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Oklahoma football: Where does OU rank among best jobs in college football?

By Chip Rouse

Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables lines up with player before the college football game between the University of Oklahoma and the Kent State Golden Flashes at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept., 10, 2022.
Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables lines up with player before the college football game between the University of Oklahoma and the Kent State Golden Flashes at the Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium in Norman, Okla., Saturday, Sept., 10, 2022. /
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Oklahoma football unquestionably is one of blue-blood programs of college football. The record alone says so.

But where does the Sooner coaching job stack up in the hierarchy of the college football landscape?

The most prestigious programs in college football are the ones that win and do so on a consistent basis. Winning will always be the name of the game, but there are a number of factors that go into it, including resources, recruiting, facilities and historical performance.

But someone has to pull all of those things together and push the right buttons and that responsibility and ultimate accountability falls on the head coach. So finding the right person at the right time and in the right place is integral to long-term sustained success.

Oklahoma’s big four of Bennie Owen, Bud Wilkinson, Barry Switzer and Bob Stoops all won more than 100 games coaching at Oklahoma and all remained in the job for at least 16 seasons. OU’s attractiveness as a head-coaching destination is all owed to the accomplishments and championships won this Hall of Fame list of head coaches.

Around this time for the past five years, the college football staff at 247Sports has posted a ranking of the top coaching jobs in college football. This is the first time during that span that the Oklahoma job has been ranked outside the top 10. As the Sooners head into Year 2 of the Brent Venables head-coaching era, Oklahoma is ranked as the 11th best job in college football.

The Oklahoma job has been but ranked as high as No. 5 ahead of the 2019 season, during Lincoln Riley’s time in Norman, but never lower than No. 10 in the 247Sports ranking of the best jobs in college football until this year.

The top-five coaching jobs heading into the 2023 season, based on the subjective judgement of the 247Sports staff, are No. 1 Georgia, Texas, Alabama, LSU and Ohio State.

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