With the 2026 Oklahoma season just over a week away, there’s a decent chance some Sooners fans have missed the biggest offseason developments. Maybe they checked out after December.
Maybe they were busy following OU’s title run through the College World Series. Either way, these were the five headlines that shaped the months leading into Sept.
The biggest coaching splash came when Brent Venables overhauled three assistant spots and landed Jason Witten to coach tight ends. Joe Finley was fired, DeMarco Murray left for the NFL, and Jay Valai also moved on, leaving Venables to reshape the staff early. Deland McCullough stepping in for Murray and LaMar Morgan taking over corners were strong additions, but Witten was the hire that grabbed the spotlight.
Witten arrives with 17 NFL seasons behind him and a head coaching background at Liberty Christian School in Argyle, Texas, and he’s stepping into his first college job with Oklahoma. His arrival also set off a full transformation at tight end.
The Sooners added Hayden Hansen from Florida, Rocky Beers from Colorado State and Jack Van Dorselaer from Tennessee, while also landing Seneca Driver, a top-3 tight end in the 2027 class. The recruiting buzz has been loud, but the real test still waits on the field.
Oklahoma also added another piece to the Red River Rivalry when it brought in former Texas wide receiver Parker Livingstone. The move itself was enough to stir things up, but Texas coach Steve Sarkisian turned up the heat at SEC Media Days when he said the Longhorns essentially moved on from Livingstone to make room for portal additions and insisted the team is better because of it. When asked directly about Livingstone, Sarkisian said, "I hope we kick his ass."
"I hope we kick his ass, it's the Red River Rivalry."
Texas HC Steve Sarkisian went right to the point when talking about Parker Livingstone transferring from the Longhorns to Oklahoma. #BoomerSooner
No love lost until after the game on October 10 @NEWS9 pic.twitter.com/pqkuPiWJKX
- Evan Kamikow (@emkamikow) July 23, 2026
Livingstone has handled it with more class, but Oklahoma now has a clearly motivated target for Oct. 10.
One of the most surprising offseason turns belonged to linebacker Owen Heinecke. He started college as a lacrosse player at Ohio State, walked on at OU, barely played at first and then broke through in 2025 as a starter and Second-Team All-SEC selection.
It looked like his college run was done. Then a legal fight with the NCAA changed everything.
Just days before OU’s spring game, and after Heinecke had already taken part in the NFL Scouting Combine, a Cleveland County judge ruled that he is eligible for 2026. The decision came after the judge considered his five lacrosse games at Ohio State, an injury that cost him a season and the damage done to his recruitment by the COVID-19 pandemic. The ruling gave Oklahoma back a starter and put Heinecke in the mix for the Butkus Award.
That eligibility fight tied directly into another major offseason development: the NCAA’s new 5-in-5 rule. The organization adopted the age-based policy to give athletes five years to compete instead of four and effectively eliminate redshirts. Venables had supported the idea because it would cut down on the roster juggling that comes with redshirt decisions and eligibility uncertainty.
Instead, the change created even more chaos. A federal judge ruled that athletes from the 2022 recruiting class who didn’t get a fifth year were suddenly eligible, and the ripple effect reached all the way to players who had been considered ineligible and even some pro athletes trying to return to college. Oklahoma briefly added former Arkansas defensive tackle Danny Saili through the loophole, but he has since been deemed ineligible for now, and the Sooners appear ready to move forward with the roster they have.
The offseason also brought a big vote of confidence for Venables from new athletic director Roger Denny. Despite Venables having a losing record in half of his four seasons as head coach, Denny gave him an extension this month that pushed his salary to $10.5 million and runs through 2031. The move split Sooner Nation, but it also made one thing clear: Denny is all in after Oklahoma reached the College Football Playoff in 2025, and Venables is set up to be the head coach for a while, even if 2026 goes sideways.
In Other News...
Oklahoma Freshmen Are Already Creating 2026 Position Battle Pressure
Oklahomas 2026 conversation is already starting to take shape before this falls roster even settles in, and a handful of freshmen are giving the staff reasons to look ahead. Jonathan Hatton Jr., Noah Best, Jake Kreul and James Carrington arrive with the kind of size, pedigree and early praise that can force a quicker timeline than expected, while a couple of others could find a path by helping on special teams. For a program that reloads as much as it develops, those first impressions matter, because they can turn a future plan into an immediate roster debate.
The most interesting part is how many different spots are already being nudged by this class. Some of the pressure is up front, some of it comes from the edge, and some of it reaches all the way to quarterback, where Bowe Bentley and Whitt Newbauer add another layer to an already crowded picture. None of that settles the depth chart in August, but it does mean Oklahoma is carrying a freshman class that looks capable of creating real competition sooner than later, and maybe forcing older players to defend jobs that once seemed safe. [Read more 🡒]
Blake Griffins Next Move Gives Sooners Fans A New Reason To Watch
Blake Griffin is adding another lane to a post-playing career that has already stretched well beyond the NBA floor. The former Sooners star announced he will launch a late-night sports talk show, The Stepback with Blake Griffin, set to debut Oct. 20 on Prime Video and roll out new episodes every Tuesday, with Griffin fronting the program himself in front of a live studio audience.
The setup is a little different from the usual sports talk format, too, since there will be no guests and Griffin will be carrying the conversation on basketball and other sports. He also co-founded the production company behind the show, another sign that he is leaning hard into entertainment after retiring from the NBA in 2024, and it gives Oklahoma fans another reason to keep an eye on what he does next. [Read more 🡒]
Brent Venables Is Counting On One Big Oklahoma Offensive Change
Oklahomas offense had plenty of uneven stretches in Ben Arbuckles first season calling plays, finishing 92nd in total offense while quarterback John Mateer battled through an early thumb injury and still managed to produce both through the air and on the ground. Mateer threw for 2,885 yards with 14 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, and he added 431 rushing yards and eight scores, giving the Sooners enough dynamic playmaking to believe theres a higher ceiling once the unit settles in.
Brent Venables is betting that the biggest jump comes from familiarity, health and a cleaner version of Mateer in Year 2 of the system. The Oklahoma coach has pointed to the quarterbacks development heading toward 2026, and for a team that knows it needs more consistency on offense, the hope is that another season with Arbuckle and a healthier Mateer will turn those flashes into something more reliable. [Read more 🡒]