, extending offers to Xavier Robinson, Trystan Haynes and Trynae Washington on the same day in January. He has headed east to Checotah to see 2025 commit Elijah Thomas. He also brings most of his staff to Oklahoma Football Coaches Association winter clinics, showing he cares about building bonds in the prep coaching community even when elite prospects aren’t around.

While it’s a group effort, high school coaches know where the leadership begins.

“That all starts and stops with Coach Venables,” White said.

As Venables enters his second season as OU head coach following Lincoln Riley’s departure for Southern Cal, the impact of Venables’ approach hasn’t fully taken shape. If you look at sheer numbers, the Sooner State representation has remained fairly consistent from Riley to Venables, the former Clemson defensive coordinator who was previously on Bob Stoops’ OU staff.

In 2017, Riley’s first season as head coach, 26 Oklahomans were on the roster. That number dipped to 23 in 2020 but rose to 27 in 2021.

From Venables’ first season to this coming season, the number of Oklahomans on the roster has risen from 21 to 28.

OU still has far less in-state representation than its nearby Division I counterparts do. Oklahoma State has 51 in-state players on roster. Tulsa has 33, and new coach Kevin Wilson, a former OU offensive coordinator, is recruiting several local kids.

In Norman, the big boom has yet to happen. It’s brewing now, with high school seniors Aisosa, Patterson-McDonald, Robinson and Stone committed to OU.

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Heritage Hall quarterback Bass and Edmond Santa Fe edge rusher Bergin Kysar plan to join the Sooners as preferred walk-ons with opportunities for name, image and likeness (NIL) deals that can help cover school expenses. Casady defensive lineman Ace Hodges has also committed as a preferred walk-on, and the movement doesn’t stop with these guys.

Of OU’s five 2025 commits, three live in Oklahoma: Checotah receiver Thomas, Millwood receiver Jaden Nickens and Carl Albert quarterback Kevin Sperry, who moved from Texas for his junior year of high school.

From White’s perspective, the perfect storm of several factors has combined to win over these kids.

“A lot of kids in the state of Oklahoma grow up wanting to play football at one of our three major D-I (schools),” White said. “When they get those offers, I think they’re taken seriously. Then it goes back to relationships and the recruiting process and the transparency, and then their buddies start committing. It’s just all of the above.”

Add in the magic letters – “SEC” – and Norman has a magnetic draw for in-state recruits.

The OU coaching staff is intentionally fueling this trend.

“Coach V, Day 1 when he got here, he talked about being inside-out,” OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby said. “And understanding what our footprint is and who we are, making sure that we go get the best players from the state. It’s been a huge focus for us. I think you can probably tell that we’re moving forward.”

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A unified approach

This shift doesn’t mean the Sooners are doling out in-state offers like they’re prize giveaways on a daytime talk show. OU’s coaches are finding in-state stars who might have once been overlooked, and they’re establishing a clear, consistent way to approach this process.

When Oklahoma high school coaches talk about Venables and his staff, it’s as if they’re reading from a unified script. The same words pop up.

Visible. Present. Genuine. Authentic.

OU’s coaches show up, but they don’t arrive on high school campuses with grand fuss or fanfare.

Receivers coach Emmett Jones quietly watches Nickens at Millwood practices, just observing as if he’s a player’s father, Henderson said. At Edmond Santa Fe, defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis visits with White like a friend – White said he believes Chavis would stop by even if Edmond Santa Fe had no OU recruits.

Venables’ down-to-earth demeanor resonates in Checotah, a community with few celebrity sightings unless country singer Carrie Underwood decides to pay a hometown visit. Checotah coach Zac Ross said he hadn’t seen an OU coach on campus before, and his presence created a buzz at the school from students and teachers alike.

For Venables, the visit was just another chance to build bonds.

“Everything you see on TV or his interviews, he’s the same guy,” Ross said. “I think that’s what spoke to Elijah, too.”

Venables and his staff can’t entice everyone to stay home. Norman North offensive lineman Harrison Utley didn’t waver in his Kansas commitment after OU extended an offer. Washington tight end Cooper Alexander, the son of former Sooner tight end Stephen Alexander, is blazing a distinct path with plans to play for Iowa State.

But many of the state’s top players at least have OU as an option. This extends not only to high school prospects, but also to established college stars such as Trace Ford, the Edmond Santa Fe graduate who shook up the Bedlam landscape with a transfer from Oklahoma State to OU.

Riley never offered him. Then Venables gave Ford a chance.

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‘This group can accomplish something big’

Whether Oklahomans are signing with the Sooners straight out of high school or transferring in, there’s something special about wearing the same uniform as many of the legends they admired as kids.

Heritage Hall coach Brett Bogert likened it to playing for Team USA. Instead of representing their nation on an Olympic podium, these recruits will represent their state as they enter a conference with heavyweights such as Alabama and Georgia.

Recruits don’t have to be lifelong Oklahomans to take pride in this. Aisosa spent his childhood in Texas and grew up a Texas Tech fan, so he wasn’t a kid who had always waited on an OU offer. He entered his recruiting process with an open mind, and in a world increasingly fixated on stars and rankings, Venables’ outlook stood out to him.

“I like that Coach Venables goes out and gets his guys,” Aisosa said. “It doesn’t matter if they’re zero-star, three-star or five-star. Twenty offers, 10 offers, five offers. Maybe their first one’s OU. It doesn’t really matter to him.

“If he thinks you’re a good guy and a good enough football player, he’ll go and get you.”

Venables checks in with recruits when he can, and he often doesn’t ask about football.

“How are you? How is your family doing? How is school?”

Players often hear those types of questions.

The OU coaches touch base with Oklahoma high school coaches, too. Bogert said he received text messages from no fewer than five Sooner staff members after Heritage Hall won the Class 3A state title last winter.

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OU’s coaches might initiate the communication, but recruits maintain it with one another. That’s why the commits have a group chat, bonding and sharing their Oklahoma high school highlights as they prepare to join forces for a greater goal.

One recruit commits and encourages another to do the same, as Patterson-McDonald did with Stone.

“This group can accomplish something big,” Patterson-McDonald said.

What goals is he eyeing?

An undefeated season. A national championship. The Sooners are striving to bounce back from an uncharacteristic 6-7 season, but they know where to look for rebuilding.

Henderson, who played football at Tulsa and said he doesn’t look at OU from a fan’s perspective, recognizes it.

“You build a national championship from home,” he said. “You start it at home.”

Look at rosters, the Millwood assistant coach pointed out. Georgia’s championship teams have been loaded with Georgia kids. Some of OU’s best teams in the Stoops era featured many Oklahomans, too.

The cliché might say “the grass is always greener on the other side,” but Venables and Co. beg to differ.

“I think the family aspect that they’re building is gonna be really important not just for right now, but for all the future years,” Bass said. “Wanting to play for each other is probably one of the most important things as a football team that you can do.”

Staff writer Ryan Aber contributed to this report.

Hallie Hart covers high school sports for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Hallie? She can be reached at hhart@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @halliehart. Sign up for The Varsity Club newsletter to access more high school coverage. Support Hallie's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football recruiting Oklahoma high schools hard under Brent Venables