Urban Meyer addresses issues for Oklahoma, coach Brent Venables

If there’s one coach who knows how quickly things can move against you with the wrong set of events chained together, it’s probably former Florida and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. And Meyer has a bit of a cautionary tale for Oklahoma coach Brent Venables.

Don’t let momentum get away from you. On Tuesday on Urban’s Take with Tim May, Meyer sounded like a believer in the Oklahoma coach long-term, outlining the unique set of circumstances Venables inherited before pointing out the flip side — the dangerous reality that those circumstances alone don’t buy you a free pass.

“The only negative, Tim, and I was always fearful of this: Once you lose momentum in recruiting, the vultures are out now,” Meyer said. “Everybody’s pointing right at Oklahoma. I want to see if they start losing recruits and all that kind of stuff.”

Here’s the current situation: Oklahoma is 3-3. The Sooners are coming off a 49-0 loss at the hands of their rival, Texas.

Venables, a long-time defensive coordinator, has a defense that has surrendered at least 500 yards to its opponent in each of the last three games. It’s clear there are some talent issues, on top of potential coaching issues.

The former, at least, was somewhat out of Venables’ hands, though he was able to retool the roster at least somewhat with the addition of transfers like UCF’s Dillon Gabriel.

“I know they went out and got one in the transfer portal, but still,” Meyer said. “Your program is one of the best programs in America. You’re starting from scratch in a lot of areas. I talked to Bob Stoops, a great friend of mine, and he said, ‘Brent Venables just all the sudden didn’t become a bad coach.’ So obviously he’ll turn this around. I don’t think this year.”

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables walked into a weird spot

While coaches getting hired at high-profile places like Oklahoma is not new at all, the circumstances in which Venables found himself in the head seat there were, to a certain degree.

It’s not often a coach voluntarily leaves a program as high-profile as Oklahoma’s when things are going relatively well.

That immediately put a serious dent into the perception surrounding the Sooners’ program. That dent turned into a giant chunk ripped out when Lincoln Riley then had quarterback Caleb Williams and receiver Mario Williams transfer to USC with him, while several other talented Oklahoma players jumped ship.

Meyer, if anything, seemed displeased with how that all unfolded.

“When you look at the word transfer portal, Lincoln Riley not only left the job but took players with him,” Meyer said. “Took the quarterback, took a receiver, I believe, and then they lost seven starters to the transfer portal. I was just looking, the roster he inherited was a shell of what it was.”

So while Venables has had a rough go of things and nobody is exactly excusing Saturday’s 49-0 loss to Texas, it is fair to point out the circumstances.

Meyer seemed to have a relatively neutral stance on Venables, who is still only halfway through his first season as a coach there.

“That goes back to the dilemma, is that the right thing to do?” Meyer said of Riley’s departure. “You leave a job, that’s one thing, but you take players with you… Hey Brent Venables, I got great news for you. You’re the head coach of the Oklahoma Sooners, your dream job. And oh, by the way, you don’t have a quarterback.”