Can't blame Oklahoma football players opting out of Cheez-It Bowl since coaches do it

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The Clemson Tigers were in the 2021 Cheez-It Bowl. Beat Iowa State 20-13. 

Clemson’s defensive coordinator last season was Brent Venables. But Venables was not in Orlando. He was needed elsewhere. Namely, getting his OU program up and running, having been named the Sooner head coach three weeks earlier. 

Venables is part of college football’s bowl problem. Part of the do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do crowd.  

Venables talks about loyalty; he doesn’t want his players skipping out on bowl games to get about the business of furthering their careers, be it in the transfer portal or protecting themselves for the NFL Draft. 

And who among us disagrees? Don’t we all wish the players would stick around? If some Sooners are going to skip a game, how about Kent State in September and not Florida State in December? 

More:OU 3-2-1 kickoff: Can Sooners end Brent Venables' debut season with Cheez-It Bowl win?

“I’m not a big fan of it for a lot of reasons,” Venables said a few weeks ago. “First and foremost, it’s being committed to something and finishing what you started. At some point in time, that has to mean something — relationships and the opportunity and being thankful for your opportunity. 

“I’m not a big fan of that. I know it’s a popular thing that’s out there. But there’s plenty of places where you don’t see it happen much at all. That’s what I’m trying to create here.” 

But why should players listen to such appeals when coaches don’t adhere? Why should players be loyal when coaches aren’t? Why should players sacrifice for the greater good when coaches don’t? 

Four prime Sooners have pulled a Venables — they are skipping the Cheez-It Bowl for business reasons. Offensive tackles Anton Harrison and Wanya Morris, tailback Eric Gray and defensive end Jalen Redmond bolted and won’t be available Thursday night when OU plays Florida State in Orlando. 

Just as Venables bolted Clemson a year ago. 

College football’s bowl games are in crisis. Fans still are watching, hence ESPN’s desire to keep the games coming, but will their popularity wane without so many prime-time players? 

At least Dillon Gabriel will quarterback the Sooners. Other squads are not so fortunate. Among the bowl teams without their QBs are Notre Dame, OSU, Wisconsin and Pittsburgh. These are captains and team leaders. 

Yet they showed no allegiance to finish out the season.  

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The players have learned it well, from coaches who long have quit on their teams. Ten teams played or will play their bowl games with interim head coaches, caused by coaches jumping jobs or universities firing coaches. 

It’s an epidemic, and it’s not the players’ fault. 

Some teams avoid defections. Florida State, for example. The Seminoles retained most of their roster for this bowl game. 

“These guys, they love playing the game,” FSU coach Mike Norvell said. “They love playing and getting a chance to represent each other.” 

The Sooners have those kinds of guys, too. 

OU sophomore defensive end Ethan Downs talked about playing for his school and his teammates and his fans, and senior linebacker DaShaun White was inspired. 

“I definitely can attest to the way he was feeling,” White said. “It also really felt good to hear somebody else sort of say that. It is one of those things where we all kind of feel the same way, we don't always vocalize it. 

“But to sort of hear him say that kind of warmed up my fifth-year senior heart, just to know that my teammates are in the same place where I am at. I love these guys so much, I'm just looking forward to it.” 

More:Which OU football players will benefit most from playing Florida State in Cheez-It Bowl?

Every team has those kinds of guys. But most teams also have players who make business decisions, too. Florida State 2022 is an outlier. Clemson for much of Venables’ 10 years there was an outlier. 

“Yeah, I think we owe it to this university,” said Seminole quarterback Jordan Travis. “Florida State gives us everything. We are blessed every single day we get to wake up a Seminole. I think we all know that. 

“And knowing how far we came at a football team, the off-season, how hard we worked together. Nobody wants to leave anybody behind.” 

But sometimes tough decisions must be made, and sometimes the decisions are made to forego the bowl game. 

The players who make those decisions learned from the people who teach the game. The coaches blazed the trail. 

And bowl games are in trouble.