Latest news with #Venables
USA Today
14-06-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Brent Venables goes all in to save the Sooners in 2025
Brent Venables goes all in to save the Sooners in 2025 If the 2025 college football season were a poker hand, Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables is going "all in." After a devastating 2024 season, Venables and his Sooners have made a number of changes this offseason to get things back on track. Kenny Rogers said it best when he wrote "The Gambler." "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'emKnow when to walk away and know when to runYou never count your money when you're sittin' at the tableThere'll be time enough for countin' when the dealing's done." We don't know yet if Venables, facing a make-or-break year, has the cards to back his bet, but if he goes down, he's gonna go down swinging. CBS Sports college football writer Brandon Marcello illustrated some of the changes OU made. Moves like the hire of new GM Jim Nagy, a new battery at offensive coordinator and quarterback with Ben Arbuckle and John Mateer, and a more aggressive stance in the NIL-transfer portal era. Oklahoma's head coach began re-evaluating his plans in October, amid a dreadful start to his third year leading the program and -- perhaps more important -- the blueblood's debut season in the mighty SEC. He fired his offensive coordinator in the middle of the season, shifted staff responsibilities and then got a head start on mapping out a blueprint for 2025 -- all while the Sooners were still playing games. "We had to," Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione told CBS Sports. "I mean, we would've been foolish not to be looking forward to what we need." ... So, Oklahoma poured more money, time and resources into a full remodel. The university hired a third-party consultant to evaluate the program from top to bottom. - Marcello, CBS Sports. Both sides of the ball will have new play-callers again in 2025. Arbuckle takes the reins on offense, where he'll also coach the quarterbacks. Venables himself will have more control of the defense this year than he ever has since becoming OU's head coach. He called the plays in 2023 and will do so again this season, but there's no lead defensive coordinator this time around. It'll be Venables' show, now more than ever. While Oklahoma's defense ranked in the top 25 last season, the offense was dreadfully impotent, ranking 124th in yards per play (4.8). The Sooners certainly were slowed by injuries -- particularly the constantly spinning carousel at receiver -- but it was the lack of consistency at quarterback and an ineffective rushing attack behind an injury-laded offensive line that paralyzed the unit. The Sooners toiled behind one of the least productive schemes in the country during former Sooner fullback Seth Littrell's first and only season as coordinator. - Marcello, CBS Sports. Arbuckle's hire, in particular, can change things drastically for Sooner Nation. Littrell's scheme was a mash-up of his own style from a long career as head coach and an OC for different Spread and Air Raid coaches and former OC Jeff Lebby's Spread Veer-and-Shoot. To put it mildly, nothing about it worked. From game to game, things looked different, but the result was the same: bad offensive football and not enough points. After Littrell was fired, the Sooners still had no identity on offense until the final two regular season games, when they ran the ball on a large majority of their snaps due to an ineffective passing game. OU went 1-1 against Alabama and LSU. Arbuckle brings a true identity in the Air Raid offense back to Norman, and he gives OU a clear direction offensively as a fourth-year play-caller. His mentor is former Texas Tech OC Zach Kittley. Arbuckle's offense at Washington State averaged 36.6 points per game and 6.6 yards per play, both ranking in the top 10 nationally. Arbuckle, whose quick rise started at Houston Baptist and hit on all cylinders at Western Kentucky after a few years under mentor Zach Kittley, might be the hottest name in the industry. His pass offense has ranked in the top five nationally in two of three seasons as an OC. "I talked to coach Venables for about 30 to 45 minutes about him," said Kittley, now the head coach at FAU. "He was really trying to dig and find a reason, basically, to not hire him, and there was no reason he shouldn't. He's a superstar. - Marcello, CBS Sports. Venables is also betting on himself in so many ways. His success or failure will tell the story of the 2025 season. His boss, Joe Castiglione, has faith in the man he hired in the winter of 2021. "Everything has been geared to helping our football program be successful," Castiglione told Marcello. "I feel really, really good about all the improvements that have been made." We're still over two months away from Week 1, but Venables pushed his chips to the middle of the table long before this season ever began. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
USA Today
04-06-2025
- Business
- USA Today
SEC Football Power Index Rankings from ESPN
The 2025 college football season is less than three months away. Summer workouts are in full swing, and teams will begin gearing up for fall camp before we know it. The Oklahoma Sooners are looking for a resurgent season in year two in the SEC. Year one was mired by injuries and inexperience on the offensive side of the ball, leading to a 6-7 season for the second time in three years under Brent Venables. Heading into 2025, Oklahoma will have a new look on the offensive side of the ball. Venables is hoping that the significant overhaul on offense will help a unit that finished 98th in the nation in scoring last year. Venables entrusted the offense to Ben Arbuckle, one of the hottest offensive coordinator names in the game. Along with John Mateer, Arbuckle is looking to revitalize the offense and return it to the standard that has been set for over 25 years. With the offense in good hands, Venables took back the playcalling duties following Zac Alley's departure for West Virginia. Venables has been one of the best defensive minds in the game for the last two and a half decades. Though he'll have to replace Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman, and Ethan Downs, Venables has a lot of talent to work with on the defensive side of the ball. Though there still may be questions ahead of the 2025 season, there's reason to be optimistic about the Sooners. A number of the post-spring power rankings believe the Sooners are one of the best 25 teams in the nation in 2025. And the computers tend to agree. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle In the latest update to the ESPN Football Power Index, the Oklahoma Sooners come in at No. 16 overall in the rankings. The Football Power Index (FPI) is a measure of team strength that is meant to be the best predictor of a team's performance going forward for the rest of the season. FPI represents how many points above or below average a team is. Projected results are based on 20,000 simulations of the rest of the season using FPI, results to date, and the remaining schedule. Ratings and projections update daily. FPI data from seasons prior to 2019 may not be complete. - ESPN Football Power Index Here's a look at how the SEC ranks, along with where they rank overall in ESPN's Football Power Index and record projections. 16. Vanderbilt Commodores Overall: 56 Projected Win-Loss: 4.8-7.2 The ball-control style of the Vanderbilt Commodores won't get a lot of love from the computers. They want to shorten the game and minimize possessions to limit exposure of the Commodores defense. Diego Pavia led a magical season in 2024. Can he do it again in 2025? 15. Mississippi State Bulldogs Overall: 52 Projected Win-Loss: 4.4-7.6 Jeff Lebby has a tough road ahead for the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Any success they have will be predicated on the offense scoring a bunch of points and that's going to require a bounce-back season from Blake Shapen. 14. Kentucky Wildcats Overall: 34 Projected Win-Loss: 5.6-6.4 It feels like a big season for Mark Stoops and the Kentucky Wildcats after his first season without a bowl game since 2015. 13. Missouri Tigers Overall: 23 Projected Win-Loss: 6.9-5.2 Missouri is coming off of back-to-back 10-win seasons but will be replacing a first round offensive tackle, the heart beat of the program in Brady Cook, and their playmakers on the outside, Luther Burden and Theo Wease. The schedule is manageable but it may be a fall from grace for Eli Drinkwitz and the Tigers. 12. Arkansas Razorbacks Overall: 22 Projected Win-Loss: 6.1-5.9 Arkansas was one of the more pleasant surprises in SEC play last year. Led by Taylen Green, they upset Tennessee and returned the Hogs to a bowl game. 11. Florida Gators Overall: 18 Projected Win-Loss: 6.4-5.6 The only team that might have a schedule as tough as the Oklahoma Sooners is the Florida Gators. Billy Napier is hoping D.J. Lagway can build off of his first run through college football a season ago and take the Gators to the playoff. 10. Oklahoma Sooners Overall: 16 Projected Win-Loss: 6.9-5.1 It may not all be on John Mateer, but a large portion of Oklahoma's success is riding on John Mateer and Ben Arbuckle and the way the offense plays in 2025. 9. South Carolina Gamecocks Overall: 15 Projected Win-Loss: 7.3-4.8 LaNorris Sellers has the tools to be one of the best in the nation but he'll need the defense to be as good as it was a year ago for the Gamecocks to contend. 8. Auburn Tigers Overall: 14 Projected Win-Loss: 7.5-4.5 If Jackson Arnold can shake off the 2024 season, the Auburn Tigers will be dangerous. 7. Ole Miss Rebels Overall: 13 Projected Win-Loss: 8.3-3.8 Lane Kiffin had the Rebels on the cusp of the playoff last year. But a loss to Kentucky spoiled those plans. Gone are a number of veterans that led on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Jaxson Dart. 6. LSU Tigers Overall: 12 Projected Win-Loss: 7.9-4.2 The LSU Tigers have one of the best quarterbacks in the nation in Garrett Nussmeier. So much of LSU's success will be dependent on how much the defense has grown over the offseason. 5. Tennessee Volunteers Overall: 10 Projected Win-Loss: 8.7-3.4 There was so much made about Nico Iamaleava's departure and Joey Aguilar's arrival that people forget that Josh Heupel leaned on the run and played defense a lot in 2024. 4. Texas A&M Aggies Overall: 8 Projected Win-Loss: 8.1-4.1 The Texas A&M Aggies will go as far as Marcel Reed's arm will allow them. If he's improved as a passer this offseason, the Aggies could be trouble in the SEC. 3. Alabama Crimson Tide Overall: 3 Projected Win-Loss: 9.6-2.8 Though year one of the Kalen DeBoer era at Alabama ended in disappointment, he's still a talented coach with a talented roster. They could be playoff bound in 2025. 2. Georgia Bulldogs Overall: 2 Projected Win-Loss: 10.1-2.3 If there was any team in the country that I'd put my money on to win the national championship it would be the most consistent team in the nation over the last five years, the Georgia Bulldogs. 1. Texas Longhorns Overall: 1 Projected Win-Loss: 10.4-2.1 The people love the Longhorns and the computers love the Longhorns. If Texas isn't in the national championship game, it'll be viewed as a disappointing season. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X@Aaron_Gelvin.
USA Today
04-06-2025
- General
- USA Today
Greg McElroy thinks Oklahoma has a Top 10 defense in college football
If the Oklahoma Sooners got one thing right last year, it was their defense. After years of clamoring for better play on that side of the ball, Sooner Nation got to watch arguably the best defense OU has produced in a decade and a half. Head coach Brent Venables has engineered a total turnaround on defense in Norman. The only problem was, Oklahoma's offense, which hadn't been the problem in years, fell off a cliff in 2024. The Sooners couldn't put enough points on the board. Despite a very good defense, OU fell to a 6-7 record. While there have been a lot of changes made to the offensive side of the ball, there's a lot of continuity on defense for the Sooners. Key contributors like Danny Stutsman, Billy Bowman Jr., Ethan Downs, and Da'Jon Terry have moved on to the NFL, but Oklahoma returns plenty of starters. With defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Zac Alley leaving to take the same job at West Virginia, Venables decided to take control of the defense himself this year. He'll call the plays in addition to all of his duties as the head coach. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle Greg McElroy, who hosts the "Always College Football with Greg McElroy" podcast, and is a college football color commentator for ESPN, believes that Oklahoma has one of the top ten defenses in the country heading into 2025. He ranks the Sooners as the No. 7 defense in the nation as we approach the fall. The former national championship-winning quarterback of the 2009 Alabama Crimson Tide pointed out that OU returns 60 percent of their defensive production from last year, when they ranked 19th in total defense. He thinks that with Venables taking command of the defense, the Sooners will be even better. Now I think this group has a chance to be the most improved group in the country from where they were a year ago. Part of why I'm so optimistic about Oklahoma, not just on offense but also on defense, is because of coach Brent Venables. He he got the job at Oklahoma because of how good he is as a defensive play caller. Well he's now taking over as the primary play caller. Now this was a strategic decision to take over the duties and he has widely been considered one of the best minds in college football for a really long time. He's got two national championships as a defensive coordinator at Clemson to to show for it. He also obviously had a great stint at Oklahoma as well. Then I think he's going to be just fine. They're going to attack. They're going to be aggressive and they're going to have a great understanding of what the opponent's offense is going to be doing from week to week. - McElroy, The Always College Football Podcast At defensive tackle, coached by Todd Bates, Oklahoma has a strong two-deep of Jayden Jackson, Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton, and David Stone. That group might be the strength of the entire team, a stark contrast from what Venables inherited when he arrived in Norman. The defensive ends will be led by the returning R Mason Thomas, who decided not to enter the NFL Draft or the transfer portal and instead stayed at OU this year. He had nine sacks last season, six of which came in SEC play. He's the team's best pass rusher and will be counted upon to carry more of the load this year. Coach Miguel Chavis has Marvin Jones Jr., Adepoju Adebawore, Danny Okoye, and Taylor Wein competing for snaps on the other side of the line. Jones and Adebawore are looking for breakout seasons. Venables hired Nate Dreiling as his new inside linebackers coach and Wes Goodwin as his new assistant linebackers coach and outside linebackers coach. Both coaches have experience as defensive coordinators. The Sooners will have plenty of versatility when it comes to the linebacker spots in 2025. Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie are in line to start at the inside spots, and Sammy Omosigho will play plenty as well. At cheetah, Kendel Dolby returns to a position he's excellent at, and Kendal Daniels, who figures to play inside some as well, arrives via the transfer portal. Omosigho has plenty of experience playing the cheetah role as well. There are plenty of younger players who could get snaps at cheetah as the season progresses as well. Jay Valai's cornerbacks need to stay healthy this year, as Eli Bowen returns after an excellent true freshman season. He was in a boot this spring, and the Sooners need him on the field on the outside. Gentry Willams can boost this defense even higher if he's healthy, but he missed almost the entire 2024 season due to injury. Jacobe Johnson is in line for plenty of snaps, as the local product could be a starter if Williams can't make it on the field. Devon Jordan could also get more reps if injuries continue to plague this position group. At safety, coach Brandon Hall returns the duo of Robert Spears-Jennings and Peyton Bowen. Both players had solid seasons last year. It's a young group behind them, as Jaydan Hardy, Reggie Powers III and Michael Boganowski are waiting for their turn to make an impact. Venables is regarded as one of college football's best defensive play-callers. He's assembled a very deep staff of Bates, Chavis, Dreiling, Goodwin, Valai and Hall to back him up and play to their individual strengths. With Venables in charge and plenty of returning standouts, the ingredients are in place for Oklahoma to have one of the best defenses in all of college football in 2025.
USA Today
31-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
SEC Network analyst thinks Oklahoma has the best defensive line in the SEC
SEC Network analyst thinks Oklahoma has the best defensive line in the SEC The Oklahoma Sooners have undergone a total turnaround at one key position group under head coach Brent Venables. OU's defensive line was undersized and not physical enough for the Big 12, much less the SEC when Venables was hired to replace the departed Lincoln Riley in December of 2021. The former defensive coordinator at Oklahoma (1999-2011) and Clemson (2012-2021) had built some of the greatest defenses in college football before getting his first head coaching job. When he left Norman, the Sooners were talented, physical and beefy in the trenches on defense. He built his Clemson defenses in the exact same fashion. The Tigers won national championships in 2016 and 2018 and played in two more title games in 2015 and 2019. There were also two other seasons where Clemson made the College Football Playoff, but got knocked out in the semifinals (2017 and 2020). A lot of the success was largely on the back of Venables' defenses. Meanwhile, the Sooners also had a successful era, but it was primarily due to their offensive firepower. OU made four CFPs in five years but never made it to the championship game because they couldn't stop their opposition from scoring. Under defensive coordinators Mike Stoops and Alex Grinch, Oklahoma got smaller, less physical, and less talented players on the defensive side of the ball. That was evident on the defensive line most of all. When Venables arrived in Norman, he hired Todd Bates to coach the defensive tackles and Miguel Chavis to coach the defensive ends. Over time, and through recruiting and the transfer portal, that trio has built the Oklahoma defensive line into a force again. Cole Cubelic, a college football analyst for the SEC Network, ranked the top five defensive lines in the SEC on his podcast, "Cube Show." He placed the Sooners atop his list, a remarkable transformation for a unit that used to get pushed around by the likes of Kansas State and Iowa State. "The easiest team for this list to select was number one, and it's Oklahoma. And folks, it ain't even close," Cubelic said. "I'm just going to be honest with you. This was not a debate with Texas, this was not a debate with Georgia, this was not a debate with Florida in my head. Oklahoma, by far, has the best defensive line in the SEC, and it is by a landslide. I mean, they literally have a 40-yard head start on everybody else." That's a powerful statement from Cubelic, but Oklahoma has the depth to back it up. At defensive tackle, Bates has a solid four-man group of Jayden Jackson, Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton, and David Stone to work with. It's a talented group that has experience and potential. Each player brings something a little different to the table. At the defensive end spots, the Sooners aren't quite that deep, but Chavis has R Mason Thomas returning after a breakout season a year ago. Opposite him, the tandem of Marvin Jones Jr. and Adepoju Adebawore will be looking for breakout years of their own off the edge. Cubelic also thinks Oklahoma likes what they have in Danny Okoye, who was a four-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class. Cubelic also believes that with Venables taking control of the defensive play-calling in 2025, the Sooners will assume even more of his attacking, aggressive mentality. The best defenses Venables has had were able to dictate what the opposing offense could and couldn't do, not the other way around. There were plenty of moments a season ago where the Sooners owned the game defensively up front, most notably in the win over Alabama. Cubelic seems to believe the SEC could be in for more performances like that one from Oklahoma, as Year 4 with Venables, Bates, and Chavis could yield even bigger results. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions. You can also follow Aaron on X @Aaron_Gelvin.
USA Today
28-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Where did ESPN rank Brent Venables as a player?
Where did ESPN rank Brent Venables as a player? The time of year when college football fans are hankering for college football but have little recruiting or transfer-portal news to keep up with always produces some engaging offseason content. Way off-season. Over at ESPN, college football analyst Adam Rittenberg put together a tier list of every FBS coach ranked by how good that coach was in college. More specifically, he put coaches into tiers that appear largely unranked, then capped the list with a top 30. So, where does Oklahoma's Brent Venables fit in? Not as high as Tennessee's Josh Heupel, but not in a bad landing spot. The Sooners coach slotted into the "Pre-portal transfers" tier. That tier ranks sixth of eight, though, again, differentiating between the middle tiers is a matter of perspective. Venables fit there because he began his career at Garden City Community College, becoming a JUCO All-American in 1990. From there, he transferred in-state to play for his mentor, Bill Snyder, at Kansas State. In Manhattan, Venables earned All-Big Eight honorable mention status his senior year after logging 114 tackles. No other SEC coach was among the nine remaining in that tier. The top-30 rankings yielded five Southeastern Conference head coaches. At the top, of course, former Sooners Heisman Trophy winner Josh Heupel. He immediately made his presence known in 1999 with 3,850 passing yards and 33 touchdowns. Heupel then led the Sooners to a national title in 2000, recording 3,606 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. He was named AP Player of the Year, won the Walter Camp Award and consensus All-America honors, and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy. - Rittenberg, ESPN Oklahoma and Tennessee meet on the field with Heupel and Venables roaming the sidelines in Knoxville on November 1 this fall. Last year, Heupel's Volunteers won the matchup in Norman, 25-15. For those with a curious bit of state pride, four coaches with ties to the Sooner State ranked in the top 30. Purdue's Barry Odom (Ada) ranked 24th, Arkansas' Sam Pittman (Grove) ranked 21st, and Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy (Midwest City) ranked fifth. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes, and opinions.
