By Rock Westfall
The perfect storm of the Oklahoma Sooners, Head Coach Brent Venables, and Athletic Director Joe Castiglione has intensified after Sunday evening’s firing of offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who was in his first season in that role.
The Oklahoma offense is hopelessly bad, with national rankings of 128th overall and 107th for scoring, with 11 turnovers. Furthermore, five-star sophomore quarterback Jackson Arnold has seen his career implode, losing the starting job midway through the fourth game of the season. In desperation, Arnold was put back in the lineup during Saturday’s 35-9 home loss to the South Carolina Gamecocks, which proved to be the final straw for Littrell.
Previously, Venables stated that he preferred not to make in-season staff changes. But a 1-3 start in the SEC, coupled with a hopelessly inept, disjointed, and unrhythmic offense, forced him to act.
“Seth is an all-time great Sooner,” Oklahoma coach Brent Venables said in a statement. “He has a deep love for this university and football program and has poured his heart and soul into both. Despite that, our performance as an offense this season has not at all lived up to the OU standard and I felt a change was necessary now.”
Co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley will take over interim play-calling duties. At the same time, analyst Kevin Johns, the former Duke offensive coordinator, has been promoted to interim quarterbacks coach and co-offensive coordinator.
When Athletic Director Joe Castiglione extended Venables during the summer, I wrote that it was a shutdown tactic to protect Venables should things get rocky in Oklahoma’s first SEC season. Sadly, for the Sooners, that looks to be exactly the case.
Venables Haunted by Sound of Gabriel’s Horn
While Oklahoma is imploding, its former quarterback, Dillon Gabriel, is lighting it up for the Oregon Ducks in what could be a national championship season. There is increasing debate as to why Gabriel transferred out of Oklahoma.
Venables says that immediately after the 2023 regular season, Gabriel told him he was leaving. But the other top theory is that Gabriel was encouraged to leave in order to pave the way for Arnold, who was not likely to stick around for a second year on the bench. Certainly, either way, Venables did not fight hard enough or make an all-out effort to convince Gabriel to stay. That has proven to be a fatal mistake.
Arnold was a highly coveted prospect and his disastrous first season as the OU starter has added to the pressure and perception that Oklahoma is incompetently led offensively. Should Gabriel lead Oregon to the national championship, Venables will never be forgiven in Norman, OK. Nor should he be.
https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/1845896776177668423
Fans have turned on the Arnold-Gabriel situation, saying that more could have and should have been done to keep a proven quarterback who puts up big numbers. The perception among fans and media is that Venables panicked and made a terrible bet on Arnold.
https://twitter.com/TJEckertKTUL/status/1848133421295706245
Oklahoma Has Not Recovered From Lincoln Riley’s Departure
From the moment former head coach Lincoln Riley bolted in the dead of night for USC, Oklahoma has been chasing its tail.
Athletic Director Joe Castiglione, perhaps the best AD in the nation, had to wing it. As usual, Oklahoma went with one of their own in Venables, who was a successful defensive coordinator under Bob Stoops.
But Venables had never been a head coach before and has proven to be ill-prepared in his current role. In fact, I wrote that Venables is Lincoln Riley inverted—a strong defensive coach with no vision offensively. Additionally, Venables is tasked with leading Oklahoma out of the Big 12 into the SEC gauntlet. So far, he is overwhelmed..
Personally, Brent Venables remains loved by the Oklahoma faithful but he has put himself on the clock by firing Littrell. The move might improve things marginally at best, but it is more window dressing than an actual solution. The long-term solution remains to be seen. Most importantly, Venables is now fully exposed. He hired Littrell only to fire him after seven games. As head coach, Venables ultimately owns the liability of his offense.
Venables should count his lucky stars that Castiglione extended him. But Joe C may soon come to regret handcuffing OU through the 2029 season on a contract worth over $51 million.
https://twitter.com/MichaelWBratton/status/1847703976386457897
Will Oklahoma Become Nebraska?
There is great irony in Oklahoma facing the prospect of becoming what its former rival Nebraska has become since leaving the Big 12 (formerly Big 8) for the Big Ten. The Huskers have struggled ever since the move was made to secure their financial future.
Oklahoma did the same by leaving the Big 12 for SEC riches. But like the Big Ten, the SEC is a bigger beast with substantially more program depth.
Oklahoma sees the future and is discovering that it may not work.
Brent Venables is on the clock.
