Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables had a hotter seat than anyone in college football this time last year, but after turning things around with a trip to the College Football Playoff, it seems like his floor is thicker than it’s been since the day he took over the Sooners after the 2021 season. However, the same can’t be said for some of his SEC counterparts who need to escape the same boat Venables was sinking in a year ago.Â
Coaching jobs are more fragile than ever in college football so Venables will still need to keep the Sooners as legit CFP contenders throughout 2026 to keep his, but as he hopefully does in a dog-eat-dog business, he could involuntarily help take out some other SEC head coaches in his path. Things might even line up where Venables’ team is the reason a coach loses his job midseason.Â
Read more: Ranking where Brent Venables belongs among SEC head coaches
There are three coaches in particular on the Sooners’ schedule feeling the heat in 2026.Â
Entering Year 6 leading the Gamecocks, Shane Beamer, who was OU’s associate head coach in 2018-20, nearly lost his job last season after going 4-8 despite having one of the better quarterbacks in college football in LaNorris Sellers. Overall, Beamer has a 33-30 record as South Carolina’s head coach since 2021.Â
Sellers is back in 2026 and so is a load of talent on defense, so Beamer is expected to recover this season. Or at least he should. If not, there’s no reason for the Gamecocks to keep him around any longer.Â
The Sooners get South Carolina after the midway point of the season on Oct. 31. There’s a chance if things are already going poorly that a blowout loss to OU could be the end of the Beamer era at South Carolina.Â
It was just over two years ago that Jeff Lebby left his position as OU’s offensive coordinator to become Mississippi State’s head coach in 2024. And life comes at you fast in the SEC.Â
Lebby is 7-18 and hasn’t posted a winning record yet in two seasons leading the Bulldogs. He has just one SEC win. Although it might not seem like much time for some, colleges expect immediate turnarounds nowadays so Lebby’s time is likely up if Year 3 again has more losses than wins.Â
Lebby’s Bulldogs will host the Sooners on Oct. 24 for what should be an easy win for Venables to tally.Â
Steve Sarkisian’s seat at Texas isn’t necessarily hot right now, but the temperature could be cranked up in a snap when leading the Longhorns. Texas missed the College Football Playoff last season and it’s basically playoff or bust right now in Austin considering all the talent and resources the Longhorns have. Tough schedule or not, if Sark fails to get his team to the CFP again, there will definitely be people calling for his job.Â
The Longhorns’ first five games include hosting Ohio State, a trip to Tennessee and the Red River Rivalry against Oklahoma. Although unlikely, the worst-case scenario for the Horns is the Sooners drop them to a 2-3 start, which would basically already crush CFP dreams before October was over and have Sark’s seat blazing. However, even handing Texas an early second loss could turn up the heat on Sark.Â
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