What inspires hope for the OU football program in 2023 and beyond? The reliability of Brent Venables.

A NORMAN Jaren Kanak is arguably the player on OU’s roster who knows Brent Venables the best.

Kanak hails from Hays, Kansas, which is located roughly 90 minutes west on I-70 of Venables’ hometown of Salina.

In the summer of 2021, Kanak made a commitment to Venables, the defensive coordinator at Clemson at the time.

Kanak was determined to follow Venables to any lengths when he was hired a few months later to succeed Lincoln Riley as head coach of the Sooners.

Although Venables didn’t want to steal Clemson’s current recruiting class, he finally granted Kanak’s request to follow him when it became apparent that he would either follow him to Norman or find another place that wasn’t Clemson.