Brent Venables spent 2025 answering questions, and by the end of the season he had given Oklahoma enough reason to keep listening. After a second 6-7 finish in three years, the pressure was real. From the Michigan game on, every week carried the feel of a test, and for the most part, Venables and the Sooners passed enough of them to earn praise for a College Football Playoff season.
Still, the work is not finished.
Oklahoma’s larger mission will always be obvious: win a national championship. But before the Sooners get there, 2026 has to answer a few smaller, and maybe more revealing, questions about whether Venables is truly the coach for the long haul.
The biggest one sits on offense. The expectation is that Ben Arbuckle’s arrival points Oklahoma toward an air raid-based attack, which fits with Venables’ history with Jeff Lebby and his own time in Norman under Bob Stoops. Lebby came in as a known playcaller, and his hire also helped bridge the Lincoln Riley era while giving Venables a smoother landing with the staff.
That path never really held once Seth Littrell was promoted, and Venables made clear it was a failure. Arbuckle is now heading into Year 2 after a debut that didn’t produce much buzz in Norman, though John Mateer’s broken hand clearly played a part. Even so, if Oklahoma is going to take the next step, the offense has to take one too.
The defense is already there. Venables has turned that side of the ball into a unit that carries real national respect.
What’s still missing is a consistent offensive identity that matches it. Lebby gave Oklahoma some success, but there hasn’t been enough elsewhere to say Venables has fully proven he can run a program that wins big on both sides of the ball. 2025 offered flashes. 2026 has to offer proof.
Then there’s Texas.
Venables enters his fifth season at Oklahoma with a 1-3 record in the Red River Rivalry. The program’s standard is bigger than one game, of course, but the Longhorns have been a stubborn problem since 2022, and another loss would push Venables to 1-4. That kind of mark would invite even more noise.
It would also place him alongside two coaches whose early runs against Texas became part of the conversation around their tenures. Chuck Fairbanks and Gary Gibbs both went 1-4 in their first five games against the Longhorns.
Fairbanks helped bring Oklahoma back from the downturn of the 1960s, but his teams had trouble with Darrell Royal’s Texas program early on. He eventually won the final two meetings in the Cotton Bowl before leaving for the NFL after the 1972 season, finishing 2-4 overall.
Gibbs, meanwhile, inherited a mess in the wake of Switzer’s resignation and NCAA punishments, and the rivalry became another reminder that he may have been the coach for that moment, not the future. He managed only one win in six tries.
Venables’ next shot at Texas will likely come with both teams still chasing playoff hopes. In the current college football landscape, there’s room to absorb a loss or two.
But there is not much room for the kind of repeated frustration Oklahoma has felt in this series. Dropping to 1-4 against the Longhorns - especially in the way the Sooners have often played in the matchup - would be hard to dismiss.
And then there’s the playoff itself.
The format has changed, moving from a four-team setup to a 12-team tournament, so comparisons between eras are messy. But that hasn’t stopped the criticism from piling up around Oklahoma’s inability to win a playoff game since 2015. Last season’s loss to Alabama only made that louder, especially after the Sooners blew a 17-point lead at home.
Context matters. Every season is its own thing.
Oklahoma’s 2025 playoff appearance was viewed positively because of the late-season surge Venables guided after an ugly SEC debut the year before. But 2026 is going to ask for more.
With what is expected to be a tougher schedule, just getting in won’t be enough.
Oklahoma needs to break through. Venables needs to show he’s the coach who can finally do it.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Just Got A National Nod That Will Fire Up Sooners Fans
Pro Football Focus gave Oklahoma a preseason boost this week by slotting defensive tackle David Stone at No. 31 on its college football top 50 for 2026, a notable national nod for a Sooners defense that figures to lean on him again. Stone was the lone Oklahoma player to make the list, and the recognition fits the way he flashed in 2025 as a disruptive interior force.
PFF pointed to Stones pressure production and his ability to impact the run game, two traits that should keep him central to Oklahomas plans as the new season approaches. With other key pieces like John Mateer, Isaiah Sategna and Michael Fasusi expected to shape the offense, the Sooners have reasons to feel good about their roster balance, but Stones rise gives the defense a headline name and a reminder that the front can still set the tone. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahomas Receiver Depth Looks Better But One Doubt Still Lingers
Oklahomas receiver room is in a better place heading into 2026, at least on paper. Isaiah Sategna is back, and the Sooners have added transfer help in Parker Livingstone and Trell Harris, giving the top end of the group a look that should be more dependable than it was a year ago. For a team that wants more consistency on the outside, that kind of upgrade matters, especially with a clear trio emerging as the foundation of the passing game.
The lingering question is what comes after those three. Brent Venables has talked up several reserve wideouts during spring practice, but Oklahoma has not leaned heavily on its receiver depth in the past, and it is still unclear how much trust the staff will place in the lower part of the chart once the season starts. If the Sooners are going to get where they want to go, they may need more than just the headline names to hold up when the games start to pile up. [Read more 🡒]
Oklahoma Faces A 2026 Quarterback Gauntlet Fans Wont Ignore
The Manning Passing Academy always offers a glimpse at the next wave of quarterbacks, but for Oklahoma, this years version came with a little extra relevance. Four of the 11 passers singled out from the event are already on the Sooners 2026 schedule, which means the conversation quickly shifts from summer buzz to a real look at the kind of arms Brent Venables defense will have to chase around next fall.
Arch Manning sits near the top of that group, while LaNorris Sellers checks in at No. 7 and Bryce Underwood brings the sort of ceiling that keeps evaluators talking. Underwood was the No. 1 recruit in the 2025 class, and the appeal is obvious if he keeps climbing toward that level. Oklahoma also has to account for John Mateer, whose offseason transformation drew plenty of attention, adding another layer to a schedule that already looks loaded with quarterback talent. [Read more 🡒]