Despite Staff Shakeup, Brent Venables Thinks Oklahoma Has 'Meaningful' Football Ahead

NORMAN — Oklahoma's dismissal of Ben Arbuckle was never going to be easy or pretty.

"Nobody's happy right now," Brent Venables said on Sooner Sports Talk via 107.7 The Franchise. "(The team reacted to Arbuckle's firing) professionally, with a real thoughtfulness."

Still, Venables made the decision early Monday afternoon to move on from Arbuckle and elevate tight ends coach Jason Witten to offensive coordinator for the remainder of the season. A year which many view as a colossal failure.

But Venables believes there is still reason for this team to show up, prepare and play well on Saturdays.

"I still believe we still have meaningful opportunities ahead," Venables said. "We have an opportunity to respond and improve, put the work in, believe in the opportunity, and put everything we got into it."

In the statement released by the school, Venables also mentioned that Oklahoma's "expectations remain high" and that their "commitment to meeting them is unwavering."

Those sentiments are certainly the mindset a head coach should have. Sure, Venables is disappointed with the season. It probably hurt him personally to have to pull the trigger on Arbuckle — much like it certainly did when he had to part ways with Seth Littrell following another embarrassment at the hands of South Carolina.

But it was something that needed to be done. Saturday's offensive performance was too ugly, its sins to great to forgive. Making Arbuckle the scapegoat was simply the first step in Venables' desire to try and salvage the rest of the season.

"Nobody's required to be here on Monday," Venables said after OU's loss to South Carolina. "But if you're gonna be here on Monday, then you better square your jaw up and tighten your screws. And that ain't different any other Monday either. That's every Monday."

Venables' first chance at some kind of redemption will be the program's first ever regular season matchup with the Florida Gators.

The Sooners first trip to the Swamp will be highlighted by a football celebrity and first-year college position coach Witten calling plays for a woeful offense while Venables continues to navigate his team's buy-in and psyche.

"You never regret putting everything you got into it, and fight for the kind of finish that you want for this football team," Venables said. "That is a legacy moment."

Make no mistake, firing Arbuckle won't fix anything. A win in Gainesville, while important, will not counter-balance the disaster 2026 has been for Venables and Oklahoma.

But if Venables is going to dig himself out of yet another self-imposed hole, his belief that OU has meaningful goals to play for must manifest in victories — four of them.

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