The Oklahoma Sooners were criticized when they extended Brent Venables’ contract and gave him a slight pay raise. The new deal added two years to his original contract.
But many questioned why the Sooners would do that. 16-10 in his first two seasons and 0-2 in bowl games are the facts. But the context of the facts is that this team was left with very little depth after Lincoln Riley’s recruiting classes didn’t live up to expectations. Seeing that the vast majority of players who transferred during Venables’ tenure made it to Group of Five programs should provide enough evidence that the depth chart was not in good shape when he arrived.
And that’s how you get to 6-7 your freshman year. But it didn’t take long for Venables to make his mark with the Sooners, improving by four wins, improving the depth in the high school and transfer portal rankings and setting the Sooners up to be in a good position to fight for a playoff spot. first year in the SEC.
But one national college football analyst isn’t worried about the “why” behind Brent Venables’ contract extension. He’s more focused on who is giving it to him, citing the success of Oklahoma’s leadership in creating stability within the program.
On a recent episode of the Late Kick Show with Josh Pate, Pate shares his confidence in Okahoma’s management.
Here’s one thing I learned about Oklahoma. I’m not questioning Oklahoma’s decision-making when it comes to coaching. I have a lot of college and high school age people who listen to this show. But forget about people so young. Let’s say you are 25 years old. Congratulations. You’ve done this for a quarter of a century. You also never knew Oklahoma had coaching instability his entire life. It was in the previous millennium. Since the last time Norman’s people have looked around and said, ‘Boy, this head coaching situation is really shaky.’ – Pate, Late Kick Show
When Lincoln Riley left at the end of 2021, it came as a shock to many because for the first time in more than two decades, the question arose about who would be the head coach. But it didn’t take long for Oklahoma chiefs Joseph Harroz and Joe Castiglione to focus on Riley’s replacement. In less than a week, the University of Oklahoma announced Brent Venables as the Sooners’ next head coach.
Lincoln Riley killed it there. Bob Stoops killed it there. And now the same people who were making decisions back then are largely the same people who decided to not only hire Brent Venables, and not only wasted no time in hiring Brent Venables. They didn’t doubt themselves. He also showed enough for them to decide, yes, ‘He’s our guy.’ – Pate, Late Kick Show
Harroz and Castiglione were as ecstatic as anyone when they brought Venables back to Norman. The longtime defensive coordinator built a reputation during his time with the Sooners and Clemson for building national championship defenses, winning three titles and playing in several other national title games.
What the extension says is that after two seasons, OU has seen enough to confirm that they really do have their guy. And even if you still aren’t sure about Venables, there’s enough evidence from the Big 12 and national championships in trophy cases on campus to give you confidence that these guys know what they’re doing.
Or, as Pate says:
…they have the best point of view. And your criteria are the only criteria that matter. If this were the University of Florida. If this were Tennessee, if this were a place where they’ve made some really suspicious moves in the past, I wouldn’t give them the benefit of the doubt. Oh, Oklahoma nailed it. Like almost in many of our lives. Oklahoma nailed it. So if there’s one place where I’m going to blindly assume they know what they’re doing when it comes to hiring, it’s Oklahoma. – Pate, Late Kick Show
“If there’s one place where I’m going to blindly assume they know what they’re doing when it comes to hiring, it’s Oklahoma.”@LateKickJosh reacts to Brent Venables agreeing to 6-year contract extension with the Sooners pic.twitter.com/6diDQ8lvzw
– CBS Sports College Football (@CBSSportsCFB) June 24, 2024
From 6-7 to 10-3. From a defense that allowed 30 points per game in 2022 to one that allowed 23.5 points per game in 2023. Venables and his staff have recruited at a top-10 level in each of the three recruiting cycles since joining the program.
Of course, this team hasn’t played an SEC game. But Venables was hired because of the success he had at Clemson against the SEC. More than two decades of success as a defensive coordinator made him one of the most sought-after assistants in college football and the Sooners hired him.
Joseph Harroz and Joe Castiglione know what they have in Venables and when you know you have something great, you invest in it.
Contact us/Follow us @SoonersWire on X and like our page on Facebook to keep up with ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions. You can also follow John on X @john9williams.
