When Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma taking the Head Coaching job at USC it shocked the College Football world as Riley left one of the premier jobs in the sport which rarely happens. As the Sooners needed to pivot, they landed on Brent Venables who was the architect of two National Championship defenses for Dabo Swinney at Clemson.
Brent Venables' first three seasons at Oklahoma have had highs and lows, resulting in an overall 22-17 record. After a 6-7 season in Year One, the Sooners bounced back going 10-3 in Venables' second season, setting high expectations for 2024. The Sooners instead reverted back to their past record, going 6-7 once again.
The 2024 season was especially brutal as the Sooners' offense was abysmal, resulting in Venables firing his offensive coordinator. Heading into the 2025 season, Venables will need to prove he's the right coach for the program, otherwise he may be searching for a new job. The good news for Brent Venables is that the Sooners may finally have the pieces needed to build a winner.
After firing his offensive coordinator, Brent Venables landed Washington State's Ben Arbuckle who's one of the brightest young offensive minds in College Football. In 2024, Arbuckle led the Cougars offense to the Nation's 12th ranked scoring offense with 36.6 points per game. Adding Arbuckle made another massive impact on the Sooners future.
John Mateer and Jaydn Ott will save Brent Venables job
The driving force behind Washington State's offense was John Mateer, who was incredible in his first season as the starter. Not only did John Mateer lead the team passing with 276.1 yards per game which ranked 16th in the Country, but, he led the team with 826 yards and 15 touchdowns.
After a season where the Sooners rotated through Jackson Arnold and Michael Hawkins, having a steady force like John Mateer under center solves a ton of problems. Mateer will come in and ignite an offense that lacked firepower, transforming the team through the air and on the ground. If Mateer takes a leap in his second year in this offense, the Sooners will have a Heisman contender at Quarterback.
While adding Mateer would've been enough for the Sooners to take a massive leap on offense, the staff realized that every Batman needs his Robin. This Spring, the Sooners made an addition that rivals landing Mateer when they brought in Cal running back Jaydn Ott.
The 2024 season wasn't what anyone would've expected from Jaydn Ott as his carries went down resulting in him rushing for just 385 yards on 116 attempts. When Ott is healthy and rolling, he's proven that he can be one of the best backs in the Country with a 1,305-yard season in 2024 while he's also a receiver out of the backfield.
Like John Mateer, anytime that Jaydn Ott touches the football, he's a threat to score a touchdown with blazing speed. The reason to believe that Jaydn Ott will bounce back is the fact that he's possibly the perfect fit for a Ben Arbuckle offense, starting with his explosiveness. Ott's ability as a receiver will play a massive factor in the team's offense as well as Arbuckle's schemes up plenty of touches to get a receiver in space.
John Mateer and Jaydn Ott have now become the two players most responsible for turning around the Oklahoma Sooners. The attention Mateer and Ott will draw will help the Sooners receiving core in facing more 1 on 1 matchups. Whether or not the two pan out remains to be seen but, when the Sooners take the field, they'll be far more talented than they were last season.