Brent Venables’ Oklahoma tenure has already swung from one extreme to another, and the 2026 season may be the one that tells the real story.
Since taking over before the 2022 season after Lincoln Riley left for Southern California, Venables has lived through the full range of expectations in Norman. His first year ended at 6-7, the program’s first losing season since 1998.
He answered with a 10-3 season in 2023, only to watch Oklahoma crash back to 6-7 in 2024 during the Sooners’ first year in the SEC. Then came the pressure-packed 2025 campaign, and Venables responded again with a 10-3 finish that sent Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019.
That bounce-back changed the temperature around his job, at least for now. USA TODAY’s Blake Toppmeyer said Venables has cooled things down, but not enough to erase the danger of another stumble.
"Venables, facing the hot seat last season, took over play-calling for the defense," Toppmeyer wrote." It worked.
Oklahoma’s defense propelled the Sooners to the playoff, and Venables put the thermometer in the cooler. And yet, expectations never wane at Oklahoma or inside the SEC.
Venables’ tenure has lacked year-to-year consistency, and OU faces one of the nation’s toughest schedules. If the Sooners backtrack, Venables could find himself inching back toward the hot seat."
That’s the key point for Oklahoma heading into 2026: the playoff run matters, but it does not buy much comfort by itself. The Sooners are staring at one of the nation’s toughest schedules, with a road trip to Michigan and another demanding SEC slate on the way. They also have major personnel questions to answer, including replacing several key defensive linemen.
On offense, there is still work to do as well. Oklahoma has to keep developing a unit that ranked near the bottom of the country in rushing last season.
That leaves Venables with a tricky job. If Oklahoma keeps climbing and becomes a real national championship threat, the noise around his future should fade. If the Sooners slip badly, though, the uneven pattern that has followed his tenure could quickly put the pressure back where it was.
For the moment, the heat has eased. But 2026 will go a long way toward deciding whether it stays that way.
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For a program still working through its depth chart ahead of the season opener, those kinds of developments matter. Coaches and media have taken note of the four players' progress, but the bigger question is how much of that practice momentum carries into roles that actually stick once the games begin. [Read more 🡒]
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Venables pointed to former OU standout Ryan Broyles as an example of the growth and maturity it takes for a young receiver to keep climbing once the attention starts. For Thomas, the challenge now is simple enough to say and tougher to finish: keep building on the consistency he has shown and make the case that his work deserves a place in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Tank Carrington Is Turning Into An Oklahoma Name Fans Need
Tank Carrington has started to sound like one of those early camp names that sticks because the people around him keep bringing it up. The first-year defensive lineman has earned praise from Brent Venables, as well as teammates Jayden Jackson and David Stone, with the talk centering on his block recognition, his growing body and the way his technique has already come along for a young player.
Venables even put Carringtons maturity in that area in the same conversation as Jacksons freshman season, which is a good sign for a player still working through the usual growing pains. Carrington is still very much a work in progress, but Oklahomas staff sees enough development and fundamentals to believe he can become part of the line depth this season, and the next step will be seeing how that practice momentum carries over when the games matter. [Read more 🡒]