CBS Sports Big 12 Hot Seat Ratings: ‘Pressure is mounting’ for Brent Venables

In their updated hot seat rating for the 2023 season, CBS Sports believes “pressure is mounting” for Oklahoma’s Brent Venables.

Coming out of a 2022 season where the Oklahoma Sooners had their first losing season since 1998 with one of the worst defenses in the team’s history, it’s not unreasonable to have questions about the direction of the program.

At the same time, it’s only been one year, and we haven’t seen Venables’ recruiting classes take the field and play significant snaps yet. The team may not have much success to speak about on the field yet, but the coaching staff has done a tremendous job off of it on the recruiting trail.

They’ve put together two top 10 classes, and with the way things are shaping up, the Sooners are looking at a third straight top 10 class in the 2024 cycle.

Ahead of the 2023 season, CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd took a look at every head coach in the FBS and determined where they stood on his “hot seat rating system.”

It’s a system that rates coaches from 0-5. “Zero” represents coaches that are untouchable, like Nick Saban or Kirby Smart. “Five” represents coaches that are in must-win mode heading into 2023.

Here’s a look at where the 14 Big 12 coaches stand heading into 2023. We also included where each coach ranked in CBS Sports’ head coach rankings in the Big 12 and overall and their career winning percentages.

Where did Brent Venables land on College Sports Wire’s Power Five head coach rankings?

College Sports Wire’s Patrick Conn ranked each of the head coaches in the Power Five, where did Brent Venables land?

The Oklahoma Sooners are expected to have a bounce-back season in 2023, Brent Venables’ second year in Norman. They’re regularly ranked in the top five of preseason power rankings and have the second-best odds to win the Big 12, according to Fan Duel.

If the Sooners are going be in contention for the Big 12 in November and December, [autotag]Brent Venables[/autotag] will be a big part of the reason why. In particular, his and Ted Roof’s defense will have taken a significant step forward.

In the meantime, it’s wait-and-see with Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners. And that’s why he’s still ranked so low among Power Five coaches. Patrick Conn of College Sports Wire put Brent Venables at No. 57 in his ranking of every Power Five coach.

After Lincoln Riley left Norman, Oklahoma, for sunny Los Angeles the Sooners turned to a familiar name. Brent Venables served on the Oklahoma staff from 1999 to 2011. He left to run the defense at Clemson where he remained until 2021. Venables has seen success on the recruiting trails for OU, now he needs to see results on the field after finishing with a losing record last season. It was the first that Sooner had suffered since 1998. – Conn, College Sports Wire

Venables ranked 13th out of 14 Big 12 coaches heading into the 2023 season, behind only Neal Brown of West Virginia. That’s one spot behind where CBS Sports ranked the Sooners’ head coach in their Power Five rankings.

Coming off a 6-7 season, his first as a head coach, it’s understandable if national analysts are taking a cautious approach to ranking Venables. He’s a good coach though. While that hasn’t proven out on the field, he’s done a great job as a recruiter, communicator, and face of the program.

Venables has done the work to improve the talent on the roster. He brought in impact players like Rondell Bothroyd, Dasan McCullough, Reggie Pearson, Davon Sears, Jacob Lacey, and Trace Ford through the transfer portal to help improve the talent base on the defensive side of the ball. Each of those guys will play significant roles for the Sooners in 2023, even if they aren’t starters. They bring production, athleticism, experience, and in the case of Pearson, a guy that plays with an edge.

As the Sooners continue to turn over the Lincoln Riley era, particularly on defense, it’s only a matter of time before the Sooners turn the corner and return to national prominence.

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CBS Sports ranked every coach in the Power Five, how did the Big 12 fair?

How did Brent Venables and the Big 12 fare in CBS Sports ranking of each Power Five coach?

The expansion to 14 teams for the 2023-2024 academic year provides a unique environment for the Big 12 in its final year with Oklahoma and Texas. New teams mean new faces in the coaching ranks.

Over at CBS Sports, they ranked each coach in the Power Five, so we’ve collated where the Big 12 head coaches stack up ahead of the 2023 season.

CBS Sports coach rankings No. 26-69.

CBS Sports coach rankings No. 25-1.

Four Big 12 coaches landed in the top 25, but none made it into the top 10. It’s a pivotal season for several guys. Here’s a look at how the Big 12 coaches faired in CBS Sports Power Five head coach rankings.

WVU’s Neal Brown among seven coaches with most to prove

Brown will need to avoid a fourth season of seven or more losses if he wants to stick around in Morgantown.

Heading into the 2023 college football season, head coaches such as Jimbo Fisher (Texas A&M Aggies), Steve Sarkisian (Texas Longhorns), and Brent Venables (Oklahoma Sooners) will remain at the top of the list.

Out in Morgantown, West Virginia, another head coach is going to be facing the heat in the upcoming campaign. Neal Brown was rumored to be on the chopping block after finishing 5-7, which was good enough for a tie at No. 7 in the Big 12. In four seasons at the helm, the Mountaineers’ head coach has finished with seven losses three times.

The lone winning season came in the pandemic-shortened campaign of 2020. The team finished 6-4 with a win over the Army Black Knights, 24-21. Brown is 57-41 as a head coach in eight seasons but just 22-25 and 14-21 in Big 12 play at West Virginia.

When it comes to coaches needing a big season, CBS Sports’ Barrett Salee included Brown along with Jimbo, Sark, and Venables on his list of seven head coaches that have the most pressure in 2023.

Brown was in danger of being canned after last season, but the new administration decided to keep him on board for a sixth season at West Virginia. Back-to-back sub-.500 seasons have made Mountaineer fans restless, and the fact that Brown hasn’t been in the Big 12 title race in any of his five seasons has made things even worse. The Mountaineers have fallen behind in the NIL age, and Brown hasn’t taken advantage of the transfer portal in a way that will keep them relevant — even in the new era of Big 12 football. – Salee

Brown was at the top of our list in the way-too-early hot seat rankings. It is ‘put up or shut up’ time for Brown and the Mountaineers in the 2023 season. The schedule isn’t doing WVU any favors this year either as the team will kick off the season against Penn State at Beaver Stadium on Sept. 2. Two weeks later they will face Pitt in the ‘Back Yard Brawl’ before hosting Texas Tech to kick off conference play on Sept. 23.

2023 college football coaches way-too-early hot seat watchlist

These are the coaches to monitor in the 2023 season.

As we gear up for the 2023 season later this year, the head coaches will take center stage. It just isn’t always good for the program leaders. Over the last several seasons we have seen plenty of movement among head coaches and 2023 could see a shakeup in the college ranks.

Last season we saw the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Wisconsin Badgers, Auburn Tigers, and Colorado Buffaloes all make changes. Plenty more moves followed their hiring to fill the vacancies.

While spring football is just getting underway, College Sports Wire is monitoring a handful of coaches who could be under fire this upcoming season with our way-too-early hot seat watchlist.

We kick it off in the Big 12 where another coaching move is likely to be made without the team making major progress in 2023.

Texas Football: One Big 12 coach says he knows his opponents for 2023

Neal Brown knows who his team is playing. Why don’t we know?

The Big 12 has informed at least one football coach who his team will play in 2023. That is, if West Virginia head coach Neal Brown is to be believed.

Brown said the following of his 2023 Big 12 football schedule.

I know who we are playing, but I don’t know when we are playing them.

The secrecy over the schedule is befuddling, as is its presumed lack of completion. Brown knows his 2023 opponents. Why don’t we know as well?

The SEC announced its 2023 slate in September. In late October, the Big Ten followed with its own schedule. The slow moving Pac-12 announced its set of games on January 18. The Big 12 doesn’t yet have an announcement date.

There’s no reason why conference commissioner Brett Yormark couldn’t let the public know each team’s opponents without the specifics of when and where games would be played. Even so, we’re still waiting for any word of a schedule announcement.

It’s unclear as to what is the hold up for the league, but the Big 12’s indecision is yet another reason for the Longhorns to leave the middling conference.

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Oklahoma and Brent Venables lost to a team whose fans want the coach to be fired

One Oklahoma writer viewed this loss to West Virginia as ‘rock bottom.’ WVU fans want coach Neal Brown fired. No one was happy.

It was a game in which fans of one team were hate-watching the game, and the fans of the other team wanted the head coach to be fired.

The fans who hate-watched the game saw their team lose.

The fans who wanted their coach to be fired saw their team win.

Absolutely no one was happy before, during, and after Oklahoma’s 23-20 loss to West Virginia on Saturday.

West Virginia benched former USC quarterback J.T. Daniels, who plainly struggled and has been swallowed up in a miserable year at WVU. Yet, the Mountaineers were still able to score when they had to, rallying from 10-0 and 20-13 deficits to beat Brent Venables and Oklahoma. The Sooners are not yet bowl-eligible. They still have to win another game.

Our friends at Sooners Wire have more on this game. We gathered some fan reactions, too:

5 Sooners to watch on offense vs. West Virginia

Getting ready to take on one of the worst pass defenses in the country, which Sooners are due for a big game on the road vs. West Virginia. From @bendackiw

After an uncharacteristicly sloppy day from the Oklahoma Sooners’ offense, OU heads into Morgantown to face the 3-6 West Virginia Mountaineers.

Bowl eligibility has become a tiresome topic, but it’s going to continue to be brought up until the Sooners get that elusive sixth win.

The offense needs a more consistent performance against the Mountaineers. Let’s take a look at five players to watch on Jeff Lebby’s offense.

Oklahoma Sooners name captains for matchup with West Virginia

The Oklahoma Sooners have named their team captains for their upcoming matchup against the West Virginia Mountaineers. From @bendackiw

The Oklahoma Sooners will be heading all the way to Morgantown, West Virginia for their week 11 matchup against the Mountaineers. After their loss to the Baylor Bears, the Sooners still need one more win to be bowl eligible.

Meanwhile, the Mountaineers are reeling. They’ve lost three straight and are 3-6 on the season. This could very well be head coach Neal Brown’s last year in Morgantown.

The Sooners have named their team captains for this week. Michael Turk, McKade Mettauer, Jalen Redmond, Chris Murray, and Billy Bowman will lead the Sooners into this contest.

Morgantown isn’t the easiest place to play, but thankfully, the game has been given an 11 a.m. kickoff. This will be the first time the Sooners have played the Mountaineers in Morgantown in the afternoon since WVU joined the Big 12.

The Mountaineers will need to win all of their remaining games to be bowl eligible. The Sooners could very well put a stop to those ambitions on Saturday.

Bowl eligibility is by no means the bar for success in Norman, but the Sooners getting that particular monkey off their back before Oklahoma State comes in for Bedlam would be a very good thing.

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Five Big 12 football coaches with the most to prove in 2022

These Big 12 coaches have an important season ahead of them.

Excitement is building as the 2022 College football season is less than a month away. Continue reading “Five Big 12 football coaches with the most to prove in 2022”