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Oklahoma Football Makes Big Decision to Address Major Program Issue

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Toran Flores | Last updated Jun 9, 2025 1:05 PM ET

The Oklahoma Sooners football team is entering the 2025 season with significant challenges that need to be addressed.

After a 6-6 regular season record that led to their 21-20 loss to Navy in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl, Oklahoma is looking to improve on last season as they adjust to their second year in the SEC and the conference's list of juggernaut teams.

It will be the fourth season that head coach Brent Venables will be leading this Sooners squad.

Oklahoma experienced a strange number of injuries in 2024, leading to them falling out of the Top 25 by mid-October and never returning.

During a struggling season, Oklahoma's inability to stay healthy led to a wide receiver room that lost all five of its top five receivers and an offensive line that mixed and matched with over a dozen different starting lineups.

Their injury problems transitioned into 2025 as well, with nine players missing the team's spring training program.

It's been a key factor to address, and Oklahoma has decided to look for some answers behind the injury-riddled team.

The team is hiring former New Orleans Saints' director of rehabilitation, Jonathan Gress, as their next head football trainer.

Sources: OU is hiring Jonathan Gress as its head football trainer. Gress has been the director of rehabilitation for the New Orleans Saints since 2019.

In addition to Gress, Oklahoma also plans to hire a “return-to-play” trainer later this summer. https://t.co/SvXgLI2fcb
— George Stoia III (@GeorgeStoia) June 9, 2025

Gress is an Oklahoma native and earned his master's degree from the university in physical training back in 2008.

It's been reported that Gress is planning on bringing in a "return-to-play" trainer later this summer, according to George Stoia III of On3 Sports.

This move is an attempt to find a solution behind the Sooners football team that has struggled to stay healthy and it's factored into Oklahoma staying competitive in college football.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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