Dabo Swinney coaching tree: Ranking every coach to come from Swinney’s management
By John Buhler
Brent Venables went bowling during Year 1 at Oklahoma, but that is mostly it
One could argue that it is a more critical Year 2 for Brent Venables than it is even for Elliott. The former Clemson offensive coordinator really has no excuses, built-in or fabricated. Venables doesn’t coach at Virginia; he leads Oklahoma! Even though it was his first stab at being a college head coach, the Sooners can’t go 6-7 under his watch again. This is way too strong of a program.
The other factor in this is Venables replaced an outstanding head coach in Lincoln Riley, who replaced a coaching legend in Bob Stoops. In a matter of one year, Venables had OU looking like John Blake OU, and nobody wants that. Furthermore, this is Oklahoma’s last year in the Big 12, a league the Sooners have historically dominated. Come 2024, it will be all about the SEC for OU…
Simply put, Venables needs to win at least eight games to realistically get a third year on the job at Oklahoma. It has to be more than just incremental progress. The Sooners are going to the SEC and are going to get eaten alive if they don’t have a head coach ready for that major leap up in competition. They don’t have to win the Big 12, but need to finish at least fifth or so in the league.
Venables is a great defensive mind and a recruiter, but he has to prove his worth as a head coach.