Baker Mayfield reaffirms 'a lot of faith' in Brent Venables at Oklahoma

Ahead of an important year for Brent Venables, a program great has his back. Baker Mayfield expressed “a lot of faith” in the Oklahoma head coach heading into the 2025 season.

The Sooners struggled last year in their first SEC season, although they still made a bowl game and got a marquee victory over Alabama. But the pressure is on Venables this year following the 6-7 record, and he notably replaced both coordinators. Oklahoma is the only SEC program to have two new coordinators while keeping its head coach.

However, Mayfield continues to maintain faith in Venables. He pointed to the defensive success last year and pointed out the offense’s struggles had to do with a slew of injuries on the offensive line, not to mention at wide receiver.

“I have a lot of faith,” Mayfield said Saturday at his annual youth football camp on OU’s campus. “Obviously, offensively last year, had a lot of injuries. You can’t win when you have that many different starting rotations on the o-line. And it’s injuries, it’s a lot of stuff.

“But I have a lot of faith in Coach V. The defense was great last year. Obviously, it’s the standard he sets – tough, hard-nosed guys that hustle to the ball. He’s going to carry that on. I have a lot of faith in him.”

Venables made some major changes this year to try and turn things around in Norman. He’s taking back play-calling on defense and made a splash hire by landing Ben Arbuckle from Washington State. Arbuckle will also have continuity at the quarterback position with the addition of John Mateer following a standout season in his system at Wazzu.

Despite the staff turnover, Oklahoma has some continuity on its roster. The Sooners rank No. 10 in the nation in returning production, according to ESPN, including 78% back on offense. While the defense has 60% coming back – which ranks 46th in the nation – Brent Venables said he expects the blend of talent and staff additions to make a difference this year.

“We’ve also had tremendous retention, which foundationally for me is what it’s all about,” Venables said during his opening remarks at SEC Media Days. “Continuity, guys returning with experience and are highly invested in the locker room. They’re attracted to the vision of the program. That’s incredibly important to me. No doubt we’ve improved our roster. Again, I believe that we’ve created a better overall staff with the additions that we’ve brought in.”