Barry Switzer 'concerned' about Oklahoma joining SEC

Legendary Oklahoma football coach Barry Switzer is worried about how the Sooners will fare in the SEC. OU — along with Texas — is set to join the conference in 2024, meaning the upcoming season will be its last as a member of the Big 12.

Switzer revealed in a recent interview with the Tulsa World that he is “concerned” about the Sooners’ ability to keep up with the top teams in the SEC. The league has seen one of its schools win the national championship for four straight seasons.

“I’m concerned,” Switzer said. “I know what it’ll look like. It’ll look like we’re playing Texas every (bleeping) week. You’ve got to be good. I don’t know if we’re good enough right now. We’ll have to get better on defense.”

Oklahoma is coming off of a 6-7 finish in coach Brent Venables’ inaugural season, its first losing record since 1998. Although Venables brought experience as a defensive coordinator both with the Sooners and at Clemson, it didn’t translate to success. OU ranked ninth in the Big 12 and 122nd out of 131 FBS teams in total defense with 461 yards allowed per game.

The Sooners gave up 40 or more points on five occasions last year, including an embarrassing 49-0 loss to Texas in the Red River Rivalry.

“I was certainly disappointed,” Switzer said. “The defense — I didn’t think we fell off that much from the year before with players. Maybe we did. I don’t know.”

Switzer went on to say for Oklahoma to compete in the SEC, it needs to recruit better players. He also pointed to the move as one of the reasons why coach Lincoln Riley left after the 2021 season.

“It’s going to be hard to do,” Switzer said. “I’m concerned. I want someone to raise their hand in a couple of years and say, ‘I’m the one who took us to the SEC.’ I don’t know who made the decision, how it was made or who was involved. I think it’s one of the major reasons why Lincoln (Riley) left. He wasn’t involved, so he got the (bleep) out of here.”

Riley’s departure from the team caused several players to transfer as Venables was left to pick up the pieces. As Venables brings in his own prospects, time will tell whether he is able to keep up in the SEC.

Oklahoma’s 2023 recruiting class ranks No. 7 according to On3 Consensus and fifth among SEC schools when Texas is included. The class features a pair of top 25 prospects on defense in EDGE Adepoju Adebawore and safety Peyton Bowen. That at least provides hope of a brighter future for the defense as the move to the SEC looms.