A look at where CBS Sports ranks Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables
Brent Venables has seemingly done everything right since touching down in Norman back in December. He’s remaking the program into his vision of what Oklahoma Sooners Football is supposed to be, and with the move to the SEC on the horizon, that’s a very exciting thing for Sooners fans.
College Football is home to some of the greatest football minds in the world and despite how promising he is, Venables still has to prove that he can run a program, not just one of FBS’ best defenses.
The early returns look good, with Venables reviving the 2022 and 2023 recruiting classes almost overnight after both of them nosedived following the departure of Lincoln Riley. However, there is one crucial test remaining for Venables.
We need to play some football games.
CBS’ Tom Fornelli ranked all of the Power 5 Head Coaches and Venables checked in at 45.
Brent Venables: While I don’t have the complete records, I believe this is the highest a debuting head coach has ever appeared in our coach rankings. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Venables has been the mastermind behind some of the best defenses in the country at Clemson and won multiple national titles there. Every year, people wondered when he’d finally move on to a head coaching job, and now he’s done it at a powerhouse program like Oklahoma. Those accolades, combined with the power of the Oklahoma program, are what pushed him up a lot of our boards. 2021 rank: n/a
CBS – Tom Fornelli
I know that some OU fans will be a bit perturbed at this ranking at first glance, but let’s take a closer look at this.
He says it right at the beginning of the blurb: first-time head coaches don’t get this high on their first try. Give it a year or two, and Venables will be in the top 20 easily.
The only thing weighing down Venables is the lack of experience. Don’t expect him to be ranked lower than the likes of Steve Sarkisian and Chip Kelly.
This is a new era, Sooners fans. Much like our program, Venables will only get better and better as time goes on.
