Brent Venables is high on his aim to mount a strong rebound in the year 2025 following a nasty 6-7 SEC debut with a hapless offense. Well, he is not just thinking and hemming dreams up in the air. Rather, the beleaguered head coach is taking very realistic steps toward a seamless execution of his vision. Two weeks back, Venables rose to the headline, hiring one of the greatest strategic minds in college football, Jim Nagy as their new general manager to build a progressive new structure tailored to fight off current odds in the NIL-driven college football realm. Now, they are adding one more key weapon to the Senior Bowl Executive Director and former NFL scout’s help. The Athlete Group’s Taylor Redd is in the house to take up the role of Nagy’s No.2 and help run the front office operation at Norman.

The ex-New England Patriots scout for six seasons and witnessed the Patriots bag a Super Bowl LIII in 2018. In the last nine months, as a key asset to Rosenberg, he helped Oklahoma and Florida in hiring general managers and in better navigating through the revenue-sharing era of college football. That’s not just it. His close working toe with Venables can ensure a smooth, cordial operation during their upcoming tenure together with the Sooners.

As part of his role with The Athlete Group, Redd worked closely Brent Venables during the winter transfer portal cycle, influencing the negotiations and deals to a great extent. Redd also played his part with grace as one of the younger Power Five directors of player personnel in the country at Wake Forest. He hugely shaped up the 2017 and 2018 recruiting classes, leading to the Demon Deacons’ 2021 ACC championship game berth.

The wise alignment of Negy and Redd is expected to bring some tangible positivity into the recruitment scene before the Spring portal kicks off, making the task easier for Venables. However, despite the managerial push, Oklahoma seemingly needs to bring a change into its recruiting approach to write an elite solution under the center.

Brent Venables should vest more money into the portal

There will be a lot of changes in the Sooners QB room heading into a fresh off season. Venables in his third year as the Sooners head coach ran through a slew of offensive struggle and realised some changes are severely needed. As starting QB Jackson Arnold pulled the rug, Venables moved on to John Mateer of the Washington State in a wise portal move. Mateer can be a real deal at the starting gig, considering his overwheling numbers flexing a total of  3,139  passing yards at a 64.6% completion rate and 29 touchdowns.

But the one risk factor lingers as the Sooners still don’t have any soid backup which can be a game cahnger in case Mateer fails to love up to the expecttion. Acing a transition to SEC isn’t a cakewalk. You need to be fully equipped to deal sudden wave of cahnnges especially from the offensive room. Venables clearly needs to be more active to land more QBs on his board. And how would he do that? Simple, by handing the money to the coffers.

Jaden O’Neal, four star asset might be a good tool to rely on but he is on the tight scrutiny of the Bulldogs.Only money and more money can save the seat. RJ Ypung dished an early warnign to Venables saying, “If you want a high-caliber quarterback, you’re going to play into seven figures to get him. And the market keeps getting reset based on need. What we come to find out is those that need the most are willing to pay the most, and Oklahoma desperately needs a quarterback who could operate the offense and do what Oklahoma has been great at for the better part of two decades.”

Well, no debate on that! After all, we have seen how NIL money bought Bryce Underwood, breaking the utmost loyalty shield of the LSU. It’s as easy as that. Get the money and get the talent routing for you!