Brent Venables logged two losing seasons in his first three years at Oklahoma. The historically poor start to his tenure comes with a slight asterisk given last season’s horrendous injury luck, but Sooners fans are unlikely to welcome any excuses for another down year. Following a number of coaching staff and roster changes, perhaps a desperately needed bounce back is in store. Sooners Illustrated’s Josh Callaway joined Bud Elliott on the Cover 3 College Football Summer School series to preview expectations for the Sooners this fall.
What are the stakes for Oklahoma in 2025?
Only one coach in America has a hotter seat than Venables, according to CBS Sports’ voting panel of college football experts. That is the product of a pair of 6-7 campaigns in three years — the worst stretch of Oklahoma football since John Blake posted three-straight losing records in a brief tenure from 1996-99. Adding insult to injury was that the Sooners hoped to make a splashy debut in the SEC last fall but instead fell on their face en route to a putrid 2-6 league mark.
“Brent Venables knows, everyone knows, that this is a huge year for him,” Callaway said “Oklahoma has to be better. They can’t go 6-7 again and Brent can expect to be back, frankly, in 2026.”
The defense should still be one of the SEC’s best. Improvement has to come from the offense, which welcomed a new coordinator this offseason in Ben Arbuckle and hauled in a prized transfer at quarterback in John Mateer. That tandem, plus what the Sooners hope will be better luck on the injury front (especially at wide receiver and on the offensive line), could be the spark they need to start a journey back to perennial conference title contention.
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Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/oklahoma-football-2025-win-total-sec-outlook-as-brent-venables-enters-pivotal-season-in-norman/
Author : Carter Bahns
Publish date : 2025-07-30 14:10:00
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