Oklahoma's Brent Venables facing 'growing pressure' amid disappointing campaign
11/07/2024 03:47 PM
Nobody expected that life would be easy for the Oklahoma Sooners as they made the transition from the Big 12 to the SEC. But in Norman, you would’ve been hard-pressed to find anyone who thought that a season that would end without an appearance in a bowl game was on the horizon. But that’s exactly the result that head coach Brent Venables and the Sooners are staring down with just a few weeks left in the 2024 season.
Oklahoma closes out the campaign with matchups against Missouri, Alabama and LSU, a daunting trio of opponents that caps off a hellacious introduction to life in the SEC. But Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports reports that even if Venables coaches the Sooners to their first below .500 regular season since 1998, the third year head coach likely won’t get the ax at year’s end. However, it could put Venables in a tough spot heading into the 2025 campaign.
“With each of its final three regular season games being against ranked opponents, it’s possible that Oklahoma finishes with a losing record for the second time in three years under Venables. That’s not acceptable by OU standards,” Zenitz writes. “While Venables’ job appears safe through this year, there’s growing pressure in Norman and it will be important for Venables to make a strong hire at offensive coordinator after firing Seth Littrell.”
The firing of offensive coordinator/former Oklahoma fullback Seth Littrell came in the aftermath of a 35-9 defeat at the hands of South Carolina, in which the Sooners turned the ball over four times. This result came just one week after Oklahoma was held to a field goal in the Red River Shootout against the Texas Longhorns. The departure of Littrell didn’t immediately pay off. Oklahoma was limited to 14 points against Ole Miss, before exploding for 59 points against FCS walkover Maine last Saturday.
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