Tramel: Will Brent Venables' $175M dream facility for OU football get built?

Thad Turnipseed was among the first to arrive in the mornings at the OU football offices and among the last to leave. A good chunk of his time was spent advocating for the $175 million football headquarters that Brent Venables wants constructed to replace the Switzer Center. 

Turnipseed was a bulldog, OU insiders say, in pushing for the facility. The voice for Venables, whose time was better spent doing other things, like recruiting and coaching ballplayers who could keep the Sooners’ standards high as they near entry into the Southeastern Conference.

But now Turnipseed is gone. The executive director of football administration is out, and while it’s not clear whether this was a firing or a resignation, safe to say that Turnipseed did not mesh well with OU administrators.

And Turnipseed’s departure is not a good sign for a quick completion of the proposed $175 million project. Or even completion at all.

Remember, in May 2022, long before the OU regents voted to move forward with feasibility studies and hiring project managers for the football headquarters, the regents voted to do the same with the west-side renovations high above Owen Field.

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It seems unlikely that Venables’ headquarters dream would be prioritized over the west-side stadium renovations, primarily because the new luxury suites planned for the west side would be a net-positive in revenue.

And if Venables’ team drops off another 6-7 record in 2023, he’s not likely to see the first shovel dig up dirt for the new HQ, much less completion of the massive project.

The Sooners’ prospects for 2023 are considerably better than 6-7, of course, and a return to championship form would do wonders for fundraising.

OU’s financial situation is not great. That’s true of most university athletic departments, still fighting their way out of the pandemic season of 2020, when revenues cratered and budgets were slashed.

The Sooners are paying a $50 million exit fee to leave the Big 12 a year early and won’t get a full SEC share of revenues until 2025-26, though the eventual SEC revenues will be much greater than what OU has been receiving in the Big 12.

Massive projects like the west-side renovations and the football headquarters are funded by athletic-department revenues and donors. The university will not be a financial partner and likely couldn’t be if it wanted to; OU’s bond capacity is virtually maxed out already, with projects under way and more to come.

Even the necessity of a new football headquarters is not clear. Seeking to replicate the Clemson program, Venables has made the project a primary goal of his program.

But the renovated Switzer Center is only five years old, and it’s not like the Switzer Center couldn’t be revamped at some point.

Besides, college football has changed dramatically since Clemson’s rise almost a decade ago. Name, image and likeness now dominates recruiting; players in the past were swayed by fabulous facilities, because that was schools’ main avenue to show commitment to players.

Now, money can flow to players directly, through NIL. Players will take money over facilities every time.

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As Maryland coach Mike Locksley told The Athletic of the Terrapins’ new $149 million Jones-Hill House, “unfortunately, we moved in at a time when facilities have been de-emphasized in a recruit’s mind. Because they’d get dressed in the trash can for $25,000.”

And indeed, Venables’ recruiting has been superb, at least according to the rankings crowd, despite the sub-par 2022 season.

Venables is smart enough to understand the financial realities of his dream facility. But he can’t be pleased with Turnipseed’s departure. Venables and Turnipseed were thick.

OU already has accommodated Venables is a number of ways. One of the reasons Lincoln Riley left for Southern Cal was frustration over finances. Riley wanted a bigger budget for personnel, and improvements came slower than what he wanted.

Then Venables was hired and was given a far bigger budget for personnel than what Riley sought, plus the agreement to build the new headquarters.

A football headquarters that, with Turnipseed’s departure, seems further, not closer, to construction.

Berry Tramel: Berry can be reached at 405-760-8080 or at btramel@oklahoman.com. He can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including FM-98.1. Support his work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today. 

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football: Will Brent Venables' dream facility get built?