Brent Venables still has respect to earn nationally in 2026

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Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables is entering his fifth season at the helm in Norman in 2026. After going 6-7 in 2022, he rebounded to go 10-3 in 2023. As the program entered the SEC, Venables slipped again to 6-7 in 2024, setting up a pivotal season in 2025.

Oklahoma responded by going 10-3 last year, making the College Football Playoff for the first time under Venables. Now, the 2026 season is on the horizon and OU is hoping to make a return trip to the CFP that would further solidify Venables’ standing in Norman.

While there’s strong internal belief in what Venables is building, there’s still plenty he has to prove to the rest of the nation. Sporting News’ Bill Bender ranked all 138 head coaches at the Division I FBS level of college football for 2026, and while Venables made a big jump compared to last year, he’s still barely inside the top 25.

Bender places Venables as the country’s 23rd-best head coach, and the eighth-best head man in the SEC. Notably, he’s ranked eight spots below the man he replaced in Norman, USC’s Lincoln Riley, who checks in at 15th. Venables was ranked 41st on this list last year, meaning he made an 18-spot jump into the top 25.

“Venables was on the hot seat heading into last season, and he responded by leading the Sooners back to the College Football Playoff. Hiring offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle was a good move – and the defense ranked seventh in the FBS at 15.5 points per game. Oklahoma was 5-2 against ranked opponents through a brutal schedule in the SEC. Venables also has an extension that runs through 2029.” – Bill Bender, Sporting News.

The main knock on Venables is certainly those two six-win seasons. In Year 1, he was just trying to establish his culture and took over a cupboard that was pretty bare after Riley’s exit. However, the 2024 season was his low point.

Venables picking the wrong offensive coordinators (Seth Littrell, Joe Jon Finley, and Kevin Johns) and the wrong starting quarterbacks (Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins Jr.) helped to cripple an offense that also dealt with widespread injuries at wide receiver and offensive line, and struggled to run the ball. An offense that surged in 2023 with OC Jeff Lebby and starting QB Dillon Gabriel running the show fell flat in Venables’ third year.

OU’s head coach corrected those misfires in 2025 by bringing along OC Ben Arbuckle and starting QB John Mateer. While the offense would never have been confused with a juggernaut, it was better last season, and the expectation is that another step forward will be taken this year, with both Arbuckle and Mateer back.

Venables has completely rebuilt the defense at OU, taking a once-hapless unit and making it into the team’s backbone. That defense has always, and will always, be his strong suit, and it’s the reason why Oklahoma made the playoff last year. Now, it’s time for him to do the same with the other side of the ball. If he succeeds in doing that this year, his Sooners could have their most successful season of his tenure in 2026, and he could vault up lists like these again next offseason.

NCAA Division I FBS head coaches for the 2026 season

  • Air Force: Troy Calhoun
  • Akron: Joe Moorhead
  • Alabama: Kalen DeBoer
  • Appalachian State: Dowell Loggains
  • Arizona: Brent Brennan
  • Arizona State: Kenny Dillingham
  • Arkansas: Ryan Silverfield
  • Arkansas State: Butch Jones
  • Army: Jeff Monken
  • Auburn: Alex Golesh
  • Ball State: Mike Uremovich
  • Baylor: Dave Aranda
  • Boise State: Spencer Danielson
  • Boston College: Bill O’Brien
  • Bowling Green: Eddie George
  • Buffalo: Pete Lembo
  • BYU: Kalani Sitake
  • Cal: Tosh Lupoi
  • Central Michigan: Matt Drinkall
  • Charlotte: Tim Albin
  • Cincinnati: Scott Satterfield
  • Clemson: Dabo Swinney
  • Coastal Carolina: Ryan Beard
  • Colorado: Deion Sanders
  • Colorado State: Jim Mora
  • Delaware: Ryan Carty
  • Duke: Manny Diaz
  • East Carolina: Blake Harrell
  • Eastern Michigan: Chris Creighton
  • FAU: Zach Kittley
  • FIU: Willie Simmons
  • Florida: Jon Sumrall
  • Florida State: Mike Norvell
  • Fresno State: Matt Entz
  • Georgia: Kirby Smart
  • Georgia Southern: Clay Helton
  • Georgia State: Dell McGee
  • Georgia Tech: Brent Key
  • Hawaii: Timmy Chang
  • Houston: Willie Fritz
  • Illinois: Bret Bielema
  • Indiana: Curt Cignetti
  • Iowa: Kirk Ferentz
  • Iowa State: Jimmy Rogers
  • Jacksonville State: Charles Kelly
  • James Madison: Billy Napier
  • Kansas: Lance Leipold
  • Kansas State: Collin Klein
  • Kennesaw State: Jerry Mack
  • Kent State: Mark Carney
  • Kentucky: Will Stein
  • Liberty: Jamey Chadwell
  • Louisiana: Michael Desormeaux
  • Louisiana Tech: Sonny Cumbie
  • Louisville: Jeff Brohm
  • LSU: Lane Kiffin
  • Marshall: Tony Gibson
  • Maryland: Mike Locksley
  • Memphis: Charles Huff
  • Miami (FL): Mario Cristobal
  • Miami (OH): Chuck Martin
  • Michigan: Kyle Whittingham
  • Michigan State: Pat Fitzgerald
  • Middle Tennessee: Derek Mason
  • Minnesota: P.J. Fleck
  • Mississippi State: Jeff Lebby
  • Missouri: Eliah Drinkwitz
  • Missouri State: Casey Woods
  • Navy: Brian Newberry
  • Nebraska: Matt Rhule
  • Nevada: Jeff Choate
  • New Mexico: Jason Eck
  • New Mexico State: Tony Sanchez
  • North Carolina: Bill Belichick
  • NC State: Dave Doeren
  • North Dakota State: Tim Polasek
  • North Texas: Neal Brown
  • Northern Illinois: Rob Harley (interim)
  • Northwestern: David Braun
  • Notre Dame: Marcus Freeman
  • Ohio: John Hauser
  • Ohio State: Ryan Day
  • Oklahoma: Brent Venables
  • Oklahoma State: Eric Morris
  • Old Dominion: Ricky Rahne
  • Ole Miss: Pete Golding
  • Oregon: Dan Lanning
  • Oregon State: JaMarcus Shephard
  • Penn State: Matt Campbell
  • Pittsburgh: Pat Narduzzi
  • Purdue: Barry Odom
  • Rice: Scott Abell
  • Rutgers: Greg Schiano
  • Sacramento State: Alonzo Carter
  • Sam Houston: Phil Longo
  • San Diego State: Sean Lewis
  • San Jose State: Ken Niumatalolo
  • SMU: Rhett Lashlee
  • South Alabama: Major Applewhite
  • South Carolina: Shane Beamer
  • Southern Mississippi: Blake Anderson
  • Stanford: Tavita Pritchard
  • Syracuse: Fran Brown
  • TCU: Sonny Dykes
  • Temple: K.C. Keeler
  • Tennessee: Josh Heupel
  • Texas: Steve Sarkisian
  • Texas A&M: Mike Elko
  • Texas State: G.J. Kinne
  • Texas Tech: Joey McGuire
  • Toledo: Mike Jacobs
  • Troy: Gerad Parker
  • Tulane: Will Hall
  • Tulsa: Tre Lamb
  • UAB: Alex Mortensen
  • UCF: Scott Frost
  • UCLA: Bob Chesney
  • UConn: Jason Candle
  • ULM: Bryant Vincent
  • UMass: Joe Harasymiak
  • UNLV: Dan Mullen
  • USF: Brian Hartline
  • USC: Lincoln Riley
  • Utah: Morgan Scalley
  • Utah State: Bronco Mendenhall
  • UTEP: Scotty Walden
  • UTSA: Jeff Traylor
  • Vanderbilt: Clark Lea
  • Virginia: Tony Elliott
  • Virginia Tech: James Franklin
  • Wake Forest: Jake Dickert
  • Washington: Jedd Fisch
  • Washington State: Kirby Moore
  • West Virginia: Rich Rodriguez
  • Western Kentucky: Tyson Helton
  • Western Michigan: Lance Taylor
  • Wisconsin: Luke Fickell
  • Wyoming: Jay Sawvel

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Brent Venables has more to prove nationally ahead of fifth season

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