Joel Klatt Names Wildcard Picks for Brent Venables Amid Oklahoma’s Offensive Coordinator Shake-Up

Seven games down in the 2024 college football season after its introduction to SEC football, Oklahoma holds a 1-3 conference record. Analysts and critics are already predicting major problems on their way to Oklahoma in the coming days, but look at their offensive history; they have always been so great, and today’s condition is just awful. The sooner ranks 107th out of 134th teams in scoring offense. To overcome the situation, head coach Brent Venables fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell on Sunday. Now college football analysts and geniuses are suggesting the strategies he can go for while searching for a new face.

On the latest episode of the Joel Klatt show, Klatt revealed what Venables should consider before hiring a new offensive coordinator. “This is what makes it harder to go and hire a guy outside of the box, is that your neck is on the line for the hire, whereas in Mike Pilates’s case, Bob Stoops’s case, and Urban Meyer’s case, that was different. That was different. So they could go out there and take a chance they could do something that was a little outside of the box.“

First, he referred to some of the legendary coaches who went to similar conditions and have taken an out-of-the-box approach. He talked about the possibilities Venables should look into. “Well, Brent Venables, have the courage to do that. I think that’s the vein that he should go. You know, I’m looking around at guys like Brennan Marion, the offensive coordinator at UNLV. What about a guy named Mike Shanahan? He’s the offensive coordinator at Indiana; these are the names that I want to hear.

Klatt goes on to say that he doesn’t care about the resume of the new hire from 10 years ago. It doesn’t matter that the person had success in the SEC back in 2011.

“I want to see something outside of the box for Oklahoma. I think Oklahoma fans; I think you’re smart enough, because Oklahoma fans like you get it, and we’ve been on this road for a long time. You and I have been covering Oklahoma for a long time. You guys get it. You’re a smart fan base and I think that you understand what I’m trying to say in terms of this. Hire for Brent Venables if you allow him to go hire somebody that you might not know.”

Klatt pushed Venables to take risks and to think beyond the boundaries because only such a mindset can help the falling Oklahoma! with that, let’s look into the details of the guys Joel Klatt named.

Who are the guys going to join Brent Venables’ team?

Firstly, Klatt talked about UNLV’s offensive coordinator or the quarterback coach Brennan Marion. Well, it’s not the first time he’s been named to be in Oklahoma. After the 2023 season, Oklahoma officials considered him a finalist to replace the then-coordinator, Jebb Lebby. However, things didn’t work out for the 39-year-old, who led the No. 22 scoring offense of the Rebels in the 2023 season.

Not only that, the rebels currently hold the No. 5 ranking in the nation with an average of 3.6 points and 429 yards per game played so far this season. But before that, Marion was posted as the wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh. Moving forward, Klatt named another guy called Mike Shanahan.

Well, well, let’s address the elephant in the room. Who’s the guy behind all the praise Indiana’s getting from everyone? Most of the credit for their 7-0 record this season goes to Indiana’s offensive coordinator, Mike Shanahan. Currently, head coach Curt Cignetti and Shanahan are making waves in college football. They got an amazing average of 48.7 points per game this season compared to 22 points per game last season. The Hoosiers have come a long way. If Mike Shanahan becomes the new face of Oklahoma’s offense, he can turn it upside down. Besides, knowing who plays the leading role in Oklahoma’s offense will catch us later.