Paul Finebaum cautions Brent Venables against more ‘subpar seasons’ at Oklahoma

Paul Finebaum understands certain programs have a lower threshold for mediocrity, and that’s the situation he believes Brent Venables is entering with his 4th season at Oklahoma.

Since arriving as the head coach in Norman, the Sooners have been riding an up-and-down roller coaster under Venables. Oklahoma went just 6-7 during 2022 in Venables’s first season leading the program before catapulting to a 10-3 record during the final season in the Big 12.

Unfortunately, the first season in SEC football dropped OU back to 6-7 overall, and the Sooners were an abysmal 2-6 in league play. That led to a 13th-place finish in the conference standings, and Finebaum says that’s not enough for a place like Oklahoma.

During an interview with On3 Sports, Finebaum put the 2025 season as a potential make-or-break point for Venables and cautioned the head coach against additional subpar seasons:

“You can’t continue to have subpar seasons at a school like Oklahoma, especially while your biggest rival is in the Playoff two years in a row,” said Finebaum.

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To Finebaum’s point, Oklahoma never finished with fewer than 8 wins in a season from 2000-21, and the last time the Sooners finished lower than 8 wins before Brent Venables took the head coaching job was 1999. That was the first season for Bob Stoops leading the program.

Now, Venables has managed to produce 2 seasons of less than 7 wins in the last 3 years, and that’s a recipe for disaster with the level of consistency fans expect in Norman.

Paul Harvey

Paul Harvey lives in Atlanta and covers SEC football.