The good news, of course, is that the Oklahoma Sooners made it to the College Football Playoff for the first time under head coach Brent Venables. However, the unfortunate flip-side of that is that OU was promptly bounced from the CFP by Alabama on Friday night, blowing a 17-point lead behind a series of disastrous miscues on offense and special teams, primarily. As such, that concludes year four for Venables since he left Clemson to return as the head man at his alma mater in Norman.
It's not been smooth sailing for Venables, to say the least. Last year, there were legitimate conversations about the job security that he had with the Sooners. Though those conversations have since subsided, it's also fair to say that he and Oklahoma haven't recaptured the highs that they saw under Lincoln Riley — although those seasons weren't while moving to the SEC. But given the end of this program's run in the Playoff, it feels like the opportune time to evaluate where OU is at with Venables and just how good of a job he's done to this point.
Brent Venables' results at Oklahoma have been mixed on the field
Here's a look at Venables' record by season since taking over in Norman:
Oklahoma Season | Record (Conf. Record) | Postseason |
|---|---|---|
2022 Season | 6-7 (3-6) | Cheez-It Bowl (Loss) |
2023 Season | 10-3 (7-2) | Alamo Bowl (Loss) |
2024 Season | 6-7 (2-6) | Armed Forces Bowl (Loss) |
2025 Season | 10-3 (6-2) | CFP First Round (Loss) |
If we're looking for a silver lining, it would certainly be the fact that Oklahoma hasn't bottomed out entirely under Venables, making a bowl game in all four seasons. However, he's now 0-4 in postseason play with the Sooners since taking over with the CFP First Round loss to Alabama on Friday, which is certainly a cause for concern — though it's not like his predecessor, Riley, actually found success in the Playoff either.
Overall, though, with the first two seasons in the Big 12 and the last two in the SEC, it's been an even split for Venables and the Sooners in terms of record. He's a combined 32-20 since he arrived as the new head coach, and has gone 8-8 in the SEC over two seasons after going 10-8 in the Big 12 prior to that. He's also gone an even 16-10 in terms of overall record when it comes to the two seasons spent in each conference.
What stands out more, though, is the uneven nature of what we've seen from Venables' Oklahoma.
You can somewhat understand what the 2022 season looked like for Venables given the roster turnover and upheaval that Riley's sudden departure for USC left the program in. However, the 2024 season is more of an indictment, as recruiting misses and poor overall staff construction led to a lot of the shortcomings. And even with the Sooners making the Playoff in the 2025 season and showing massive improvements, let's not forget that the book remained that the defense was great, but the offense was still holding them back.
Especially with the transition to the SEC, no one necessarily expected that Venables and the Sooners would be fully dominant without any stumbles along the way. Having said that, expectations in Norman are always going to be high given the stature of the program historically. And to this point, while there have been some nice ups for Oklahoma under Venables, it's overall been a bit too uneven at this point.
Recruiting has taken a small step back under Brent Venables of late
One thing to note for the Sooners, who were pretty consistently recruiting at a top-10 level under Riley, is that they've seemingly taken somewhat of a step back under Venables. Now, it should be said, the prevalence of NIL throughout the sport has leveled the playing field substantially in that department, which makes creating separation in recruiting more difficult. Furthermore, programs can make up for any slight shortcomings, which would be an important qualifier for Oklahoma, in the transfer portal.
Having said that, here's a look at the last 10 years of recruiting for OU and their national ranking according to the 247Sports Composite:
- 2026 (Venables): 15th
- 2025 (Venables): 17th
- 2024 (Venables): 8th
- 2023 (Venables): 6th
- 2022 (Riley/Venables): 8th
- 2021 (Riley): 10th
- 2020 (Riley): 12th
- 2019 (Riley): 6th
- 2018 (Riley): 9th
- 2017 (Stoops/Riley): 8th
You can obviously see the fall-off outside of the Top 14 over the past two years, which hadn't happened since Riley took over for Bob Stoops in 2017. But perhaps more important is that Venables' best recruiting class from the 2023 cycle is also a bit of a misnomer.
After all, the Sooners signed two national Top 10 recruits, Adepoju Adebawore and Jackson Arnold. Not only is Arnold no longer at Oklahoma, but he's been a complete whiff as a prospect. And beyond that, OU's third-best recruit from that class, wide receiver Jaquaize Pettaway, is now at East Carolina and has also been a misevaluated recruit to this point in regard to his No. 56 national ranking.
This isn't to say that Venables isn't bringing talent in. While John Mateer was a bit of a rollercoaster, he was undoubtedly an upgrade for this offense. At the same time, there does appear to be a mild disconnect in recruiting when it comes to what the standard was at Oklahoma and what it's been lately under the fourth-year head coach.
What grade does Brent Venables deserve after four seasons at OU?
It might sound like I'm being overly critical of Venables — and it's quite possible I am. At the same time, I do respect the situation that he was tasked with recovering with Riley's untimely departure in addition to the shifts that were made going from an offensive-minded head coach to a defensive-minded one. That inherently is going to create some speedbumps to navigate.
There have been some deficiencies in recruiting, and in terms of results, Oklahoma fans are right to expect more from Venables with this program. At the same time, what we saw in the 2025 season was undeniably meaningful change in a positive direction for the Sooners. The offense, as suspect as it was painted, was actually an improvement from the 2024 campaign. And again, the defense was among the best in college football, which is what you'd expect from a Venables-led team.
By no means has Venables been a failure — in fact, I think it's been more on the side of success than not. But I also believe that it's entirely reasonable for any Oklahoma fan or otherwise to expect more from the Sooners. That could come, but it hasn't entirely materialized just yet.