Oklahoma offensive coordinator search: Brent Venables addresses Dan Mullen rumors

On Oct. 20, Oklahoma fired offensive coordinator Seth Litrell. Since then, numerous coaches have been rumored to be in contact with the Sooners about the position.

Most recently, former Florida head coach Dan Mullen‘s name has been tossed around as a potential candidate. On Tuesday, Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables addressed rumors about Mullen’s connection to the opening.

“I’m not gonna comment about the details of the search,” Venables said. “I reached out to him a year ago.”

At the end of the 2023 campaign, Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby left the program to become the head coach at Mississippi State. While Venables claims he reached out to others such as Mullen, he ultimately hired internally, promoting Seth Littrell and Joe Jon Finley to co-offensive coordinators.

While Venables wants to lock down Oklahoma’s next offensive coordinator as soon as possible, he has no intentions of stealing a coach away from a team during the regular season.

“If I’m talking to the right people, which I believe I am, they’re going to be sensitive to finishing what they started and being loyal to their players,” Venables said, per Eric Bailey. “But sooner than later is when I want it finished.”

If Venables hired Mullen, he wouldn’t have to worry about impacting other teams’ seasons. Mullen currently serves as a college football analyst for ESPN and ABC. Mullen was the head coach at Mississippi State from 2009-17 and at Florida from 2018-21.

During his time at the helm of Mississippi State, Mullen led the Bulldogs to only their third 10-win season in program history. He also coached quarterback Dak Prescott, who was a two-time First-Team All-SEC member.

In his first two seasons at Florida, Mullen led the Gators to a combined 21-5 record. However, Mullen’s success took a dip the following year and plummeted in the 2021 campaign, leading to him being fired. Despite Mullen’s ugly finish at Florida, former Oklahoma standout Dusty Dvoracek believes he’d be the perfect man for the job.

“On my list, my No. 1 person I’m calling is Dan Mullen,” the ESPN college football commentator said. “I have no idea, outside of a major head coaching opportunity, if he’d even entertain this conversation.

“If you’re asking me what I’d do, I’d pick up the phone and make him tell me no. … The dude can coach offense with anybody in the sport, and he can develop quarterbacks as well as anybody in the sport.”