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NORMAN — OU coach Brent Venables isn’t fully looking toward the future just yet.
The Sooners still have two games remaining in the season, including Saturday’s matchup with No. 7 Alabama (6:30 p.m., ABC).
But Venables is also working through the process of hiring a new offensive coordinator, and changes to the recruiting and transfer portal calendars have forced that process to speed up.
Signing day, which has been in mid-to-late December in recent years, was moved up to Dec. 4 this season.
The transfer portal will open Dec. 9.
More: How OU football’s Jacobe Johnson is embracing two-way role as he progresses defensively
It will be critical for Venables to have an offensive coordinator in place before those dates.
“We’ve talked to several people and so we feel like we’re in a good position where we need to be,” Venables said Tuesday. “Haven’t put a hard deadline on it, making that decision, and doing the process its due diligence. There’s a lot of layers to it as you can imagine.”
One name that has been circulating since the job opened — former Florida and Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen.
Mullen last coached Florida in 2021, when he was fired late in the season with the Gators at 5-6.
The Gators offense was particularly potent in 2020, when Kyle Trask led the nation with 4,125 passing yards and 43 touchdowns.
But Florida’s defense faltered, including in a 55-20 loss to the Sooners in the Cotton Bowl that season.
Venables was asked specifically about Mullen and if the job was his if he wanted it.
“I’m not going to comment about the details of the search,” Venables said.
But, Venables added, Mullen was a candidate a year earlier when he ultimately hired Seth Littrell following Jeff Lebby’s departure to coach Mississippi State.
Littrell spent last season as an offensive analyst for the Sooners…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/ou-football-coach-brent-venables-113048961.html
Author : The Oklahoman
Publish date : 2024-11-20 11:30:00
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