Oklahoma Sooners head football coach [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] signed what boils down to a two-year contract extension last week. The new six-year contract also comes with a raise.
While opinions from local and national analysts were wide-ranging on OU’s decision to extend Venables, one writer believes Oklahoma made a sound tactical move.
Rock Westfall, writing for Mike Farrell Sports, had opinions on the move made by athletic director [autotag]Joe Castiglione[/autotag], praising the timing of the extension:
“The 2024 schedule is a maneater,” said Westfall. “And it could have left Venables vulnerable. If Oklahoma does well against that slate, the Venables extension will look like pure genius. But if, more likely, the Sooners struggle in 2024, the new contract will shut down any hot seat talk and allow Venables to effectively recruit without opposing coaches being able to say that he won’t survive.”
Westfall was extremely complimentary of Castiglione for his track record of good decisions:
“Joe Castiglione is in the conversation for being the best athletic director in college sports,” Westfall continued. “He has led Oklahoma since 1998, and the football program has been outstanding under his leadership. Castiglione hired [autotag]Bob Stoops[/autotag] to usher in a generation of glory in Norman. [autotag]Lincoln Riley[/autotag] and Brent Venables were both celebrated as good hires when Castiglione made them. Most importantly, Castiglione made Oklahoma athletics attractive enough to get an invite to the [autotag]SEC[/autotag]. So while the Venables extension looks hasty, there are logical reasons behind it. The best reason for the extension is that Castiglione made it.”
While we have to wait and see how Oklahoma will perform in 2024, Venables’ new deal takes away any hot-seat talk if the Sooners don’t meet expectations this season. Nationally, most are predicting a rough year in Norman, but the roster is continuing to improve. There aren’t a lot of holes on the depth chart aside from offensive line. Even that unit looks better than the national media likely thinks it will be.
But, like it or not, negative recruiting happens in college athletics, especially in college football. Coaches on the hot seat have an uphill climb to attract elite recruits because those recruits don’t know if that coach will still be there in a couple of years. Other programs know this and attack, doing all they can to sway the prospects away from that school.
Castiglione’s decision to extend his coach means that high school athletes and transfers know who will call the shots in Norman, both now and in the future.
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