Oklahoma coach Brent Venables drops taxing updates on wife Julie's cancer diagnosis: "Takes me back to talking to my mother"

With training camp right around the corner, everyone looked forward to hearing from coach Brent Venables at Tuesday's Oklahoma Sooners media day. But the HC's address to the assembled media started on a sad note after Venables gave an update about his wife Julie's cancer diagnosis.

Taking to the podium at the press conference, Venables revealed that Julie was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo surgery recently.

“Julie, we got a diagnosis on June 16. It was a knock you off your feet (diagnosis), one that takes me back to talking to my mother in January 2005 and having a Stage 4 conversation."

The news of his wife's cancer must be devastating for Venables, given his mother's battle with the same disease over a decade and a half ago. Brent Venables' mother, Nancy Schumaker, passed away after being diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in 2005 during his time as an assistant with the Sooners.

Venables said his wife underwent successful surgery on July 28, and the doctors were able to contain the spread of the disease. He said the next few days will be crucial in determining the need for further treatments such as chemotherapy.

"We're hopeful that we got everything, and we maybe can avoid further treatments," Venables said.

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Other takeaways from Brent Venables and the Sooners' media day

Oklahoma Football Media Day

While the day started solemnly, there was still a lot of football to go around the press room. Following his first year as the head coach of the Sooners, there were some big questions that Brent Venables and his coaching staff had to answer.

First, the Sooners are a completely different team than their 2022 avatar. Not only has the team grown, but the latest rendition of the Sooners squad has a lot more competitive depth.

The freshmen have grown from last season, and the squad has made some excellent additions through the transfer portal to bring more depth and experience to the team.

Another major talking point was the third and fourth down conversions on both sides of the ball. Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Jeff Lebby put heavy emphasis on the team's need to finish plays by winning their third and fourth downs, which was an element of the game that the Sooners struggled with last season.

Coming off a 6-7 season, the Sooners enter the season with a much deeper and driven roster. With another year in the bag for Brent Venables as a head coach, expect the Sooners to get back to their winning ways sooner rather than later.