This is an apparently needed reminder that, as the head coach, Brent Venables is in charge of the entire Oklahoma Sooners’ football program. That also includes the offense.
The Sooners’ defense has been one of the best in college football since Venables took over defensive play-calling ahead of last season. Ever since Venables was named head coach in 2022, though, the offense has been dysfunctional, including in the 17-10 Week 2 loss to Michigan.
Both units are Venables’ responsibilities, but as the offense continues to do all the wrong things, it’s as if Venables is waiting for someone else to fix the problems, even the ones that he points out need to be solved with the solution already in mind.
“There’s a defensive lens. There’s a team lens that’s most important. How do we win together,” Venables said during Tuesday’s press conference. “We’ve gotta be able to establish the run game. That’s the bottom line. And gotta be much better at doing that, and sticking to it, as well.”
SoonerScoop’s George Stoia asked Venables about the offensive struggles to prompt that answer, while also alluding to the fact that this is the same thing we saw from the program in 2024 and 2025. There’s another elite defense that makes OU a title contender in 2026, but a lackluster offense that keeps it from actually having a real chance to win it all.
Venables, at another point during his press conference, mentioned specifically that the Sooners need to rely more on 12- and 13-personnel, which OU seemingly abandoned against Michigan after that was the basis of its offense in a 51-0 blowout against UTEP the week before.
“It's got to be a big part of what we are each and every week,” Venables said of the package.
If only Venables could speak with the guy in charge and ensure that happens. …
Sooners' offensive struggles are more on Brent Venables than Ben Arbuckle or John Mateer
OU fans are rightfully infuriated right now after the Sooners' disappointing showing in Ann Arbor, but almost all of the anger has been toward quarterback John Mateer or offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle. Some argue it's Arbuckle's play-calling and game plan, while some say it doesn't matter what Arbuckle dials up, because Mateer can't actually accomplish it on the field anyway.
No matter which side you're on, Venables is in charge of both.
Between different matchups and various game plans, obviously things are much more complicated than just a simple conversation to solve issues that have been years in the making, even before Arbuckle or Mateer were in Norman.
But it still seems as if these conversations are never had. Venables appears just as surprised as we are about the offensive game plan after each game. He constantly says things need to be a certain way on offense, but they still never are.
If Venables wants the offense to run the dang ball and have 12-personnel be the unit’s identity, then that should be what happens. But for some reason, it comes off more as a suggestion than what will actually happen. Somehow, the message isn’t being relayed to his own staff, unless, of course, the Sooners the rest of the season look a lot more like they did in Week 1 than in Week 2.
Every extra meeting Venables leads for the defense, though, is one he’s not attending for the offense. He might be a “defensive guy,” but Venables has one of the greatest minds in football and can also be an asset for the offense. Don’t be naive enough to think that after all these years, Venables isn’t competent enough to also direct a functioning offense.
The argument that’s being made again is that Venables is in over his head while trying to run a defense and the entire program at the same time. The reality is, though, the Sooners are only competitive because Venables is controlling the defense. But it could still be worth Venables finding a protégé to run his system so everything else doesn’t slip through the cracks.
Venables deserves all his flowers for being an incredible defensive mind. Nick Saban last week on The Pat McAfee Show even went as far as to deem Venables one of the best defensive coordinators ever. But Venables is a head coach.
As the Sooners move forward with solving all of their offensive issues, whether anything gets fixed or not, it’s Brent Venables who has the most responsibility.
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