Brent Venables has Oklahoma in tight spot with his contract after disastrous start
By John Buhler
Oklahoma fans better hope Brent Venables works out or it will be one expensive huge mistake.
The amount of money Brent Venables would command if he were to fail and be bought out by Oklahoma will make your eyes rain.
Even Simple Jack can see how bad this contract is. If Venables were to flop like the previous six Tug Speedman movies before Tropic Thunder, you better believe he is still getting his TiVo included in the package. Could you imagine if Texas’ Minister of Culture Matthew McConaughey was the one to throw Venables his buyout briefcase? It would stink worse than McConaughey’s deodorant…
According to Stewart Mandel of The Athletic, Venables would command all the remaining cash of his six-year, $43.5 million contract if he were to be fired without cause before it runs its course. Mandel mentioned Venables is making $7 million in 2022. His salary will increase by $100,000 annually through its completion on Jan. 31, 2028. He gets $400,000 if he wins a national title, too.
Fully-guaranteed coaching contracts are all the rage for Jimmy Sexton’s CAA clients, but Venables is a first-time head coach. Bold strategy, Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for ’em…
Brent Venables will get every last stinking dollar out of Oklahoma if bought out
Look. Oklahoma is not going to fire Venables after his first year, even if the Sooners fail to achieve bowl eligibility. They are 4-3 on the season and fresh off their first Big 12 win under Venables. While there was some regression expected in his first year on the job, it would be such a shame if OU had to pay Venables $36 million to take a hike after only one season. So that is not happening.
Fortunately for the Sooners, Venables will have time to recruit and build up his defense before Oklahoma transitions to the SEC alongside arch-rival Texas. It will not be easy, but few programs have the resources to make that monumental leap up in competition quite like OU can. Of course, Oklahoma needs to not be at a head-coaching disadvantage up until that critical departure date.
Ultimately, it serves the university to ride this out for at least a little while longer. If it is abundantly clear he is not the guy after year two or three, then they just gotta bite the bullet. If Geoff Collins can win 10 games and get multiple years doing whatever he did at Georgia Tech or Chad Morris can get two years to not win a single SEC game at Arkansas, OU can allow Venables to figure it out.
However, we are now privy to the fact that Venables has a guaranteed, six-year contract with OU.
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