NORMAN — Brent Venables may have discovered Oklahoma’s next quarterbacks coach for the future.
It’s quite possible—if not likely—that the new offensive coordinator Venables hires in December will also oversee the quarterbacks. However, early signs suggest that the new OC may have the flexibility to focus on another position, thanks to the groundwork Kevin Johns has already laid with Jackson Arnold and the other Sooners’ quarterbacks.
Despite another loss—marking their third consecutive defeat and dropping Oklahoma to 4-4 with a home game against Maine ahead—Arnold had what Venables called “his best game” of the season during the Sooners’ 26-14 defeat to Ole Miss last week, aided significantly by Johns.
After parting ways with Seth Littrell, Venables needed to find both a new offensive coordinator (he entrusted play-calling duties to tight ends coach and co-OC Joe Jon Finley) and a new quarterbacks coach (calling up Johns from an analyst role).
With Arnold reinstated as the starter after losing his position and sitting behind Michael Hawkins for three weeks, Johns immediately focused on understanding Arnold’s strengths and weaknesses, collaborating closely with Finley to integrate those insights into the game plan for Ole Miss.
Arnold responded by completing 22 of 31 passes (71 percent) for 182 yards and running 15 times for 103 yards (before sacks). Facing one of the SEC’s toughest defenses—ranked No. 1 nationally in rushing defense and No. 2 in scoring defense—Arnold faced nine sacks and lost a fumble, but he didn’t throw any interceptions and led the struggling OU offense to its best conference performance this season.
Johns, 48, hails from Piqua, OH, where he played quarterback for the Dayton Flyers, earning NCAA Division I-AA All-America honors and being named the Football Gazette Player of the Year in 1996. He set the school’s total offense record with 5,425 yards and boasted a passer efficiency rating of 151.1.
His playing experience propelled him into coaching, starting at his high school before taking a graduate assistant position at Northwestern, working under Kevin Wilson and Randy Walker from 1999 to 2001. Johns then coached at Richmond, returned to Northwestern to handle running backs and receivers for several years, and in 2008-10, served as the Wildcats’ passing game coordinator. In 2011, he became quarterbacks and receivers coach at Indiana, later rising to full-time offensive coordinator for three seasons. After stints as OC and QB coach at Western Michigan and Texas Tech, he spent three years at Memphis as Mike Norvell’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Most recently, he was the OC and QB coach at Duke under Mike Elko from 2022-23.
Venables brought Johns in last March as an offensive analyst based on strong recommendations.
“I’ve known Kevin Johns for a long time, primarily through his career and connections with people I trust,” Venables noted during his weekly press conference. “I observed his work at Duke and the success they achieved, and I valued the praise I received about him from Kevin Wilson.”
Johns will have at least five games to work with Arnold and Hawkins, and if last Saturday’s performance is any indication, the OU quarterback room is on the rise.
Arnold’s standout game in a challenging environment was no surprise. Venables mentioned noticing something special about Johns during his transition from analyst to quarterbacks coach, highlighting how seamlessly he stepped back into the role.
“I coach every play like it’s the biggest play in the world,” Venables stated. “You can still be an effective coach without that intensity, but that’s how I was trained, and I appreciate seeing it in others.”
While Littrell had experience as an offensive coordinator, he hadn’t coached quarterbacks before Venables appointed him last winter. For Johns, stepping back into that role after 13 years was a smooth transition.
“Sometimes, you can over-coach,” Venables explained. “I believe in making every practice count, and I saw Johns do that in a natural and effective way. You’d expect that kind of performance if he had been in an intimate coaching role all season, but he hadn’t. It’s remarkable how he made the transition seem easy, especially given the challenges of a coaching change at such a crucial position.”