What will be enough for Brent Venables? Certainly not another 6–7 clunker. As Oklahoma Sooners prepares to strap in for its first full SEC ride, Venables, the longtime defensive wizard turned embattled head coach, is standing at a career crossroads. Since his hire, the Sooners have stumbled their way through moments of promise and patches of chaos, without ever truly turning the corner. His record through three seasons sits at a lukewarm 22–17—not abysmal, but not nearly good enough for a program that considers anything less than contention as underachieving. This offseason, in a bold but familiar move, Venables decided to take back control of the defense himself. It’s a gamble rooted in muscle memory—after all.
The last time he called the defense in 2022, OU won 10 games. But this time with new faces on offense, a revamped staff, and the pressure of the SEC gauntlet looming, the temperature under his seat is beginning to rise. Paul Finebaum, never one to sugarcoat reality, put it plainly: “Quite frankly, Venables is at the crossroads. It doesn’t matter whether we all like him or not, and we all do like him very much. I think we all want him to succeed, but if this season goes bust, he will be gone.” That kind of statement doesn’t float around casually. It lands with force, especially in Norman, where expectations have never dipped far from national contention. And it’s not just Finebaum sounding alarms.
Inside his friend circles, the drumbeat is getting louder. The Sooners’ offseason overhaul—especially on offense—isn’t just about improvement. It’s about survival. That’s where new OC Ben Arbuckle and a fresh QB1 project come into focus. Rece Davis added a more personal touch to the warning signs on ESPN’s College GameDay podcast. “Because of the change in offensive coordinator bringing in Ben Arbuckle but more importantly at least for this season bringing in John Mateer to play quarterback… it’s highly likely that Brent Venables’ job security depends on it,” Davis said. And he’s not exaggerating.
Oklahoma’s offense was a mess last year. While the defense took steps forward, the Sooners failed to string together anything resembling consistency with the ball. “The Alabama win late for them sort of salvaged a bit of the narrative around them… they were really good on defense, they were just abysmal on offense.” Davis didn’t stop there.
He dug into the emotional arc of Brent Venables’ career, calling back to the first time he met him under Bob Stoops. “That guy’s going to be a head coach. And a good one. And I think he is. But… if they’re not good, if they lose a lot of games they should win, if they don’t at least find the fringes of contention this year, it’s going to be turbulent.” Turbulent may be putting it lightly. Oklahoma is jumping into a conference where the margin for error is paper-thin. They’ll be lining up against programs with entrenched cultures and decades of dominance. But perhaps more daunting is their 2025 schedule—one that mirrors last year in difficulty.
Brent Venables explains why he’s reassuming defensive play-calling duties for Oklahoma in 2025 pic.twitter.com/QEutPCXova
— Josh Pate (@JoshPateCFB) March 31, 2025
ESPN’s SP+ architect Bill Connelly broke it down with clarity: “They could be a top-15 team and go 8–4… and I would hope that 8–4 is good enough.” It’s not about perfection. It’s about being competitive every Saturday. “You just can’t get stomped,” Connelly added. “You need to do more than just knock somebody off and pull a stunner. If they’re good and solid and competitive throughout, it will feel like they’ve got the ship in the right direction.” The message? Show fight. Show identity. Show a path forward.
And all of it, quite literally, hinges on John Mateer. The once-under-the-radar QB transfer has quickly become one of the most important players in the SEC. Last year’s 29-7 TD to INT ratio, while adding 15 more scores with his legs, will be this season’s expectation. The weight isn’t just on his throwing arm. It’s on his ability to resurrect the Sooners’ offense and, in doing so, stabilize an entire program teetering on the edge. Venables knows this too.
He’s instinctively leaned into what he does best—calling a defense, building from the trenches, and getting gritty in the margins. “Instinctively, that’s a very natural position for me,” he said. “Two years ago, I called it, and we won ten games.” There’s a calm in that confidence, a reminder that when Venables is in rhythm, his defenses can still punch with anyone.
Brent Venables’ ‘last hope’ QB draws comparisons to $110M Buccaneers star
There’s a buzz brewing in Norman, and it’s all centered around John Mateer—the QB1 many are calling Brent Venables’ last great hope. The comparisons to Baker Mayfield? Yeah, they’re already flying—but new OU general manager Jim Nagy wants everyone to just pump the brakes a little.
“I feel like we’ve got a real guy,” Nagy said on The Oklahoma Breakdown with Ikard and Lehman. “I think everyone in the building knows we have a real guy at quarterback, including the teammates.”
Mateer’s been turning heads in his first spring with the Sooners. And it’s not just about stats — it’s about presence. “I’ve had a chance to talk to some of the teammates about him… they love this guy,” Nagy said. “He makes a handful of throws every day in practice where, ‘Okay, that’s a real NFL guy out there.’” Still, Nagy isn’t jumping the gun.
“I want to pump the brakes a little bit on some of the Baker Mayfield stuff. The guy was the No. 1 pick… But everyone in the building is excited about John. He’s got it.” Bottom line? Mateer is a must-see TV in practice—and he’s just getting started.
The post Brent Venables Given Stern Ultimatum as Oklahoma’s SEC Fate Announced After John Mateer Likened to $110M NFL Star appeared first on EssentiallySports.
