Are We Sure Brent Venables Is Head Coach Material?
You never want to panic about the job performance of a first year hire in any sport. However, I’m going to contradict myself and do just that when it comes to Brent Venables. If you’re an Oklahoma fan, aren’t you a little nervous about Venables leading this program long term? How could you not be? Are we positive Brent Venables is actually head coaching material?
There’s no reason to sugar coat it. 2022 was a bad year for Oklahoma football and an even worse year for Venables. Losing Lincoln Riley to USC was always going to sting. Still you felt as though if Venables could really fix the defense, maybe the Sooners would survive losing Riley. Right now that couldn’t be further from the truth and it’s hard to ignore the red flags.
Losing 49-0 to Texas should never be acceptable so let’s start there. Did anybody watch that game? The Sooners were never in the game and it looked as though they weren’t prepared. If you plucked a random fan out of the stands and asked them to coach the game, this is what it would look like. Hashtag not great.
It’s not about the fact that Oklahoma went 6-7 last year in the Big 12. It’s about the fact that the defense somehow got WORSE! The Sooners gave up 30 points per game in 2022 which was good enough for 99th in FBS. In 2021, Oklahoma was 58th with Riley. The man who’s getting blasted because he doesn’t care about defense had a way better defense than the guy who’s supposed to actually know defense. Are you keeping up now?
Keep in mind this is someone who orchestrated great defenses at Clemson and should be capable of doing the same here. Oh, and it should be mentioned this is the first time since 1998 that Oklahoma failed to win seven games.
For those that want to be optimistic, there is some potentially good news. Oklahoma is recruiting well and that has to count for something. According to the 247 rankings, OU ranks 4th in the nation for 2023. It is certainly fair to say that Venables had better players to work with at Clemson. I am in no way denying that. Now that the better players are coming, we have to see a better product out on the field or what’s the point in him being there?
The defensive head coach can still win in college football. It’s called Nick Saban and Kirby Smart. Isn’t it fair to question what’s going to happen when Oklahoma actually enters the SEC? If he can’t stop teams in the Big 12, what’s going to happen in a superior conference?
I know it’s only been one year but it feels impossible to not worry about Brent Venables at Oklahoma. The hot seat is or should officially be warm. Oklahoma has to be better next year or all hell is going to break loose once they actually enter the SEC.
