Head Coach Brent Venables is coming off a difficult year of Sooners football. After a series of ups and downs in the portal, there are still plenty of unanswered questions heading into February. Unlike his counterpart at Oklahoma State, Mike Gundy, it seems that Venables is looking at a long path to victory in 2025.
Oklahoma Sooners Football Searching For Success In 2025
OU’s Defensive Coordinator Is…
Last Word On Sports has kept quiet about Oklahoma’s chase for Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles. This was primarily because it was always going to be, at best, a long shot. There was more than just sizzle to this steak.
Venables was reportedly seriously pursuing Knowles, even going so far as to consider his three million dollar price tag. For reference, that would’ve been more than the university’s budget for three separate programs combined. Instead, Knowles is returning to his home in Penn State and the Sooners are left with nothing.
There’s one thing most people learn quickly when it comes to business: If the client is difficult during negotiations, they’re going to be difficult through the entire project. Clearly, Knowles had his eyes on Penn State, and the Sooners football program was never going to match his salary expectations. Now, after a series of needlessly drawn-out negotiations, it’s back to square one for Oklahoma.
Can The New Quarterback Succeed?
The strangest thing about the whole defensive coordinator mess is that Dabo Swinney is somehow to blame. By stealing Penn State’s defensive coordinator, he likely inadvertently prevented his former assistant, Venables, from landing Knowles. This series of seemingly unconnected events continues into the offense.
Venables hiring Ben Arbuckle was meant to improve the Sooners offense and Jackson Arnold. Then, Arnold chose to transfer out of the Sooners football program. So Arbuckle brought John Mateer with him. Unfortunately, Arnold’s inability to throw led to most of the Oklahoma receivers leaving. This now means that Mateer has fewer targets to throw to. He’ll have some, of course, but they’re being brought in from across the FCS and have only seven months to train together before the Sooners football season starts again.
The positive thing is that Mateer is an excellent scrambler. With a baseball background, he also possesses tremendous arm strength and the discipline to make off-balance passes still reach their targets. Mateer could be the breakthrough success that Sooners football needs. As we saw with Arnold, though, that’s only if his offensive line can protect him long enough to do so.
Overhauling the Oklahoma Sooners
The key thing to keep in mind this year is that this isn’t the same team from 2024. Receivers are gone, defensive veterans are gone, and even the coaching staff is gone. Venables, through recruiting and the transfer portal, is overhauling the entire team.
Defensively, Sooners football is going to be on the back foot. Oklahoma State’s Kendal Daniels will likely be stepping into the role of defensive captain, which will help offset the numerous graduating departures. Without a defensive coordinator in place, however, time’s running out to get this defense up to speed.
Offensively, Oklahoma is looking at definitive improvements. Tight ends Carson Kent and Will Huggins will be filling out on pass protection duty. They’re also able to double up as dependable receiving targets. The question here, of course, is can this offense stand up to playing in some of the most hostile environments in the nation?
Sooners Football Hits The Road
With so many home games last year, Venables, Mateer, and the Sooners are hitting the road in 2025. Texas, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama will all be road games. Victories on the road never come easily, but it’s taken to a whole other level in the South. This is the place where the fans live, sleep, and breathe football- and they’re rabid about their hometown teams.
None of these are going to be pretty games. They’re going to be hard-hitting, rough-riding affairs. Last Word On Sports’ early prediction for the ugliest losses for the Sooners football program in 2025? Texas and South Carolina. What about close, but winnable, games? Tennessee and Alabama.
Regardless, the first real test is when Michigan arrives in Norman in week two. This early matchup will be a sign of whether or not the team can overcome the kind of adversity they’ll be facing from the rest of the SEC.
Rebuild or Bust
Venables, like Gundy, is riding into 2025 on the hot seat. The coming months will be critical for determining if we’ll see him return in 2026. Currently, his offense looks far and away better than it did in 2024, The defense, too, is filled with hungry young stars looking to make an impact.
Now it just comes down to Venables. The talent is there, but he and whoever his final coaching staff is will need to take advantage of it. Venables tends to do his best work under pressure. That’s a good thing because 2025 is going to be the most critical year for Sooners football in decades.
Main image: Imagn/USA Today
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