Apparently other SEC coaches are whispering about Brent Venables' offseason moves to not only turn around the Oklahoma Sooners, but also save his job.
To avoid coach talk, Athlon Sports, as part of its 2025 college football preview, had coaches from every conference talk anonymously about other coaches and programs in their conference, including the SEC. When coaches don't have to put their name behind whatever they say, they're definitely a lot more honest and blunt.
Athlon Sports had SEC coaches speak anonymously about opponents, including Oklahoma
Athlon Sports didn't give any specifics on what exactly was asked, but whoever shared his thoughts on the Sooners certainly didn't have faith in Venables and his plans to turn things around in Year 2 of the SEC.
Venables will be fighting for his job after two losing seasons in the past three years. That's no secret that even Venables won't deny. To help get things right, though, Venables brought in new offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle from Washington State. Venables, a former successful defensive coordinator, also made himself the defensive play-caller.
Quarterback John Mateer also followed Ben Arbuckle from Washington State to OU this offseason. Mateer was the No. 1 prospect in the transfer portal during the winter after leading the FBS with 44 total touchdowns last season in Arbuckle's system.
All were moves that excited Sooner Nation and had most hopeful for the future, but the coach who gave his anonymous scouting report apparently doesn't think so.
“It’s a hot-seat situation for sure," the anonymous SEC coach told Athlon. "They’re banking on an instant impact from Arbuckle and Mateer the way Vanderbilt brought in the New Mexico State coach/QB combo. That could happen. Their receivers were nonexistent last year, but a lot of that was injury. They should bounce back and give Mateer some options.
“Normally, it’s not a great idea when a head coach goes back to play-calling, but hey, Venables was one of the best in the nation at it when he was at Clemson. He wants to have more control over what he knows.
“It’s a huge gamble that Mateer can come in and immediately acclimate to playing against the defenses in this league. We’ll see if he can do it because that’s what will determine this staff’s future.”
That's a lot of doubt coming from the Sooners' opposition. None of which would be uttered if their name was next to the quote. However, an SEC coach willing to rag on other coaches and programs to a media outlet screams Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin. However, every program, including Ole Miss, got a pretty harsh assessment.
Read more about OU football