Oklahoma Sooners, Brent Venables take critical step to improve offense heading into 2026 by finally giving the fans what they wanted
The Oklahoma Sooners have begun taking the first steps into improving their offense heading into next season
The Oklahoma Sooners are fresh off of a disappointing finish to their strong 2025 season, dropping the first round of the College Football Playoff to the Alabama Crimson Tide 34-24.
The Sooners have begun their self-scouting in earnest, with a notable interest in improving the offensive performance from this past season. With those expectations in mind, they’ve already begun taking steps to fixing it, and it starts at the top.
Oklahoma Sooners Make Major Staff Move
Brent Venables and co have made their first step towards fixing the Sooners, firing tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley per SoonerScoop.
This was a move that was a long time coming, and probably should have happened last season. The tight end room has been an abject disaster for multiple years running now. When fans know a position coach by name, it’s usually because they are either unnaturally good or very bad, and Finley has been far closer to the latter than former. During his five seasons in Norman, Finley’s tight end recruits have totaled just nine receptions for 84 yards and two touchdowns combined.
After last season, it surprised many that Finley remained after serving as co-offensive coordinator following Oklahoma’s disastrous 2024 season. Last year, he fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell in the middle of the season, with Finley taking over playcalling duties, and many saw that as the perfect opportunity for the two sides to part ways. However, Venables didn’t want to completely uproot the offensive staff heading into a must-win season beyond installing a new offensive coordinator.
Now entering Ben Arbuckle’s second season as offensive coordinator, the Sooners will make a change on the offensive coaching staff for the second-straight year. Everyone in Norman understands that the offense has to improve if the Sooners want to push for a deeper College Football Playoff run than they did in 2025.
We don’t have any details yet on who will replace Finley or any targets the Sooners have in mind quite yet, but Oklahoma will conduct a nationwide search for the top target to replace him. We will update this story as more information comes out.
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