Brent Venables Won’t Have Any Excuses in 2025

Originally posted on Mike Farrell Sports
By Mark Pszonak | Last updated Apr 16, 2025 6:38 PM ET

Before the transfer portal window opened on Wednesday, Oklahoma may have already pulled off one of the biggest additions of the spring with the signing of running back Jaydn Ott on Tuesday. Now with the backfield solidified, head coach Brent Venables has run out of excuses in 2025.

Venables is firmly on the hotseat after a disastrous 2024 season in Norman. The Sooners have responded by adding several other important transfers during the winter, including game changing transfer quarterback John Mateer , a new offensive coordinator, Ben Arbuckle, and even a new general manager, Jim Nagy.

Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy, right, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables talk before a Bedlam college football game between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys (OSU) and the University of Oklahoma Sooners (OU) at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Nov. 4, 2023.© BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Sooners aren’t used to the experiences that they faced in 2024 and have done everything possible to avoid a repeat performance in 2025. Now, one lingering question remains. Is Venables a big-time head coach? He more than proved himself as a defensive coordinator at Clemson but has failed to do so as a head coach during his first opportunity at Oklahoma.

With all the work and money Oklahoma has put in during the offseason, if things do derail once again in Norman in 2025, the most likely scenario is that all fingers will point to Coach Venables. And rightfully so. Even with the brutal schedule that they have (Michigan, Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Tennessee, Alabama, LSU), there won’t be any excuses that would save his job if Oklahoma undergoes another middling season.

It is time for Coach Venables to prove himself as a head coach at the highest level, and all eyes, especially in Norman, will be watching closely.

This article first appeared on Mike Farrell Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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