Brent Venables logged two losing seasons in his first three years at Oklahoma. The historically poor start to his tenure comes with a slight asterisk given last season’s horrendous injury luck, but Sooners fans are unlikely to welcome any excuses for another down year. Following a number of coaching staff and roster changes, perhaps a desperately needed bounce back is in store. Sooners Illustrated’s Josh Callaway joined Bud Elliott on the Cover 3 College Football Summer School series to preview expectations for the Sooners this fall.
What are the stakes for Oklahoma in 2025?
Only one coach in America has a hotter seat than Venables, according to CBS Sports’ voting panel of college football experts. That is the product of a pair of 6-7 campaigns in three years — the worst stretch of Oklahoma football since John Blake posted three-straight losing records in a brief tenure from 1996-99. Adding insult to injury was that the Sooners hoped to make a splashy debut in the SEC last fall but instead fell on their face en route to a putrid 2-6 league mark.
“Brent Venables knows, everyone knows, that this is a huge year for him,” Callaway said “Oklahoma has to be better. They can’t go 6-7 again and Brent can expect to be back, frankly, in 2026.”
The defense should still be one of the SEC’s best. Improvement has to come from the offense, which welcomed a new coordinator this offseason in Ben Arbuckle and hauled in a prized transfer at quarterback in John Mateer. That tandem, plus what the Sooners hope will be better luck on the injury front (especially at wide receiver and on the offensive line), could be the spark they need to start a journey back to perennial conference title contention.
Breakout player everybody needs to know
Former five-star recruit David Stone debuted with the Sooners last season and played in all 13 games at defensive tackle and on special teams. It was only a modest year for the 295-pound lineman with his six stops, including two tackles for loss and a sack. The freshman-to-sophomore leap is often a large one for former blue-chip prospects, and Oklahoma fans should be able to comfortably expect a bigger second year from Stone, who has all the potential in the world.
“He looks awesome,” said Callaway. “Just a Mack truck guy. You’re talking about building the inside out in the SEC, this is one of the guys that needs to blossom. He actually entered the portal really briefly post-spring, but they got him back out of the portal. One of the sneaky wins of the offseason, retaining David. He’s a guy ready to make a next step. And that defensive tackle group is probably the strength of the team.”
For all of their struggles, the Sooners were extremely stout up front last year and ranked 24th nationally in run defense at 115.1 yards allowed per game. If Stone elevates his game to the next level, the defensive front as a whole would likely round into a truly elite unit.
Win total outlook
FanDuel Sportsbook set the Oklahoma win total at a modest 6.5 wins, albeit with heavy -180 juice on the over. Anything close to the .500 mark may not be enough to appease the Sooners fanbase, which is suddenly starved for high-level competition after becoming accustomed to playoff berths, conference titles and Heisman Trophy winners. If the under cashes, that is almost certainly bad news for Venables.
“I think eight or nine wins is a reasonable expectation and is probably what they need to do to feel good about it with what they’ve done this offseason,” said Callaway. “I think that’s fair. The funny thing is that we’re going to know pretty quick, I think. Week 2, Oklahoma hosts Michigan in Norman. That’s a game right in the early part of the year that if Oklahoma loses at home … that’s a ‘smash the panic button’ in the second week of September.”
Venables proved just two years ago that he can clear 6.5 wins and do so by a wide margin. That was in the Big 12, though. Pulling the program out of the muck is far more challenging in the SEC than it would have been in the pre-conference realignment era.
Sooners Illustrated brings fans trusted coverage from a dedicated team of insiders. With a deep knowledge of the program and a staff that includes Collin Kennedy, Tom Green, Josh Callaway, James Jackson , the site delivers daily updates, recruiting scoop, and team news. Join the conversation on the Sooners Illustrated VIP message board and experience the power of the Sooners Illustrated community. Want even more? Unlock all the insider content and features today.
Add Comment