OU’s Brent Venables gets 6 year deal; Good or another Jimbo Fisher fiasco?

Sooner football coach Brent Venables has agreed to a new six-year contract with Oklahoma football that includes a significant raise and adds two additional seasons.  The inking will pay the 3rd year coach $51.6 million through the 2029 season.  The Oklahoma board of regents approved the deal today. , which the Oklahoma board of regents approved Friday, will keep Venables in Norman through the 2029 season.  Venables, 53, will earn $7.225 million in 2024.  His salary increases each year, topping out at $7.925 million in the final year of the contract.  Various reports have his salary a little higher, as of CBS sports: 

Oklahoma and coach Brent Venables have agreed to a six-year contract extension through the 2029 season that bumps Venables’ total pay to $49.65 million, according to 247Sports. The Sooners are less than two weeks away from officially joining the SEC in all sports on July 1 ahead of the 2024 season. 

The average annual value of Venables’ new deal hovers around $8.28 million. He will make $8.15 million in 2024 after earning $7.1 million a year ago. 

Venables, a former defensive coordinator and associate head coach at Oklahoma under Bob Stoops, was in the third year of a six-year contract paying him a fully guaranteed $43.5 million. He became a hot name in the coaching market while serving as defensive coordinator at Clemson from 2012-21, and Venables finally made the jump up in 2022 by returning to the Sooners to replace Lincoln Riley. He is 16-10 through two seasons with the Sooners, including a 10-8 record in Big 12 play. 

Whatever the final numbers are, did OU jump the gun with this extension, as of what the Texas Aggies did with their former head coach Jimbo Fisher?  Maybe.  The buyout for Venables, if he wants out of the contract down the road, is approximately $30 million plus change. That should not come into issue.  Venables loves OU and right now, the Athletic Department loves him.   But if Venables stumbles, say the Sooners go 5-7, or 4-8 in 2024, this contract extension comes into play and OU has a aTm Jimbo Fisher problem.  Sooner Nation does not accept losing football. Not in 1953, not in 2004, and not now, in 2024.  Think the minions at College Station are not into losing, they have nothing on the Sooner Nation, and that is not an exaggeration.  We shall see as we are just days away from the 2024 football season.

Photo credit:  FILE – Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables speaks during an NCAA college football news conference, Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2022, in Norman, Okla. Oklahoma has suffered back-to-back losses to Kansas State and TCU heading into the rivalry game against Texas. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki, File)

ASSOCIATED PRESS