Brent Venables enters the fall with the weight of a legacy program on his shoulders and the hot breath of expectation on his neck. Oklahoma fans aren’t just hoping for a bounce-back—they’re demanding it. After a pair of 6-7 seasons in 2022 and 2024, Venables went back to the drawing board and ripped up the old blueprint. The result? A new direction spearheaded by OC Ben Arbuckle and quarterback John Mateer, a WSU duo tasked with bringing a modern spark to Norman. And while Venables remains the defensive mind calling plays, the true storyline is whether this revamped operation can deliver the wins required to keep the pitchforks at bay.
The knives are already being sharpened. On That SEC Podcast, George Stoia didn’t sugarcoat what another average season could mean in Norman. On paper, the Oklahoma Sooners’ schedule looks daunting, and their win total is set at over/under 6.5.
When asked what would happen if Oklahoma went under their expected win total, Stoia delivered a thunderous warning. “If they go six and six again, I think this fan base is going to riot if they keep Brent Venables,” he said. “You’re going to have to make a really tough decision there.” It’s not just about the record—it’s the context. Stoia then added nuance, bringing in an if.
“If they have a bunch of injuries, say John Mateer goes down…if he gets injured early in the season or just fighting for your lives and get seven wins, I think that’s still a good year. You keep him [Venables],” Stoia added. Now, the subplot that’s emerging is who would even make that call if the Sooners underachieve again.
Stoia raised an eyebrow toward Jim Nagy and his increasing presence around the program. “Is it an NFL model? Is he the guy making that call, or is it Joe Castiglione the athletic director? You know, who is it—the president Joe Harroz? That’s where it gets really interesting,” Stoia said. This gray area of power dynamics in Norman has only fueled the tension. It’s one thing to have expectations. It’s another when no one knows who’s in the driver’s seat when those expectations aren’t met.
For now, the hope is that Mateer and Arbuckle can make all of this a moot point. Arbuckle, who arrives with a reputation for tempo and aggression, is expected to transform OU’s offense into a high-octane machine. And Mateer? He’s not just a plug-and-play starter—he might already give Oklahoma an edge in key matchups.
(subject to change)… but I counted 10 of 12 games that Oklahoma will have a QB advantage with John Mateer pulling the trigger…
The plot thickens.https://t.co/oHnothboMN pic.twitter.com/aMQ4XAuLj0
— J.D. PicKell (@jdpickell) May 29, 2025
The Oklahoma Sooners have “the quarterback advantage” against teams like Texas A&M (Marcel Reed), Tennessee (Joey Aguilar), Alabama (Ty Simpson, Austin Mack, Keelon Russell), and Missouri (Beau Pribula), according to insider evaluation. That’s no small claim in the ever-shifting quarterback landscape of the SEC. However, not everyone is ready to crown John Mateer as the undisputed alpha of the conference.
Against South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers and LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier, even insiders admit the edge isn’t so clear. Still, it’s a notable shift. Just a year ago, Oklahoma’s quarterback room was more question than answer.
Now? With Arbuckle pulling the strings, the Sooners’ offense is poised to be a matchup problem every Saturday. Will Backus of CBS Sports believes Brent Venables could be one of the Power Four coaches who improve his stock the most this year. “Venables made sweeping changes in the offseason,” Backus said. “He’ll handle defensive play-calling duties while handing the offensive coordinator role to Ben Arbuckle.”
That might be the smartest move Brent Venables has made yet. There’s a clarity to his plan now, a sense of urgency that wasn’t always evident the last two seasons. This isn’t about rebuilding. If Oklahoma finds itself stuck at six wins again, the decision may not be Venables’ to make.
Sooners’ GM is Brent Venables’ social media maestro
If there’s one person squeezing every drop of juice out of Oklahoma’s current momentum, it’s Sooner GM Jim Nagy. And no, he doesn’t have some long, storied past with OU or the Thunder—but you wouldn’t know that from his X feed.
“I think Jim just, he knows how to play into the fan base, right?” Stoia said. “He sees an opportunity to grasp it and, you know, he’s somebody that—going back to his Senior Bowl days—he’s somebody that would tweet a lot about certain players or his opinions on things.” Translation: Nagy gets it.
Nagy understands the social media game and how it can energize a program. “I think he knows the value, especially in college athletics right now and college football specifically, of being online, being present, you know, feeding into the fan base, getting them riled up.” That includes tossing in photos of Thunder favorites like Alex Caruso or Jalen Williams with captions like, “OU is looking for football equivalent of this dude in recruiting.”
If OU could build a football team like the Thunder, they’d be pretty damn good. They might even compete for a national title. With positive vibes rolling and a signature win over Alabama in their back pocket, Venables is still riding high. But anything less moving forward? It could get bumpy.
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