Oklahoma football: CBS Sports analyst says Sooners should be just fine
By Chip Rouse
Projections on how the 2023 Oklahoma football season will turn out have been all across the board because of all the turnover that has occurred since the end of last season.
It’s hard to believe that any other Power Five program has experienced the scale of turnover and change in and around the Sooner football program in the past seven months.
Oklahoma lost its head coach, the entire defensive staff, a dozen players to the NFL Draft or free agency, an equal number to graduation and 13 players, including several key offensive players, to the transfer portal.
Despite all of this, one college football analyst, Danny Kanell of CBS Sports, says the Sooners will come out of it just fine and likely better than most expect.
"“I think Oklahoma could be just as good offensively as they’ve been in this Lincoln Riley run with Dillon Gabriel coming to town and with Jeff Lebby running the offense,” Kanell said on a recent “Cover 3 Podcast.”"
Kanell said that defense has been the Sooners biggest stumbling block in recent season, and while they were getting a little better defensively under Alex Grinch, they were by no means a juggernaut.
Brent Venables is a defensive-minded coach and one of the very best in the game. His 23-year record at both Oklahoma previously and Clemson bear that out, and he and defensive coordinator Ted Roof will get the Sooners back to the elite defensive level they were in the early and mid-2000s.
"“The schedule sets up nicely,” Kanell said. “I think Oklahoma could be right back where they usually reside at the top of the Big 12, and if things fall their way, they could be right on the cusp of another playoff appearance.”"
Unlike his predecessor, Venables will not call all the defensive plays and be head coach at the same time. And he won’t need to because he has a strong defensive staff supporting him.
Many expect this to be a transition year for Venables and the Sooners, but at Oklahoma, the expectations are high even in a transition season. It’s good to see that some outside the program see things the same way.