OU football coach Brent Venables says John Mateer's offseason focus has been impressive
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NORMAN — Brent Venables' confidence heading into the 2026 season is perhaps the highest it's been since he was hired as head coach.
Oklahoma returns quarterback John Mateer and four of its five starters on the offensive line. The Sooners bring back their two leading rushers from a season ago and completely overhauled their tight ends unit with new coach Jason Witten, while also adding more talent at receiver.
Venables' defense is projected to be one of the best units nationally and he's anxious to get on the practice field beginning Wednesday.
"We have an opportunity to have a really good football team," Venables said.
OU will go as far Mateer takes them.
The Sooners' quarterback broke his thumb during the fourth game of the season, which led to inconsistency on the field. But those around the program, including Venables, have all the confidence in the world in Mateer.
"He's in a much different place than what he was a year ago now as a returning starter in the SEC with what to expect week in and week out and then building the cohesion and the chemistry offensively speaking," Venables said. "He's very natural from a relationship standpoint. He doesn't have to try to be a dude. He is. And so really proud of all the work that he's put into the out-of-season. Everybody's followed his lead."
With Mateer healthy and surrounded by improved depth and weapons, Venables believes the ceiling is high for his group. He has good reason too as OU was ranked No. 9 in Tuesday's coaches poll.
There are a lot of believers in the Sooners this year. But none of the preseason hype matters once OU puts the pads and cleats on this week.
"There's a lot of variable that go into (being successful)," Venables said. "We were on track with that going into 2024 but it's hard to lose nine starters on offense; it's hard with a freshman quarterback."
Brent Venables says 'anything is possible' about exploring former class of 2022 players
The world of college athletics was stunned last Friday when Judge Charlotte Sweeney of the U.S. District Court of Colorado granted a preliminary injunction requiring the NCAA to declare all high school class of 2022 athletes who exhausted all four of their seasons eligible.
The ruling opened the floodgates for former class of 2022 athletes to explore a return to college. Venables made clear he's open to anything to improve OU's roster.
"Anything's possible as far as what we might explore," Venables said.
He also likes the NCAA's new five-for-five eligibility rule, which granted Division I student-athletes five years of eligibility if they enroll in college no later than the academic year after their 19th birthday.
"It's great, it simplifies a lot of things," Venables said. "No. 1 for us, it helps from a transfer pool standpoint, so somebody's not hijacking you and deal with the redshirt year, so that takes that … it takes that piece out of the equation when it comes to evaluating opportunities for young men and what might happen down the road and whatnot."
Safety Peyton Bowen, one of the players who could benefit from the new rule, said Tuesday he has no plans to use his fifth year. His goal is to play well enough this season to get drafted.
“I don't want to use my fifth year," Bowen said. "But if that happens, it happens. Ultimately, I'm planning on having my best year.”
As Venables continues to build relationships with general manager Jim Nagy's front office staff, he believes the new rule will make recruiting and retention a smoother process.
"It creates a little more buy-in, and incentivizes to be good right where your feet are," Venables said. "That's great. And obviously, the NCAA is trying to simplify some of the things from a time-slot standpoint, how long guys are in college. So I like the simplicity of it. It looks like it's going to be better from a management, roster management standpoint as well."
Time for PJ Adebawore to break out?
Taylor Wein made headlines two weeks ago at SEC Media Days when he picked former five-star PJ Adebawore as his breakout player on defense.
Adebawore, entering his fourth season with the Sooners, has yet to have the type of impact he was once projected to. He's proved to be a powerful run stopper but injuries have limited his pass rushing ability.
The Kansas City, Missouri, native played in all 13 games last season and totaled 17 tackles (5.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks) and a QB hurry. There's optimism this could be PJ's year.
“It’s just a body of work to try to get his body back right so he can have the endurance to play quality, his best football," Venables said. "He’s shown great signs. His role last year, he did some really good things, and now it’s an opportunity for him to show he’s a guy that can be a pillar for us on our defense."
OU is hoping he can step up his play within an edge group that includes Wein and inexperienced players like Danny Okoye and Wyatt Gilmore. If you ask Venables and defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis, a lot of what Adebawore has endured throughout his career has been out of his control.
Adebawore was almost tempted to transfer in January when he entered his name into the portal for roughly two minutes later before withdrawing and deciding to return.
Venables concurs with Wein. Adebawore has put in the work and now it's time for him to show it on the field.
"He’s got the talent, the want-to, the ability," Venables said. "He’s put in a tremendous amount of work. That’s what Taylor recognizes. It’s not that it’s just a friend, a guy he’s pulling for; he’s seeing PJ sacrifice and the work he’s put in when typically that is a reason to believe good things are in front of him — with the talent and desire.”
Colton Sulley covers the Oklahoma Sooners for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Colton? He can be reached at csulley@oklahoman.com or on X/Twitter at @colton_sulley. Support Colton's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OU football coach Brent Venables says John Mateer's offseason focus has been impressive
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