More often than not, anytime there’s a coaching change, there’s bound to be a rough patch or two. When a program misses on the recruiting trail as often as Lincoln Riley did at the end of his tenure, it gets amplified.
But the setback didn’t last very long for Oklahoma. 6-7 in 2022 was rough. Their first losing season since 1998. There’s no way around it. Couple that with the 49-0 beatdown at the hands of the Longhorns and that’s a season that Oklahoma fans would prefer Agents K and J wipe from their memory banks.
But the losses that Oklahoma endured set the stage for a huge bounce-back season in 2023, where Oklahoma went 10-3, and two of the losses came by a score without their leader on the defense, [autotag]Danny Stutsman[/autotag].
Heading into the shark tank that is the SEC, Oklahoma still has a lot to prove as a program. At the same time, ESPN’s Paul Finebaum is a believer in Oklahoma’s direction.
“They took a bump and a hit after Lincoln Riley left,” Finebaum said earlier this week on McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. “They had to reprogram the entire place, reboot it. … From a vibes standpoint I think the program, I think this year if they can land somewhere between 8-4 and 9-3 they’ll be OK, considering their schedule,” Finebaum said. “But I don’t have any doubt Oklahoma is clearly on the way back.”
Finebaum cited Oklahoma’s prowess on the recruiting trail as a reason to expect big things from the Sooners down the road.
Over the last three years, they’ve recruited better than anyone in the country except Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, or Texas. Brent Venables is getting the depth necessary to compete long-term. Though the schedule may be difficult this year, they have enough pieces in place to be successful in year one.
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