The Oklahoma Sooners have seen the general college football public dunk on them multiple times in the last month, and it certainly isn’t a good feeling.
First, it was a sloppy loss against Tennessee in front of a national television audience where head coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] was forced to make a change at quarterback.
Then, it was last Saturday, again in a loss, again in front of the entire nation on ABC. With ESPN’s top play-by-play duo once again calling the Sooners, OU suffered an ugly loss in the Red River Rivalry against Texas.
The college football world seems to think that Oklahoma isn’t “[autotag]SEC[/autotag]-ready,” at this point in time, they’re probably right. OU looks way behind the elite teams in the Southeastern Conference because of their offense. They look plenty of steps behind Steve Sarkisian and the Longhorns and the schedule isn’t getting any easier in the new league.
The latest voice to pile on was ESPN SEC analyst Paul Finebaum, who had been very complimentary of Venables and the Sooners coming into the season. He seems to have changed his tune after seeing Oklahoma stumble to a 4-2 start and a 1-2 mark in the conference.
On “The Paul Finebaum Show” earlier this week, the SEC Network analyst discussed where the Sooners are at right now. He expressed his concern for where things could be headed and said a decision made all the way back in the winter of 2021 could be partially the reason for the struggles that are occurring right now.
“Here’s the problem with Oklahoma: they chose an unusual route when they hired Brent Venables,” Finebaum said. “Some of it had to do with him being a beloved figure out there for having coached under [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag]. So, he came in terrible first year, he bounced back, and this year is trending toward a mess.”
Finebaum went on to say that if Venables isn’t careful and Oklahoma suffers a few more losses, the fans of Sooner Nation will begin “chirping again.” He also said that’s just the nature of coaching at a school like Oklahoma. So, if he’s not able to turn it around, the questions about whether he’s the right head coach for the program will only grow louder. This is something Venables needs to address, and address quickly by winning football games. The best way to do that is to take care of the laundry list of problems his Sooners have had offensively in 2024.
Brent Venables is by no means a bad coach. But a 6-7 mark in Year 1 was painful to watch. Bouncing back in Year 2 with a 10-3 record was promising, but OU still lost a couple of games they should have won and missed the Big 12 Championship game. Now halfway through Year 3, Venables sits at 4-2. With a brutal schedule coming up, an exhausted defense, and a terrible offense, OU could be staring down the barrel of another .500-level season.
That isn’t nearly good enough in Norman, and like it or not, head coaches are judged on wins. Venables should (and will) be given time by the administration, but six-win seasons are not what this program is about.
Venables has fixed the defense for the most part. A unit that plagued the Sooners for years is pretty good this season. What Venables does to fix his offense will determine how much OU can improve in 2025 and how the rest of the country views him as the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners.
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