Oklahoma football hasn’t had the year it expected in 2026 after reaching the College Football Playoff last season. The Sooners are 5-4 this season under fifth-year coach Brent Venables, who has been labeled on the hot seat in recent weeks.
Oklahoma decisionmakers are still confident in Venables moving forward, though, publicly backing the coach that’s looking to avoid his third 6-win season in five years at the helm.
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“The board doesn’t typically comment much on what’s going on in the athletic department,” OU Board of Regents chair Rick Nagel told reporters on Wednesday, Nov. 11. “That’s maybe a smart thing. But I want to say this … our head coach, Brent Venables, is not on the hot seat.”
Venables signed a contract extension before the season that goes through 2031. His pay was increased to an average annual value of $10.5 million, with his buyout currently set at over $52 million.
Given Venables’ contract, it seemed unlikely that Oklahoma would move on from its coach. His job status started being called into question amid the Sooners’ continued struggles, though, with their 42-25 home loss to South Carolina leading to the firing of second-year offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle.
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Nagel shut down those concerns.
“There is no hot seat,” Nagel continued. “We just extended his contract.”
Venables and Oklahoma bounced back in Week 10, defeating Florida 23-7 in the play-calling debut of Jason Witten, a future Pro Football Hall of Famer that’s serving as the Sooners’ interim offensive coordinator. It was a step in the right direction for an offense that has struggled to find its footing for three consecutive seasons after former offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby was hired as the head coach at Mississippi State.
Venables has a 37-24 record at Oklahoma with a 0-4 mark in bowl games. His signature defense has been far from the problem, with the Sooners boasting one of the best units in college football since joining the SEC.
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Things can change fast in college football. The Sooners haven’t missed a bowl game since 1998, which represents the second-longest bowl streak in the sport only behind Georgia.
Should Oklahoma lose out against Ole Miss, Texas A&M and Missouri, perhaps OU’s Board of Regents will be forced to re-think its stance.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: ‘There is no hot seat’ for Brent Venables at Oklahoma, Regents chair says
