First-year head coach Brent Venables will lead his troops before Oklahoma fans for the first time on April 23 as the Sooners hold their 2022 Spring Game at 3 p.m. in Norman.

At halftime, fans will watch the public dedication of Baker Mayfield’s Heisman Trophy statue.

“The love and support from Sooner Nation since my family stepped off the plane in Norman has been absolutely phenomenal,” said Venables, who was hired Dec. 5 as OU’s 23rd head football coach. “We were quickly reminded about how incredibly passionate our fan base is, and we truly appreciate that unbridled enthusiasm – it’s one of the many things that makes OU Football so special. I can’t wait to see that passion on display on April 23rd, and my challenge to the fans is to fill up the stadium. As we say all the time inside our walls, ‘Best is the standard.’ Let’s pack the Palace and make it a great day for everyone.”

Mayfield, a walkon transfer, became the sixth of seven Sooners who have won the Heisman Trophy in 2017. He passed for 4,627 yards and 43 touchdowns, and led OU to a Big 12 title and the College Football Playoff.

Mayfield was the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns. Mayfield, who started for Cleveland the last four years, has asked to be traded after the Browns traded with Houston for quarterback DeShaun Watson, who was taken to start ahead of Mayfield.

“I’m a Sooner for life and incredibly grateful for all of the success my teammates and I had at OU,” said Mayfield, who was a two-time first-team All-American. “It’s humbling and surreal to think about having a statue in iconic Heisman Park. I can’t wait to be back in Norman and reunite with the most passionate fans in college football.”

When former coach Lincoln Riley quit and left abruptly for USC, OU lost several players who transferred, graduated or left early for the NFL Draft. Starting quarterback Caleb Williams was recruited to USC by Riley, who also took some high school recruits who had previously committed to OU.

Venables said this spring he has a host of new players, including 10 high school players who graduated early, 11 transfer players (including six with extensive experience).

One key player is former Central Florida quarterback Dillion Gabriel, who has been penciled in as the starter. Gabriel started for 25 of 26 games in three seasons at UCF. He hit 61% of his passes for 8,037 yards for 70 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions.

In the 2021 season, he started the first three games for UCF before sustaining a season-ending injury. He set UCF career records for yards per pass attempt (8.8) and interception/pass attempt ratio (.015) and he ranks second in UCF history with his 14.5 yards per completion.

Gabriel is very familiar with new OU offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby. Lebby was Gabriel’s position coach at UCF in 2019. Lebby was offensive coordinator at Mississippi the last two seasons. For the past three years, his offensive units have ranked in the top four nationally in total offense and in the top 20 for scoring offense.

“… to me, in my opinion, he has those special qualities,” Venables said of Gabriel. “He’s very humble, and he’s not loud and braggadocios and making any kind of proclamations. He doesn’t need to.

“And he does it with his work, his competitiveness, his toughness. Obviously, he has street credibility with the players because of what he has done at a high level. And then all he’s done since he’s been here is work. And he inspires, he encourages, he leads by example, takes responsibility, takes responsibility even when it’s not his fault, like the good ones will do, and again, just brings out the best in people. So, both sides of the ball he’s been great. Like I said before, he’s been a pro in every way.”

Sooner fans who thought that OU would have competed for the national championship the last few years with a better defense welcomed Venables, who coached at OU for 13 seasons. Venables, who was defensive coordinator at Clemson, was perhaps the best assistant coach in the nation over the last 10 years.

Defense is his specialty.

It may take awhile to get OU back up to its former defensive standards.

“As far as the installation (of the new defense), in typical fashion, you lay it out there and you have a pretty aggressive installation pattern on paper, and then you start working and practicing and you slow down a little bit,” Venables said. “And so for all the reasons you can go down, like whether you’re somewhere and you’re returning and you have a foundation set and you have a culture and you have a lot of experience coming back, that’s how it always is, or the flip side is when we’re trying to learn.

“We’ve been watching these guys out of their helmets, in T-shirts and shorts for eight weeks and now you got who’s in what jersey numbers, calling them by their jerseys, 26, 29, 1, 77. Who are these guys?

“And so [it’s] never as fast as you want it to be installation wise, but we had an aggressive game plan and just making adjustments as we go in typical fashion.”

One example is defensive back Trey Morrison, a graduate transfer from the University of North Carolina. He started 42 games at UNC

“He shows up with a consistent mindset, knows how to respond, can more quickly take a new language and translate it to what he understands in regards to football 101, which should expedite his development schematically,” Venables said. “He’s playing with, he’s got a cast like right here, so he’s immobile. So, that’s a tough thing for any DB type position because you’re in man or zone and tackling and all those and getting off of blocks and all the perimeter screens.

“But I love his mindset. I love his attitude. He’s been really good. He’s a really good teammate, just has a maturity about him like you would hope a lot of the transfer guys do. And he has showed up here with no entitlement whatsoever and has completely bought in to what we’ve asked him to do. So, really been pleased. Those are the things that we had hoped that we would get from all of them. But he’s done a great job with that, and again, he can play in space, got a really good skillset, too. He’s a tough kid and plays fast. And like I said, he’s got one arm tied behind his back right now but has done a really good job.”

Another important transfer is cornerback Kani Walker from the University of Louisville.

“He’s big, OK, he’s really fast and he’s got some great toughness to him,” Venables said. “Hasn’t played a whole lot of football, played a little bit as a true freshman. He’s got a tremendous skillset, very talented, and he’s a patient player.

“For young guys, usually one of the things that they don’t have is patience, and so they get in a hurry with everything. And to be a really good corner, man, you’ve got to play with great patience and your fundamentals and your technique. And so Coach [Jay] Valai’s done a really good job with him thus far. Kani’s worked really hard.”

The Spring Game will be televised live by SoonerSports.tv (subscription required) and re-air on Bally Sports at a yet-to-be-determined time.

The 2022 renewals are available for football season ticket holders and Sooner Club members. For those interested in football season tickets for the 2022 season, call the OU Athletics Ticket office at 405-325-2424.

Meanwhile, Venables is holding spring drills with the Sooner players.

“It’s a new team. It’s got new faces. It’s got new leadership,” Venables said.