Brent Venables buyout: Details of Oklahoma head coach's contract

If Oklahoma decided to part ways with head coach Brent Venables at the end of the 2024 season, the Sooners would owe their third-year coach $44.8 million. However, Oklahoma would pay Venables in monthly installments for the remaining five years of his contract, which was signed last June. The contract does not require Oklahoma to pay Venables a lump sum by a certain date or include a reduced percentage buyout, both of which are popular in most contracts.

If fired on Dec. 1, 2024, the day after Oklahoma concludes the regular season at LSU, Venables would receive $711,243 per month until his contract expires on Jan. 31, 2030. The Sooners would pay Venables roughly $3.73 million per year for the next five years and one month.

Here is a full buyout breakdown:

• Buyout drops to $44.8 million after the 2024 season
• Buyout drops to $34.9 million after the 2025 season
• Buyout drops to $26.2 million after the 2026 season
• Buyout drops to $17.4 million after the 2027 season
• Buyout drops to $8.5 million after the 2028 season
• Buyout drops to $0 after the 2029 season

The new, six-year contract approved by the Oklahoma Board of Regents in June 2024 earned Venables an average of more than $8.5 million annually over the deal. The former Kansas State, Oklahoma and Clemson assistant initially signed a six-year, $43.5 million contract with the Sooners in Dec. 2021 when he was hired.

Venables’ contract is fully guaranteed. Typically, coaches’ deals include a clause for a reduced percentage the institution owes the coach if fired before the end of the contract. That trend is starting to go away, highlighted by Texas A&M firing Jimbo Fisher last year for a fully-guaranteed $76 million.

Oklahoma’s contract with Venables includes offset language. If Venables were to find a new job after the Sooners made a move on their head coach, their buyout could be reduced by the amount guaranteed by his new school.

According to the contract obtained by On3, Oklahoma provides $240,000 annually to Venables for private airfare. The Sooners also provide the head coach with a vehicle and a suite for his family at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium.

Venables’ contract extension came ahead of Oklahoma’s official arrival in the SEC. In the previous two seasons with the Sooners, the first-time head coach compiled a 16-10 record. His second season was highlighted by a win over No. 3 Texas in the Red River Rivalry and a 10-2 regular season.

The former Kansas State linebacker joined the Oklahoma staff in 1999 and held co-defensive coordinator and defensive coordinator titles until he left for Clemson after the 2011 season. After a decade at Clemson and helping the Tigers win the national title in 2016 and 2018, he returned to Oklahoma.