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Brent Venables’ contract ranks among college football’s worst, says CFB insider
By Sydney Hunte
Published:
Brent Venables has had an up-and-down run as Oklahoma‘s head coach. After a 6-7 first season, the Sooners went 10-3 in 2023 before digressing to 6-7 in their first year in the SEC.
That’s led the shine of his 6-year extension following the 2023 season to wear off, per CBS Sports college football insider Brad Crawford, who rated Venables’ deal as one of the worst in college football.
Here’s what Crawford wrote on the fourth-year Sooner coach:
Thanks to 10 wins ahead of his first season in the SEC, Venables happily signed a six-year extension with the Sooners worth $51.6 million, a big win for CAA’s Jimmy Sexton. Then, reality set in. Ravaged by injuries at wide receiver and marred by season-long struggles at the line of scrimmage, Oklahoma tumbled to its second 6-7 finish in three years under Venables last fall. Now, he will rely on mass transfer portal help to try to right the ship.
While Venables has made some changes during the offseason, some occurred during the disastrous 2024 campaign. Offensive coordinator Seth Littrell was fired and Joe Jon Finley took over on an interim basis. Venables then hired Washington State offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle to run the offense back in December.
Former defensive coordinator Zac Alley also left for the same role on Rich Rodriguez’s staff at West Virginia, with Venables eventually announcing that he would take on defensive playcalling duties.
Venables’ extension was agreed to with the belief that the Sooners would be a force in the SEC. Their conference debut didn’t go as planned, meaning expectations — and pressure — will be even higher in 2025. Oklahoma has lost more than 6 games in a season just 4 times since 1965. Venables is responsible for 2 of those.
Sydney is an Atlanta-based journalist who has covered everything from SEC and ACC football to MLS, the U.S. men's national soccer team and professional tennis. His work has appeared on such platforms as SB Nation, Cox Media Group and FanSided.
