mrowl
10/3/2006, 06:21 AM
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/colleges/redrivershootout/oklahoma/stories/100306dnspoouvenables.2cc24ee.html
OU's venables a venerable force
Defensive coordinator gets respect for his toughness
12:17 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2006
By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News
NORMAN, Okla. – Most Oklahoma fans see Brent Venables as the wide-eyed firecracker who romps up and down the sideline as the team's defensive coordinator.
Venables oversaw a unit that finished 13th nationally last season in total defense. Few know how he coached the Sooners during one of the most painful years of his life.
Venables' step-father and mother, Jim and Nancy Schumaker, were diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and died within three months of each other last year in Norman.
Jim Schumaker, 70, suffered a stroke and died July 21. Nancy Schumaker, 58, died Oct. 26, three days before the OU-Nebraska game.
Colleges
"Going through that experience and seeing her battle and be tough and not really want anything, it gave me great clarity on my life," Venables said. "It refocused my priorities in regards to my faith, my family and then my job. And I recognized what is valuable to me."
Venables has never spoken publicly about the events of last year. In fact, outside observers probably didn't know what was happening. Venables was on the sideline in Lincoln, Neb., a game the Sooners won, 31-24, and he was there the rest of the season.
Venables performed so well last year that he was mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed his mentor, Bill Snyder, at Kansas State.
"That kept him busy, and in a way I think kept him protected, too," Venables' wife, Julie, said. "He was able to focus on her in that situation, but after the season, he let it soak in."
Nancy raised three boys by herself in Salina, Kan., but later married Jim, who became a father figure to Brent Venables. Jim was retired, and Nancy was a psychiatric nurse.
Jim was first diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2003. Doctors performed surgery and thought they had removed the cancer. But one year later, they found another spot on Jim's brain. In December 2004, Brent Venables helped him move into a hospice center in Norman.
Nancy Schumaker stayed in Kansas, but was later diagnosed with liver cancer in April 2005. It started in her lungs and eventually spread to her bones and brain.
Venables recruits heavily in North Texas. But coach Bob Stoops allowed Venables to skip spring recruiting and spend several months with his mother in Kansas. Stoops praised Venables for his handling of the situation after the Nebraska game.
Venables and his wife, who is a nurse, became the primary care-givers of Nancy in their Norman home. Every night, Venables would come home from work at 9:30 or 10 p.m., lie by his mom's side and talk about the day. Venables also helped care for his two young sons, Jake (6) and Tyler (4).
As Julie Venables said, "Superman did it all."
[Brent Venables]
Brent Venables
Kirk Venables, Brent's brother, said: "Having Brent and Julie there as the rock...it really brought relief for all of our family members."
Brent Venables said his parents' illnesses were the biggest challenge he has faced.
"This profession can be all about you, and your family takes a back seat, and that may have been the case for me," he said. "But until you get the call from your mother and she's a young healthy 57-year-old woman telling you, 'I got six months to live.' That's a life-changing experience; at least it was for me."
Venables' mother died around 4 a.m., and the coach was at a staff meeting four hours later, his wife said.
"He knew his family would be there, and he had to focus on the next thing and keep going," Julie Venables said. "He learned that from her."
Venables' family held a reunion last summer in Winter Park, Colo. They rented boats and spread Jim and Nancy's ashes on Grand Lake.
Back in Norman, Venables understands that he still has a job to do. OU's defense slipped to 97th in the nation after three games this season, and the critics grew louder. The refrain is always the same – OU's defense isn't the same without Mike Stoops.
"Obviously, he's been a big-time mentor for in me this profession, not to mention a great friend," Venables said. "So I recognize the standards that people have come to expect and want."
Fans just have to understand that with Venables, other things come first.
E-mail [email protected]
Stoops: Don't give Mike all the credit
NORMAN, Okla. – Coach Bob Stoops said it's unfair to credit his brother, Mike, for all the defensive success Oklahoma had from 1999 to 2003.
Even though Brent Venables was a co-defensive coordinator all those years, he rarely gets credit for helping OU win the 2000 national title and two Big 12 titles (2000 and 2002).
Stoops points out OU won the Big 12 title and played for the national championship in 2004, one year after Mike Stoops left for Arizona, and Venables was the top defensive coordinator.
"We're worried about winning and losing. Mike didn't get as much [credit], either," Stoops said. "You guys [the media] didn't give it to him until he left. I got it when he was here. No one wants to write that, either."
BRENT VENABLES
Age: 35 (Dec. 18, 1970)
Hometown: Salina, Kan.
College: Honorable mention all-Big Eight in 1992 as a linebacker at Kansas State.
Career: Started as a graduate assistant at Kansas State in 1993 and linebackers coach from 1996 to 1998. Came to OU as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator in 1999. Named associate head coach in 2004.
OU's venables a venerable force
Defensive coordinator gets respect for his toughness
12:17 AM CDT on Tuesday, October 3, 2006
By BRIAN DAVIS / The Dallas Morning News
NORMAN, Okla. – Most Oklahoma fans see Brent Venables as the wide-eyed firecracker who romps up and down the sideline as the team's defensive coordinator.
Venables oversaw a unit that finished 13th nationally last season in total defense. Few know how he coached the Sooners during one of the most painful years of his life.
Venables' step-father and mother, Jim and Nancy Schumaker, were diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer and died within three months of each other last year in Norman.
Jim Schumaker, 70, suffered a stroke and died July 21. Nancy Schumaker, 58, died Oct. 26, three days before the OU-Nebraska game.
Colleges
"Going through that experience and seeing her battle and be tough and not really want anything, it gave me great clarity on my life," Venables said. "It refocused my priorities in regards to my faith, my family and then my job. And I recognized what is valuable to me."
Venables has never spoken publicly about the events of last year. In fact, outside observers probably didn't know what was happening. Venables was on the sideline in Lincoln, Neb., a game the Sooners won, 31-24, and he was there the rest of the season.
Venables performed so well last year that he was mentioned as a possible candidate to succeed his mentor, Bill Snyder, at Kansas State.
"That kept him busy, and in a way I think kept him protected, too," Venables' wife, Julie, said. "He was able to focus on her in that situation, but after the season, he let it soak in."
Nancy raised three boys by herself in Salina, Kan., but later married Jim, who became a father figure to Brent Venables. Jim was retired, and Nancy was a psychiatric nurse.
Jim was first diagnosed with lung cancer in October 2003. Doctors performed surgery and thought they had removed the cancer. But one year later, they found another spot on Jim's brain. In December 2004, Brent Venables helped him move into a hospice center in Norman.
Nancy Schumaker stayed in Kansas, but was later diagnosed with liver cancer in April 2005. It started in her lungs and eventually spread to her bones and brain.
Venables recruits heavily in North Texas. But coach Bob Stoops allowed Venables to skip spring recruiting and spend several months with his mother in Kansas. Stoops praised Venables for his handling of the situation after the Nebraska game.
Venables and his wife, who is a nurse, became the primary care-givers of Nancy in their Norman home. Every night, Venables would come home from work at 9:30 or 10 p.m., lie by his mom's side and talk about the day. Venables also helped care for his two young sons, Jake (6) and Tyler (4).
As Julie Venables said, "Superman did it all."
[Brent Venables]
Brent Venables
Kirk Venables, Brent's brother, said: "Having Brent and Julie there as the rock...it really brought relief for all of our family members."
Brent Venables said his parents' illnesses were the biggest challenge he has faced.
"This profession can be all about you, and your family takes a back seat, and that may have been the case for me," he said. "But until you get the call from your mother and she's a young healthy 57-year-old woman telling you, 'I got six months to live.' That's a life-changing experience; at least it was for me."
Venables' mother died around 4 a.m., and the coach was at a staff meeting four hours later, his wife said.
"He knew his family would be there, and he had to focus on the next thing and keep going," Julie Venables said. "He learned that from her."
Venables' family held a reunion last summer in Winter Park, Colo. They rented boats and spread Jim and Nancy's ashes on Grand Lake.
Back in Norman, Venables understands that he still has a job to do. OU's defense slipped to 97th in the nation after three games this season, and the critics grew louder. The refrain is always the same – OU's defense isn't the same without Mike Stoops.
"Obviously, he's been a big-time mentor for in me this profession, not to mention a great friend," Venables said. "So I recognize the standards that people have come to expect and want."
Fans just have to understand that with Venables, other things come first.
E-mail [email protected]
Stoops: Don't give Mike all the credit
NORMAN, Okla. – Coach Bob Stoops said it's unfair to credit his brother, Mike, for all the defensive success Oklahoma had from 1999 to 2003.
Even though Brent Venables was a co-defensive coordinator all those years, he rarely gets credit for helping OU win the 2000 national title and two Big 12 titles (2000 and 2002).
Stoops points out OU won the Big 12 title and played for the national championship in 2004, one year after Mike Stoops left for Arizona, and Venables was the top defensive coordinator.
"We're worried about winning and losing. Mike didn't get as much [credit], either," Stoops said. "You guys [the media] didn't give it to him until he left. I got it when he was here. No one wants to write that, either."
BRENT VENABLES
Age: 35 (Dec. 18, 1970)
Hometown: Salina, Kan.
College: Honorable mention all-Big Eight in 1992 as a linebacker at Kansas State.
Career: Started as a graduate assistant at Kansas State in 1993 and linebackers coach from 1996 to 1998. Came to OU as linebackers coach and co-defensive coordinator in 1999. Named associate head coach in 2004.