It is no surprise to anybody that much is expected of Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables and the Sooner football team this season, but there are a couple other SEC coaches that could be in greater danger of losing their job with a poor season.
Venables was one of eight coaches, including five in the SEC, who CBS Sports earlier this month categorized as needing to win immediately to remain in place in their present job.
USA Today this week issued its SEC football head coach hot-seat rankings ahead of the kickoff to the 2025 season and named five coaches who are definitely in the '"pressure cooker" and close to the boiling point.
According to USA Today college football writers Blake Toppmeyer and John Adams, Sam Pittman of Arkansas is likely the most vulnerable among SEC head coaches to losing his job, followed closely by Auburn's High Freeze and even Mark Stoops of Kentucky.
Hot seat for Brent Venables among several in SEC that could boil over in 2025
Venables was also cited by the two USA Today writers as being in a highly critical year in his job evaluation and needs to win this season to save his job. Auburn's Freeze, one of the five SEC coaches who are on the hot seat this season, brings the Tigers to Norman this season for a game on Sept. 20.
Under Venables, who will be in his fourth season this fall as OU head coach, Oklahoma is 17-22, including three postseason bowl losses, well below Sooner football standards. Only four of the 22 head coaches who have preceded Venables at Oklahoma have compiled losing seasons.
The general feeling among experts is that Venables needs to win at least seven, and maybe even eight, games to extend his Oklahoma future, something that will be no easy task with one of the most difficult schedules in college football this season.
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