Oklahoma’s Red River Rivalry history is packed with coaching legacies, but the standard in Norman has always been brutally simple: beat Texas, or the noise starts getting louder. Championships matter, sure. But for Sooners coaches, what happens against the Longhorns often says just as much about the job as anything else on the schedule.
That pressure is part of why the program’s most celebrated names are tied so closely to this game. It’s also why Brent Venables’ situation is already being watched so closely. Even after getting Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff last year, a third straight loss to Texas could put him on the hot seat if the rest of the season doesn’t go well.
Texas still leads the all-time series 65-51-5 in a rivalry that has been played every year since 1900, back before Oklahoma was even a state. But in this century, the Sooners have held the edge, 17-10.
A big reason for that is the group of coaches who turned the Red River into their personal showcase.
Lincoln Riley went 5-1 against Texas, and that .833 winning percentage is the best of any Oklahoma coach who faced the Longhorns at least five times. As hard as that may be for some OU fans to swallow, he was a nightmare matchup for Texas during his run in Norman.
He also caught the Longhorns during a stretch when Tom Herman was in charge and in Steve Sarkisian’s first season in 2021. Baker Mayfield’s 3-1 record against Texas also helped fuel that run, with the Austin native playing with extra edge after being overlooked by the Longhorns.
Riley’s only loss to Texas as a head coach came in 2018, and he answered right back by beating the Longhorns later that same year in the Big 12 Championship Game in Arlington. If you include his time as offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops, Riley’s overall mark in the rivalry climbs to 6-2.
Then there’s Bob Stoops, who owns the Oklahoma record for most Red River wins at 10-7. That number comes with a .588 winning percentage and some serious streaks attached: five straight wins from 2000 to 2004, plus another three-game run from 2010 to 2012. The only longer Oklahoma winning streak in the rivalry came from 1952 to 1957, when the Sooners beat Texas more than five straight times.
Stoops had to navigate the rivalry with Mack Brown on the other sideline for much of his tenure, along with quarterbacks like Vince Young and Colt McCoy. It didn’t seem to matter. With Stoops coaching, Oklahoma fans had reason to believe the Sooners could win every time out.
Barry Switzer rounds out the list at 9-5-2. When he took over at Oklahoma, Texas was led by the legendary Darrell Royal, but Switzer still won his first three Red River Rivalry games. He finished his OU run with a four-game winning streak against the Longhorns in 1988.
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Kirby Smart Just Sent Brent Venables A Message Sooners Fans Will Feel
Gentry Williams move from Oklahoma to Georgia adds another layer to a secondary storyline that has been building all offseason for Brent Venables. After four years in Venables defense, the former Sooners cornerback arrives in Athens with the kind of experience Kirby Smart values, and Smart made a point of praising what players learn in that system. For Oklahoma, it is another reminder that Venables defensive reputation extends well beyond Norman, even when it means one of his own former players ends up helping a national title contender.
The timing matters for the Sooners because cornerback depth was already a concern after multiple departures through the transfer portal. Venables has answered by bringing in new help and leaning on younger players, but the room still has a different feel than it did a year ago. Williams transfer to Georgia only sharpens the contrast: one program is adding a seasoned defender who knows how to play within a demanding scheme, while Oklahoma is still sorting out how its rebuilt cornerback group will hold up once the real competition begins. [Read more 🡒]
Jim Nagys First Oklahoma Surprise Hits At A Bigger Sooners Concern
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Nagys early read on the job points to a bigger concern for the Sooners than just recruiting rankings or roster turnover. The program knows the financial side of the sport can create friction if standards slip, so the emphasis has been on culture and accountability to keep differences from becoming divisions. In a sport where players are more aware than ever of what others are making, Oklahoma is trying to make sure the locker room still feels like one team. [Read more 🡒]
Courtland Guillory Is Entering A Massive SEC Conversation For Oklahoma
Oklahomas secondary already has one of the better young cornerback tandems in the league, and Courtland Guillory has quickly become a big part of why. He and Eli Bowen both arrived with freshman All-American honors, and Guillory turned that early promise into a starting role last season, holding onto it even after Bowen returned from injury.
The on-field production backed up the rise, with Guillory finishing with 41 tackles, a tackle for loss and seven pass deflections. That kind of season is what has some national observers starting to talk about him in a much bigger SEC context, including the possibility that he enters 2026 as one of the conferences top defensive backs. [Read more 🡒]