Is Brent Venables Making a Mistake?

There’s no understating how important this year is for Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners football team. If a winning season is out of reach, it’s likely that Venables will be given the boot. It’ll also mean that 2026 could see a directionless Sooners football program. These offseason months are a critical early chance to avoid that future, but only if the right choices are being made.

Is Brent Venables Making a Mistake?

Sooners Football Stands Alone

In Stillwater, the Oklahoma State Cowboys are starting with a brand new crew. In the face of disaster, Head Coach Mike Gundy and the program are opting to wipe the slate clean. So far, that’s looking to have been a good decision for morale and early-season projections alike.

In Tulsa, the Golden Hurricanes are continuing their backslide. After three worsening seasons, they’re looking for another head coach. Tulsa could go even further, though, and replace the starting roster as well.

In Norman, the Oklahoma Sooners are picking up the pieces. A less-than-satisfying 2025 has left both the coaching staff and the roster reeling. While the other teams in the panhandle state are starting fresh, the Sooners are trying something different. They’re not throwing everything out, but they’re also not going as far as they could.

Brent Venables Cedes Offense To Ben Arbuckle

The title of ‘head coach’ seems to be an ill-fitting one for Venables. It’s one of the most coveted positions in college football. Yet, three years in, Venables still hasn’t been able to adjust to the position.

His recruiting strategy, so far, has been largely unsuccessful. His choice of coordinators has been hit or miss. So, heading into the 2025 college football season, Venables is taking over all the responsibilities for defensive coordinator. This means ceding the entirety of the offense to his new right-hand man: Ben Arbuckle.

Can Arbuckle carry an offense? Most likely, yes. Arbuckle’s been an offensive coordinator for years. Arbuckle taking more control is just another step on the road to a head coaching job of his own. Can Venables carry both the head coach and defensive coordinator? That’s where things get tricky, but not for the reasons you’d expect.

Is Brent Venables Stepping Down?

When a head coach tries to play both roles, they usually opt to control the offense. As their job is to win games, most people don’t raise too much of a fuss. After all, they’re just taking a more active role in the side that wins games.

Because he’s taking over the defense, however, all people see is a man stepping down from his primary job. Now, is Venables actually stepping down? It’s entirely possible. If Sooners football is unable to capture a winning record this season, but has one of the best defenses along the way, then this is a move that gives Venables a better shot at a job elsewhere.

Still, for all one could argue about it, the fact is that this move is perhaps the most respectable. It’s also entirely emblematic of what a head coach should be doing: Recognizing shortcomings and correcting them for the sake of the program. The only difference here is that Venables is the shortcoming. Simply acknowledging that would be one thing, but Venables isn’t one to do the easy or simple. He’s stepping back from offense, stepping forward on defense, and looking to make the Sooners program better in the process- even if it means he’s not at the top.

Three Critical Questions

For all the chaos the announcement has been generating, it’s also given us three critical questions. Those questions are, simply, if’ ‘can’ and ‘should’. After a few weeks of deliberation, Last Word On Sports has the answer to all three.

Should Venables be both head coach and defensive coordinator? No, he shouldn’t. These jobs are separate for a reason and Venables wasted months on the Jim Knowles goose chase. Wes Goodwin, who the Sooners ended up hiring as an analyst, would have been fine in the role. Venables, however, is choosing to take the role for himself anyway.

Can Venables take on both jobs? Yes. Other coaches, such as Tampa Bay’s Todd Bowles, are doing it and finding success. With that said, what happens if Venables commits himself 100% to this new direction?

Venables’ shortcomings were laid bare when it came to offense. By giving Arbuckle carte blanche to do what he needs on offense, the Sooners football program is hopefully going to avoid all the pitfalls it has run into since Venables took over. By focusing on defense, Venables has a chance to make the most of what he’s always been best at.

Ultimately, is Brent Venables making a mistake? Last Word On Sports thinks the likelihood is very high that he is. As we saw last season, though, things never go the way we expect in college football.