Why evaluating Brent Venables in the upcoming 2025 season might be more complicated than many Oklahoma fans will expect
If you ask a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners right now if they would fire Brent Venables if he loses to Texas this season, I would bet that at least eight out of ten times they would say yes, undoubtedly. Going 1-3 against Texas in your first four seasons is a death knell for pretty […]
If you ask a fan of the Oklahoma Sooners right now if they would fire Brent Venables if he loses to Texas this season, I would bet that at least eight out of ten times they would say yes, undoubtedly. Going 1-3 against Texas in your first four seasons is a death knell for pretty much any coach in Oklahoma history.
However, what if, midgame, John Mateer suffers a concussion, much like what happened to Dillon Gabriel back in 2022? Oklahoma is right in the game until that point, but then drop the game to the Longhorns. Should Venables still be fired then? At that point, two of his three losses would be with his starting quarterback out.
It's scenarios like this that have plagued Brent Venables' tenure as head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners.
Quite frankly, pulling in six wins in his first season was a miracle in my mind. That roster was gutted after years of poor recruiting from Lincoln Riley, and his departure saw plenty of talent head elsewhere for that season. Despite that, Oklahoma was still competitive in their bowl game against a 10-win, 13th-ranked Florida State team, losing by just three points. Of Oklahoma's seven losses in 2022, all but two were by three points or less.
Venables then immediately responded with a 10-win 2023 season, highlighted with a tremendous win over Texas. Of the Sooners' three losses that season, two of them were by one score.
Then, last year's disaster struck. Everything that could have gone wrong offensively for Oklahoma did. The co-OC situation was a disaster from the get-go, none of their wide receivers were healthy, the offensive line had too much turnover and little returning talent thanks to the last years of Riley's recruiting, and their quarterbacks were flat-out abysmal.
And yet, the Sooners still fought and clawed their way to another bowl game, and blew out Alabama 21-3. To Venables' credit, they did so on the back of an elite defense he had promised he would build from day one.
Where does that leave Venables in 2025? Well…it's complicated. Many Sooners fans are expecting OU to win at least eight games this season, with many pushing for at least nine.
However, Oklahoma has the hardest schedule in college football this season. Seven of their opponents are ranked in the top 25, and two of their three road games are at Tennessee and Alabama, two of the hardest places to play.
If Oklahoma stays competitive across the board, is that enough for Venables, given their schedule? If they lose a game based on a bad call from a referee, and that game puts them at 8-4 instead of 9-3, is that enough for Venables to be fired?
What if injuries strike again, but the team pulls off eight wins in spite of that? What if Oklahoma beats Texas, but drops a couple of other winnable games instead? What if they make the CFP, but lose in the first round? Is being just competitive enough?
What is the point of no return for Oklahoma fans with Brent Venables this season? I'm not sure anyone really knows. It's far too complicated with so many variables that it's impossible to predict.
The bottom line though: Brent Venables has to win. I know it, you know, and you can be sure he knows it too.
Oklahoma Sooners trending for pair of talented Texas playmakers who would radically shift their 2026 recruiting class
The Oklahoma Sooners have had a couple of recruiting battles not go their way over the last couple of weeks, losing out on players like defensive tackle Tajh Overton and defensive backs Danny Odem and Braeden Presley. Every loss is a player that could have helped the Sooners rebuild their 2026 class, which currently sits […]
