Recent breaking news says so many things about where Brent Venables has the Oklahoma Sooners heading into 2025
The Oklahoma Sooners are not in a place that they are used to being in. They haven't quite had a season like this one since 1998. Things have really gone down since the first season when the Sooners were tasked with replacing Lincoln Riley. They have since had two losing seasons under Brent Venables in […]
The Oklahoma Sooners are not in a place that they are used to being in. They haven't quite had a season like this one since 1998. Things have really gone down since the first season when the Sooners were tasked with replacing Lincoln Riley. They have since had two losing seasons under Brent Venables in three seasons.
And that just can't happen. Well, that could happen at a school like Kentucky or Arkansas, but that cannot happen at Oklahoma, a school with some of the best history in college football. And as if the 6-7 record with a loss to Navy didn't say enough, some of the breaking news from Saturday certainly didn't help the way that Oklahoma is being perceived now.
Oklahoma Sooners lose DC Zac Alley
By now, you have probably already heard the news. According to Pete Nakos of On3, the Sooners' defensive coordinator Zac Alley, is leaving the Oklahoma DC job for the West Virginia DC job, which may be seen as an easy downgrade of a job.
Being the DC at Oklahoma is one of the best coordinator jobs you can have in college football. The others I'd put above that job are maybe the coordinator jobs at Alabama, and Georgia, and a few others that are jobs that will eventually get you a head coaching gig if you do everything right.
But West Virginia? That has to be a downgrade, right? It seems that Alley is trying to reunite with Rich Rodriguez from their time at Jacksonville State, where he was the DC there. But, at the same time, he had that connection at Oklahoma, as he was under Venables at Clemson before Oklahoma. I mean, he said Venables was a father figure in his life.
Now, there are a few things this says about the Sooners, and where they currently stand. Maybe things are so bad in Norman that this move made by Alley is one that is seen as a lateral or even an upgrade of a move. Who knows?
Then again, maybe this is a move where Alley will finally get to call plays for a major program in the Big 12, where right now he is pretty much co-defensive coordinator and Venables is calling most of the plays. And, we also don't quite know what the pay is like yet.
What we do know is that this does not look good on the Sooners, or Brent Venables. There is a bit of a reason why all of these players are leaving in the transfer portal. And, there is a bigger reason than just reuniting with a former coach, as to why Alley is leaving.
