Brent Venables' buyout details: Here's how much it will cost Oklahoma to fire head coach
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Brent Venables' buyout details: Here's how much it will cost Oklahoma to fire head coach originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The Oklahoma Sooners are struggling in 2026. Just one season after making the College Football Playoff in 2025, the Sooners enter a Week 6 game against Texas at 2-2, with losses to Michigan and Georgia.
As Oklahoma continues to struggle on the field, questions are starting to arise about the status of Sooners head coach Brent Venables. Venables, who is in his fifth season in Norman, has two losing seasons in his career, paired with two 10-win seasons in 2023 and last season.
Here's a look at Venables' contract with Oklahoma and see how much it might cost the school to move on from him.
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Brent Venables contract
Fans hoping that Venables' contract might be nearing an end will be disappointed to hear that he just signed a new deal with Oklahoma. In August 2026, Venables agreed to a new, six-year contract with the Sooners that is set to go through the 2031 season.
According to ESPN's Pete Thamel, it adds two more years to his existing contract with the school, and puts his annual salary to $10.5 million.
That would make him one of the Top-10 highest-paid coaches in the country, based on On3Sports' most recent list of coach salaries.
The deal comes as Oklahoma recently hired a new athletic director, Roger Denny, to replace longtime Sooners AD Joe Castiglione.
"Coach Venables is elite at building culture — not just in the locker room, but throughout the entire program," Denny said of the Oklahoma head coach in a news release of the extension. Our players are drawn to him. They trust him, they believe in him and he has a unique ability to connect with young men and bring out the best in them. What I hope this extension says to our players is that in an environment that changes every day, we're investing in stability for our program. Amidst the disruption of college sports, Oklahoma will be a place where student-athletes will find consistency."
Venables led Oklahoma to its first CFP berth since 2019 last season, losing 23-21 to Alabama at home.
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Brent Venables buyout
While the exact dollar amount of what his buyout currently is is not clear, using his current $10.5 million salary with the remaining five years left on his deal would be estimated to be between $55 and $60 million.
Prior to his extension, his buyout was already at $26.2 million.
Brent Venables record
Venables is 34-22 overall as Oklahoma's head coach. He finished 6-7 his first season in 2022, and led the Sooners to a 10-3 finish in 2023, with a loss to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. Oklahoma finished 6-6 last season, but dropped to 6-7 with a loss to Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl.
Across his first four seasons with the Sooners, Venables is 0-4 in both bowl games and CFP games. With remaining games to come against Texas, Kentucky Mississippi State, Florida, Ole Miss and Missouri, it's hard to see Oklahoma even making a bowl game this season.
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