By John Shinn
Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables is intense. Watch any game or practice and he looks likes he’s been playing not coaching.
He has a fire that burns with a blue flame. To him, that’s the only way to play football. Anyone who can’t match that intensity isn’t worthy of being on the field.
“You have to be like that on the field so I can trust you,” Venables said. “I have to be able to see that they’re going to have the intensity and focus that it takes to play great defense.”
Rocky Calmus and Torrance Marshall had it. So did Lance Mitchell and Teddy Lehman.
The flame currently burns in Rufus Alexander and Zach Latimer.
For them, the light was ignited fairly quickly in there careers.
It took a little longer for the match to spark with junior linebacker Demarrio Pleasant. He hopes he’ll start making up for it this season.
“I’m ready to go more than ever,” Pleasant said. “I’m picking up more stuff than I ever have. Mainly that’s because I’m getting more reps. Everything is coming a lot easier and the game is slowing down for me.”
Those are the words Venables has been waiting to hear ever since Pleasant arrived as a highly-touted recruit from Lewisville (Texas) High School in 2003.
He’s always had the size and speed to be a major factor. However, there’s a reason the overwhelming majority of recruits have to wait in the shadows before stepping into the limelight.
Pleasant spent the last two seasons in the imposing shadow of Clint Ingram. Playing time was sparse.
Over the last two seasons, he’s only made 13 tackles and started just one game.
But his one start — last season against UCLA — revealed his capabilities. With Ingram in street clothes with a hamstring injury, Pleasant made a game-high 10 tackles, including two for losses.
“He showed everybody what he was capable of in that game,” Latimer said. “It was just a matter of everybody gelling and getting on the same page.”
Ingram returned and finished out the year, but he’s graduated to the NFL and his shoes must be filled.
Pleasant entered the spring dueling with sophomore Ryan Reynolds for the spot and had a solid spring.
But the competition ended when Reynolds suffered a knee injury following spring drills and will likely spend this season in redshirt.
Venables recalls a long conversation with Pleasant soon after. He laid it all out to him. He made sure Pleasant knew his time had arrived.
“I told him I don’t have any other options here, it’s time,” he said. “You were a great player coming out of high school and you’ve shown flashes of it every week or since you got here. It’s time to grow up. You’re at a fork in the road and we need you.”
Pleasant got the message.
Tuesday, he trotted off the practice field drenched in sweat. He appeared to have been on the field for every snap.
But he had no complaints. He couldn’t wait to get back out there.
“This is what I’ve been wanting since I got here,” Pleasant said. “I’m taking advantage of my chance.”
John Shinn366-3536jshinn@normantranscript.com
