Brent Venables challenges fans ahead of spring game
Oklahoma had the highest spring game attendance in the nation a year ago as coach Brent Venables captained the Sooners for the first time, and Venables is urging fans to repeat the feat in 2023.
Venables is still trying to leverage the fanbase’s support as best he can following an up-and-down first season in charge.
This year’s game will be on April 22, with tickets for season ticketholders and Sooner Club members going for $10 and tickets for non-season ticket holders listed at $15.
Following Lincoln Riley‘s departure and the subsequent departures of several key players, including 2022 Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, Venables had a tough task steadying the ship. The Sooners got off to a rocky start in his first season in charge.
After starting 3-0, the team then lost three straight, including a 49-0 whooping at the hands of rival Texas.
The Sooners found a way to string together enough wins to become bowl eligible but finished the season 6-7 after falling to Florida State in the Cheez-It Bowl.
Riley’s ready to top last season’s spring game attendance of 75,360, which led the nation.
A new assistant will get his debut at Oklahoma spring game
Like many programs, Oklahoma had some shuffling in the assistant coaching ranks. A little over a week ago, the Sooners tabbed Texas Tech’s Emmett Jones as the program’s passing game coordinator and receivers coach.
Emmett will get his debut at the Oklahoma spring game, and he’s got plenty of Big 12 ties.
He played for the Red Raiders from 1993-95.
“The University of Oklahoma’s tradition and the chance to work with Coach [Brent] Venables made this an opportunity that was too hard to turn down,” Jones said in a release announcing his hire.
After coaching high school football in Texas for years, Jones joined the Texas Tech staff in 2015. He was eventually hired to join the Kansas coaching staff in 2019 and spent three years there. He returned to Texas Tech for what ended up being one season under head coach Joey McGuire in 2022.