A 6-7 finish isn't what anyone had in mind when Brent Venables made his return to Norman as he took over the Sooners.
However, among those losses were four losses by three points, and a seven point loss to Kansas State, who would go on to win the Big 12 title, so they're closer to at least nine wins in his debut season that their record would tell you, and with those losses came a lot of lessons for the first-year head coach.
RJ Young of FOX Sports asked Venables about the lessons learned during the disappointing 2022 season that he's carrying over into this year, Venables says he learned a million different things, including how you can't have grow without first failing.
"You're always trying to find ways to be a better leader, from an efficiency standpoint, and you're always finding ways to be a better teacher," he shares
"You fail your way to success,' Venables believes. "A lot of people don't like that, but that's the truth of the matter."
"You have to get scarred up. You have to go through it so that you can get to where you want to go, and no matter how uncomfortable and sickening it makes you along the way, you learn through failure, being uncomfortable. That's where the real growth happens."
Hear more from Venables in the clip.
The Sooners open up with home games against Arkansas State and SMU to start the year, before road trips to Tulsa and Cincinnati. They'll get Iowa State, UCF, West Virginia, and TCU at home the rest of the year, with road trips to Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma State, and BYU on the schedule as well.