Whoever followed on from Lincoln Riley in Oklahoma was drinking from a poisoned chalice. The roster he left behind for his successor wasn’t in great shape. The turnover required within the program was of seismic proportions. 3 years into the Brent Venables era, aftershocks from this seismic shift continue reverberating across the epicenter, Norman. The problem for OU is that the shocks aren’t quite dissipating—in fact, they are tearing up the foundation. The house that Bob Stoops built and Riley supervised is standing rather precariously under the care of coach Venables. The foreseeable future of this blueblood is a concern now. In the face of adversity, Venables is quite literally taking matters into his own hands.

Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Coaching a storied, blueblood program like The Oklahoma Sooners sure has its perks. You are nurturing some of the best talent in the country, with almost imperishable resources to attain said talent. However, the ground you stand on at that level is rather fickle. One misstep can send you tumbling down the abyss of once-revered, now-forgotten head coaches. After being afforded growing pains in year 1, Brent Venables led OU to a double-digit win season in year 2. Then came realignment to the SEC, and things took a turn for the worse. A sub .500 season means Venables enters 2025 on the proverbial hot seat. He recognizes this and is, therefore, making a footballing decision that leaves nothing about his job security open to interpretation. No outside interference, no regrets.

All head coaches want to build their team around a vision of their own philosophy. As a defensive-minded guy, Venables is naturally more inclined to focus on that side of the football. Now that his defensive coordinator, Zac Alley, has left the program for VWU, Brent Venables has decided he’ll now call plays on that side of the football. Deferring to a designated coordinator to keep a more balanced outlook on his team is a fair rationale. However, Venables is taking on the playbook and its responsibility. “Why am I going to call the defense? Because I’m good at it, and I’m confident at it,” Venables said while announcing the decision at the onset of the Sooners’ spring camp. A couple of insiders weighed in with their opinions on this.

Chris Gordy and Jay Smith discussed Venables taking onus over the Locked on SEC podcast. Gordy reckons Coach’s aforementioned quote is “a humble brag, but true.” After all, Venables has shown his playcalling acumen over the years at every program he’s been on. Both as a DC and as HC. Smith concurred with this sentiment, saying, “It made sense for [Venables] to take over. When Zac Alley decided to leave, he realized that he’s in another moment where he’s coaching for his job. Like, there’s not much leniency there,” he remarked. Smith also pointed to exactly which members of staff will allow Venables to focus on playcalling in between his head coaching duties.

“[Inside linebackers coach] Nate Dreiling as well as [outside linebackers coach] Wes Goodwin. That’s going to give him some guys to really help him with prepping. Then Brent Venables can do the thing that he’s best at, which is actually calling the plays,” said Jay Smith. Both hired this season, Dreiling and Goodwin, have vital past experience as defensive coordinators at Utah State and Clemson, respectively. That will mean Venables doesn’t need to be hands-on with every aspect of the defense. This does make his decision much more reasonable.

“I’ve been fighting for my job every year. Like somebody’s holding me out of the water, trying to drown me,” Venables said post-announcement of being the primary playcaller. “I’ve literally had that mindset my entire career. Every game is that way. Every day I show up, something’s on the line. My job is on the line. I’ve had that for 30 years.” Well, Venables sure acknowledges his precarious position and is up for the challenge. By calling the defensive, he’s got nobody to deflect to in case things don’t trend positively. Speaking of mindsets, this segues into his new QB1 John Mateer describing his own.

A desperate Brent Venables will be pleased with the quiet confidence John Mateer exudes

John Mateer has transferred over from Washington State after 3 years with the Cougars. 2 of which came as back-up to Heisman finalist Cam Ward. Mateer replaces former 5-star Jackson Arnold, who himself has moved across the southeastern faction to Auburn. The Sooners had the worst passing offense in the SEC last season. Venables has tried addressing this with not just his new QB but also by uprooting WSU offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. Transfer QBs can have growing pains, but this familiarity lends to a more seamless transition. With these factors and more baked in, Mateer lent into his mentality heading into a big year.

“People say I have swag. I just play football,” said John Mateer. “I have the ball in my hand every play; I get the opportunity to do something with it. That camera’s on me all the time, so I guess I have swag. Some people say I have toughness. I just feel like I have an obligation to give everything I have for my teammates.” Sure, this has a bit of a “practiced in front of the mirror last night” feel to it. But it shows Mateer’s poise and composure. Something he’ll need to permeate over to the rest of his struggling offense.

A new era has commenced down in Norman. It remains to be seen how the program retaliates after laying and getting beat down all of 2024. The Oklahoma Sooners are, at least in theory and precedent, simply too big to fail. They’ve utilized the offseason to retool with John Mateer. Now it’s time to regroup and re-establish this blueblood to its pedestal. Being a head coach means Brent Venables naturally has got a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t than anybody in the program. He’s privy to the inner workings from the standpoint of installing the gameplan every Saturday. As such, being a playcaller makes total sense. Another SEC head coach came to the same conclusion and shall call plays. It’ll be interesting to see just how the pieces fall at OU