Valai’s arrival with Sooners is a ‘ blessing’ for Graham
NORMAN — D.J. Graham could hardly believe it.
The OU cornerback felt confident in the future of the Sooners’ defense when he found out Brent Venables was the pick to succeed Lincoln Riley.
But as Venables brought the pieces together on his staff — bringing aboard Ted Roof as defensive coordinator and Jeff Lebby as offensive coordinator, retaining four coaches, bringing Todd Bates and Miguel Chavis from Clemson, and reuniting with Brandon Hall — Graham kept waiting to find out who was going to coach his position.
When he finally learned that Jay Valai was the pick, Graham rushed to call his father, Davon.
“Dad, we’re going to get Jay,” Graham told Davon.
Davon Graham couldn’t believe it. Neither could his son.
While the last few months have been one of transition for plenty of Sooners, Graham’s adjustment curve wasn’t nearly as steep.
He’d known Valai for a long time. “I think I was in fifth grade,” Graham said.
After Valai’s playing career ended, he opened a sports-performance training facility in the Dallas area, where he worked with athletes from not only the NFL but the NBA as well. He worked with high school players looking to take their games to the next level.
He also worked with younger players, including Graham.
“It’s kind of like full circle,” Graham said. “So him being able to come all the way back to him coaching me, it’s been a blessing. I think God put me here for a reason. I love it. We love him. Coach Jay
“It’s kind of like full circle. So him being able to come all the way back to him coaching me, it’s been a blessing. I think God put me here for a reason.”
D.J. Graham, OU defensive back on Jay Valai joining the coaching staff
is one of the most intricate, intelligent — I could keep on going.
“He’s great. He’s passionate. He’s our type of dude. He’s young, so he’s a passionate guy. Like I said, we’re going to keep going and I already know our defense is going to take it to another level.”
Valai’s passion is easy to see on the practice field. There’s plenty of energy to go around on the Sooners’ coaching staff — not surprising given Venables’ demeanor — but Valai stands out even among that group.
“It’s like you don’t want to mess up because if you mess up, it’s like you’re letting this dude down,” Graham said. “He talks about it all the time — pour out. To eat, pour it all out and go 100%.”
Valai preaches “FBI” to his players — football intelligence — and said Graham has spent the spring working to raise his “FBI.”
“He’s working on all the details,” Valai said. “Just like everyone else, understanding his fit, understanding his FBI, football intelligence on the football field and how do I consistently get better?,” Valai said.
Graham had the Sooners’ defensive highlight of the season — and perhaps the defensive highlight of the college football season as a whole — last year with his interception against Nebraska, but Valai said Graham is working to transcend that.
“He made a great catch. Good job,” Valai said. “But there’s got to be more, right? You don’t want to be defined by one thing you do in life. Because usually that’s the 15-minutes-of-fame people, right?”
Graham said the goal for him this spring was simple.
“I want to learn the playbook inside and out. That’s first of all,” Graham said. “When you learn the playbook, you’re not playing timid, you’re not secondguessing yourself. You just play fast and you can play physical and you can fly around.”
In addition to working on his understanding of the defense, Valai said Graham is working to be a more complete player physically.
“One thing he’s really worked on — and I really appreciate it — is his physicality,” Valai said. “I want physicality on the football field. He’s been really pushing and straining to get to that point and you just see him defeating blocks, coming up aggressively and understanding his responsibility. He’s getting better at that.”