Brent Venables shares fun text exchange with Bill Snyder ahead of K-State vs. OU game
Brent Venables sent a text message to Bill Snyder last week.
The Oklahoma football coach was looking for some advice from his retired mentor before the Sooners played an important road game against Nebraska. Basically, Venables wanted to know if there was anything special he needed to know about going head-to-head with the Huskers in their stadium.
Hilarity ensued.
“He reminded me that the Nebraska fans are in the parking lot of the hotel at about 1 a.m. honking horns,” Venables said at his weekly news conference, “and yelling and waking up the team.”
That apparently happened to Kansas State a few times over the years when Snyder was coaching the Wildcats. If it happened again last weekend, it didn’t have much impact on Oklahoma. The Sooners steam-rolled the Huskers 49-14 and improved to 3-0 under their new coach.
Venables and Snyder continued their text exchange afterward.
From Snyder: “Great job on No. 3. Now get No. 4.”
An hour or so passed before Snyder sent another message: “Just not this week. Not against us.”
“He must have checked the schedule,” Venables said. “I love the loyalty. No surprise. He’s an amazing man.”
Oklahoma will host K-State at 7 p.m. on Saturday in a game that is important to both teams. The No. 6 Sooners are trying to validate their hot start with a victory in their Big 12 opener, which could vault them into the top five of the national polls if anyone in front of them stumbles. The Wildcats are looking to bounce back from a stunning home loss against Tulane.
The game will also bring back some memories for coaches and fans on both sides.
Venables is a former K-State football player who got his coaching start under Snyder. He has gone against his alma mater several times as an Oklahoma assistant, and he coached against Oklahoma when he was the defensive coordinator at Clemson, but this is the first time he will go against his alma mater as a head coach.
He says it won’t be awkward and he doesn’t view this game any differently than, say, a home game against Texas Tech. But he did have one interesting thing to say about the matchup.
“I’m glad I’m not going against (Snyder),” Venables said. “I hated going against him as an assistant. You always prepared diligently. When you were preparing for Bill Snyder you better have like three different game plans. Most of them didn’t work. He was fabulous.”
Venables left K-State as an assistant coach in 1998 to work for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma. He says that was likely the most difficult coaching change he made during his career, because he greatly enjoyed working for Snyder.
They have stayed in touch over the years, even as they coached against each other. Venables even reached out to Snyder for advice when he was up for the Oklahoma job. Snyder praised the Sooners for hiring him a few days later.
Odds are good they will have another text exchange following Saturday’s game.
“He is a man of class,” Venables said of Snyder. “He always does everything the right way.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2022 at 12:28 PM.