Joel Klatt identifies biggest pressure point for Brent Venables on Oklahoma's 2025 schedule

Oklahoma is entering a pivotal year in their fourth season under Brent Venables. However, despite three months of games to determine this tenure over this fall, Joel Klatt thinks the Sooners will know soon into September.

Klatt assessed the pressure index of ten college coaches during his show on Monday. That included Venables, ironically alongside USC’s Lincoln Riley, in the section representing the second-most pressure titled as ‘Is This Going To Work?’.

“What’s Brent Venables at Oklahoma? It’s ‘Is This Going To Work?'” Klatt determined.

That’s a legitimate question to ask about Venables through three seasons in Norman. OU is 22-17 (.564) in that time, with a 10-3 mark in 2023 doing a lot of the work towards that record, with no appearances in the Big 12 or SEC Championships or the CFP. That includes a 6-7 (2-6) record in 2024, giving them two losing finishes in three years after having 23 consecutive winning ones from 1999 through 2021, in their debut in the Southeastern Conference.

“Again, viewed as a home run hire after Lincoln Riley left and went out west. They got their guy, a guy that, in a lot of respects, was homegrown, had won national championships as a defensive coordinator for Clemson and he came back – and here he is,” said Klatt. “Venables has had two bad and one great season. Maybe not great but good – I mean, they won 10 games…But they’ve taken a step back since then…Since then, they’re 10-10 since that win in the Cotton Bowl with Dillon Gabriel over Texas in 2023. So they’re a .500 team since then.”

That’s obviously not going to do it for a program as proud as Oklahoma. With that, the Sooners have put much into making this season, and Venables’ future with the program, work with changes on both sides of the football.

“They’ve invested in the portal. They’ve done a really nice job. They brought in a new offensive coordinator in (Ben) Arbuckle. They brought in a really good quarterback in John Mateer. Venables is back to calling the defense. I think that helps them,” Klatt said. “All hands are on deck.”

Still, for all they could do from the end of August to the end of November, September 6th, their second game of the season, is their moment to get it right. That’s when Michigan, a brand opponent and a recent national champion from the Big Ten under a second-year head coach in Sherrone Moore and possibly led by a freshman quarterback in Bryce Underwood, will play them inside Memorial Stadium. The outcome of that game against the Wolverines will be telling about Oklahoma to Klatt considering what they’ll still have to play from there during conference play in the SEC.

“So, where’s the point? Where’s the pressure point in this season? Early. It is early. And it’s not even in the SEC. They host Michigan in Week 2, September 6th. That is a giant moment for Brent Venables,” said Klatt. “Imagine for a moment, you go in and take care of business against Michigan? Well now the SEC schedule doesn’t quite look like what it did at the beginning of the year. But, if you lose to Michigan, breaking in, quite possibly, a true freshman quarterback? Now doesn’t that SEC schedule look a lot more difficult from that point forward? Sure it does! Look at these six games that they would still have to play after Michigan. Texas – Red River, South Carolina – on the road, LaNorris Sellers. Welcoming Ole Miss at home, got to go to Neyland – play Tennessee on the road, you’ve got to go to Tuscalooosa – play Alabama on the road, welcome Garrett Nussmeier and LSU – likely a Top-10 team.”

“Folks, if they lose to Michigan in Week 2, they’re going to go 2-4, at best, in those games, which means it’s five-loss year in Norman. That’s why that game is so important. The Michigan game is huge for both programs, really, but more so for Oklahoma. A loss for OU? You look down the barrel of that schedule and you’re just like, oh my goodness, is this going to work? And that’s the question that you would pose.”

Again, there’s a lot on this upcoming season, about their present and their future, for Oklahoma. They’ll, per Klatt, be getting early returns or thoughts about it too when the maize & blue come to Norman.