You ever wake up, peek at your calendar, and realize the universe got jokes? Yeah—imagine doing that as Brent Venables, only your calendar says “SEC schedule” and your alarm clock is Kirby Smart breathing down your neck. Oklahoma didn’t get an invite to the SEC party—they got thrown into the lion’s den with raw meat taped to their chest in year 1. Brent Venables went 6-7 in 2024 season. But before you cue up the funeral horns, a national voice dropped a 5-word bomb that might just flip the script in Norman.

Josh Pate—aka the guy who says what most are too scared to—took to his mic on April 6th and flat-out said: “I expect improvement from Oklahoma.” Not cautiously optimistic. Not ‘maybe they’ll scrape by.’ Nah. Pate’s planting a flag. And this comes after the Sooners crawled to a 6-7 record last year, looking more confused than a chicken at a duck convention. But Pate didn’t stop there. “Six and seven last year, they were 2-6 in league play… their schedule is the toughest in the country,” he said. “But I still expect improvement.”

You gotta respect the guts. The man’s staring straight at a death-row schedule and still betting on the bounce back. Why? He broke it down: “One of the best defensive lines in the league—maybe the country. I think the issues obviously last year were majority offense, and I’ll give you a stat here—they were 130th in explosive plays last year. Well, Washington State was 10th—which is relevant, because they went and got Washington State’s offensive coordinator and quarterback. And so they bring them in. And so they bring them in.”

Let’s talk about that explosive duo. Oklahoma scooped up QB John Mateer and OC Ben Arbuckle from Washington State—and if you didn’t catch what those two did last season, buckle up. Mateer cooked up 3,100 passing yards, 29 touchdowns through the air, and added 800 on the ground with another 15 scores. That’s 44 total touchdowns. Man was straight-up grilling defenses every Saturday. And now he’s in Norman.

The Sooners’ O-line got a makeover too—like one of those reality shows where everyone comes out with perfect teeth and new confidence. Five-star tackle Michael Fasusi joins the starters alongside Logan Howland, Jacob Sexton, Troy Everett, Febechi Nwaiwu, and Jake Taylor. They even got some depth this time, with Heath Ozaeta and Eddy Pierre-Louis ready to plug and play. No more QB sack-a-thons, hopefully. And on defense? That line’s got the bite. Marvin Jones Jr. and R Mason Thomas are about to become household names. Coaches Todd Bates and Miguel Chavis have been cooking something nasty in the trenches. In the 2024 season, the Sooners defense held the ops to 21 points, which is a crazy feat in the SEC.

Josh Pate low-key ready to bet his house on Sooners’s big 2025 season: “I think the roster is a Top 15 roster in the country. They may not compete for the playoff—maybe the schedule’s too tough—but I think if this offensive coordinator–quarterback thing clicks, and I think it will, and they think it will, Oklahoma’s going to be a much improved team. At least good enough to where the record’s above .500.” The Sooners 2025 schedule is stacked to gills, they play teams like Bama, Tennesse, Ole Miss, South Carolina, LSU, and Auburn. Maybe that front seven and defense might be the reason Josh Pate isn’t tossing dirt on OU’s grave just yet.

Brent Venables and Sooners’ $2.5M gamble gets validation

But let’s not play pretend—BV ain’t sitting on a throne of comfort. The heat under his seat could fry bacon. A 22-17 overall record. 0-3 in bowl games. One good 10-3 season sandwiched between two 6-7 forgettable ones. 2025 is do-or-die, plain and simple. And right when the hot takes were reaching boiling point… boom. Oklahoma drops a curveball nobody saw coming: $2.5 million to bring in Jim Nagy as their GM. Yeah, that Jim Nagy—the ex-Senior Bowl director. He is set to make $750K for 2025 and the salary is set to increase by $100k each season. At first, folks thought it was some April Fool’s prank. But nope. The Sooners just made a big-boy move.

J.D. PicKell, who’s always got that real-talk lens, put it best: “Input equals output… you want to win at the highest level? Gotta have one of the better rosters in college football. You want that? You need a good infrastructure, the right personnel department.” And Nagy? He is that infrastructure. He’s the plug with NFL eyes and college roots. The Sooners’ offense ranked 97th after last season. Let that sink in. Behind Northern Illinois. Behind Western Kentucky. You can’t hang in the SEC while getting waxed by mid-majors in offensive metrics. Venables needed a miracle. Nagy might just be that.

He’s not coming in just to wear a headset and sip Gatorade. This man has been on NFL teams’ radar for GM jobs. Now he’s in Norman, ready to build something real. The $2.5M check wasn’t just a flex—it was an SOS call. And based on what we’re seeing from the roster upgrades, the offensive revamp, and that nasty defensive line? That call might’ve been answered. If Ben Arbuckle can unlock Mateer’s magic again, and if Nagy builds like he’s built before, then yeah—maybe Pate’s wild 5-word prophecy wasn’t wild at all. Maybe the Sooners are done playing possum. Maybe they’re about to punch back. And if not? Well, you best believe Brent Venables is gonna be coaching from a very different sideline come 2026.