Remember when Lincoln Riley left USC and Brent Venables was hired as his Oklahoma replacement? OU fans weren’t sad to see Riley go. They were angry at him more than being sad. They also felt the Venables regime would set the bar higher than Riley did, that the new coach could take the Sooner program to the next level.
We noted this point in August of 2022:
“If you aren’t closely following Sooner football, you should know that Oklahoma is recruiting at a very high level under new coach Brent Venables. The success of OU recruiting is leading a lot of Sooner fans to sincerely and unironically thank Lincoln Riley for leaving so that Venables could raise the bar for the program.”
The recruiting might be good, but there’s simply no replacement for Lincoln Riley as an offensive play-caller. Offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby is under fire from Oklahoma fans for his poor performance against SMU, and for the fact that Art Briles attended the game (and was on the field) in OU gear. Lebby, when asked about the topic after the game, did not handle the situation well.
You will want to follow Sooners Wire for complete OU coverage, but you can see for yourself how angry Oklahoma fans are with their offensive coordinator, the guy who can’t hold a candle to Lincoln Riley as a play-caller.
Just check out the reactions below: