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Venables said wife Julie had surgery Friday and is mending well.

NORMAN – Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables on Tuesday confirmed some bad news that his family has recently endured.

Venables’ wife Julie has cancer. Venables made the revelation during his OU Media Day press conference at the Memorial Stadium club.

“Julie, we got a diagnosis … that knocks you off your feet," he said. "We had a stage 4 conversation … and there’s no blueprint for how to handle that.”

He said his wife had what was called successful surgery Friday morning and is healing well.

Venables’ reference to the “stage 4” news took him back to his mother’s cancer diagnosis in 2005 and has been difficult for the family, as expected, but said Julie Venables is a fighter. .

“We’re hopeful we got everything," he said. "We think it’s not in her lymph nodes, so that’s good.”