Why Oklahoma is tackling better in 2023: ‘We work on tackling year-round’
There’s no debating that through two games, Oklahoma looks like a different team defensively in its second year under Brent Venables.
Venables promised in the offseason that OU would be “on another planet defensively” in 2023, after a disappointing first season. So far, Oklahoma has lived up to that. And the most notable reason for that — other than only allowing one touchdown in eight quarters — is tackling.
According to Pro Football Focus, Oklahoma only had 10 missed tackles after facing Arkansas State and SMU. Last year through two games, against UTEP and Kent State, Oklahoma had 33. Last Season, Oklahoma totaled 171 missed tackles, averaging 13.2 per game. In the three years under former defensive coordinator Allex Grinch (2019-2021), OU averaged 9.6 missed tackles per game. Through three games this season, Grinch’s USC defense has 27 missed tackles.
OU is currently tied fifth for the least amount of missed tackles in the country. And the Sooners are second in the Big 12 behind only BYU, which has seven.
“I saw the stats,” said linebacker Danny Stutsman, who had 17 tackles Saturday against SMU. “You just have to get used to it. It’s not something where you can go out there and it just happens. You’ve got to have instincts, certain steps. You’ve got to know where your guys are, and you have trust in one another.
“Coach V talked about that. You know it just shows how far we’ve come. Those tackling drills every single day with the coaches pays off. And obviously, we know we have a lot to improve upon. But really proud of how far we’ve come.”
But what exactly goes into the improvement Oklahoma has seen? Is it something they practice every day? Or is it just being more comfortable in the defensive scheme and the ability to play free?
For Venables, it’s a combination of both. And it’s just another step in the defensive process that he’s been building on since his arrival.
“A lot of goes into it and again, sometimes you’re a little more consistent tackling because maybe the quality of the athletes aren’t exposing you,” Venables said Tuesday. “I put it all out there because I do think that’s important. But SMU had good skill. And so give our guys some credit. I think it comes from, again, confidence in good eyes and good reaction, good fundamentals. Guys that are more knowledgeable are going to take better angles and they’re going to play more aggressively and not be on their heels. So sometimes the byproduct of that is good, clean tackling — techniques.
“And so, again, another year in the system and another year in your drill work and your fundamentals. And we are no different than anyone else — we work on tackling practically year-round.”
Venables is no stranger to having great tacklers on his defenses. And sometimes, while teaching tackling is something that can help, but a lot of it is natural instincts.
“Some guys are more natural tackling. That’s a real thing,” Venables said. “Curtis Lofton was a guy that had very few missed tackles. Guys like Rocky Calmus always got guys down. He just hardly ever missed a tackle. And Roy Williams was amazing in how he could hit people flush all the time. No matter what angle or what position he was coming from. So some guys are naturally good and it looks like you’re a great tackling team but they’re just really good tacklers.”
Venables is hopeful that he has some of those natural tacklers on his current team, whether its Stutsman, fifth-year senior Key Lawrence, Texas Tech transfer Reggie Pearson, or true freshman Peyton Bowen. And for them, it’s about having the right mindset about tackling, not just in games but in practice.
“Just the mindset of will. Like, we really want it. We want it. We’re all hungry, and I believe it,” Lawrence said. “I see it every day at practice. It’s just a different mindset, like I’m saying. It’s cliché to say, but it’s a real thing. And I think that all the guys instilled that in their mindset that we want to do better and prove everybody wrong.
Oklahoma still has a lot to prove defensively as the season gets increasingly tougher. As Venables said, the competition is going to get better and the skill players who can cause missed tackles are going to escalate.
But there’s no question that OU looks more fundamentally sound defensively, and there’s no greater example of that than how the Sooners are tackling right now.
“The test of a season will really tell where you’re at. But again, my job is to recognize the here and the now. You play your schedule, you correct, you teach, you develop. But you want to celebrate too. And guys need to be affirmed. I think that’s what continues the buy-in, the excitement. The recognition that some of the hard work’s paying off and we’re getting a bit better.
“We’ve got a long way to go. I really mean that. But through a couple of games, our positioning’s been pretty good.”
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