Brent Venables, Oklahoma Keep Winning but Recognition Lags Behind

Column

NORMAN — The Oklahoma Sooners' improvement from 6-7 a year ago to now is best symbolized by their place in the College Football Playoff.

You can also find the success echoed in the Sooners' all-conference lists that have trickled out over the last few days. Among the various All-SEC teams voted on by separate entities, Oklahoma is second in the conference in players voted in.

As always, there were some questionable absences on the All-SEC teams. You're not going to get everyone. But when the conference revealed its Coach of the Year award — Vanderbilt's Clark Lea — it served as a reminder that perhaps the greatest slight in postseason recognition may be Brent Venables.

Venables, who many nationally had already closed the book on, is prepping his team for a rematch with the Alabama Crimson Tide following a 10-2 regular season. Venables, who even some locally questioned if he was the man to head the Oklahoma football monster into the future, led the Sooners out of the depths of the SEC and into the forefront of the sport.

As a quick disclaimer: this is not to suggest Lea is not a deserving winner of the award. What he has built in a perennial loser at Vanderbilt will be studied and (attempted to be) copied elsewhere.

The real issue with Venables' lack of recognition — as Big Worm, the neighborhood entrepreneur whose ice cream truck side-hustle runs deeper than the menu in the 1995 film Friday, might say — is the “principality” of the matter.

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The Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year award finalists were revealed on Tuesday. Among the finalists are deserving candidates like Indiana's Curt Cignetti, Joey McGuire of Texas Tech and the aforementioned Lea. Of the 12 names listed, Venables' name was, again, absent.

Then you thumb through names like Ohio State's Ryan Day, Georgia's Kirby Smart or Marcus Freeman of Notre Dame. Great coaches, no doubt. But, when you are choosing a list of finalists for an award that essentially says year after year, "You won a lot of games at a non-traditional football power" or "You had an incredible bounce-back year," those three feel out place.

Especially when a coach who began 2025 on the hot seat is now hosting a home playoff game in December could have been listed over any of those three. Venables' turnaround fits the spirit of the award.

The man himself understood the gravity of this season in the spring when he announced that he would be calling plays on defense. "Why? Because I'm good at it," Venables said back in March. He understood that if he was going to salvage his career as a head coach at the University of Oklahoma, he had to put his entire self into the job.

Oklahoma Sooners, Brent Venables — Oklahoma coach Brent Venables | Carson Field, Sooners On SI

How did Oklahoma go 10-2. In large part, because Venables was good at calling defensive plays — in addition to building a great roster of talent and developing said talent into a who's-who of All-SECers. They finished 10-2 against a schedule that even the most optimistic voices figured might be too much to overcome in year two of the SEC.

It’s like the folks handing out coaching awards had already written Venables’ obituary back in August. Then came one of the toughest schedules in the country, and when the dust finally cleared, there stood Oklahoma, as the obituary scribes looked on and said, “Oh, you're still alive?"

Don't weep for Venables and the Sooners. They've done nothing but take in negative energy from the outside and use it to their advantage. Neyland at night? Alabama's homecoming game? Hand-waving victories because the offense isn't rolling at a Baker Mayfield-clip? You name it, Oklahoma used it.

As the Sooners prep for their rematch with the Crimson Tide on Dec. 19, leaders like Peyton Bowen were still shocked that Venables wasn't receiving any recognition. Perhaps this could be another piece of motivation moving forward.

Oklahoma Sooners, Peyton Bowen — Oklahoma safety Peyton Bowen | Carson Field, Sooners on SI

"I lowkey am a little bit surprised," Bowen said on Wednesday. "I feel like he's done a great job all year, I mean, he's a hell of a coach. I know he don't be looking at that.

"The year we're having right now just speaks volumes of what I've been saying," Bowen added. "Seeing him grow, especially with the team and how we're growing, just shows a lot about this team and this program."

Venables didn't engineer an impressive turnaround to gain a personal award. His job now is to do what he did a little under a month ago — beat Alabama. Should Oklahoma navigate their first round game against the Tide, the recognition will come albeit without any hardware bearing Venables' name.