On the eve of the Oklahoma Sooners’ 2025 season opener on Friday evening, news broke that OU head coach Brent Venables took a $1 million pay cut so that money could go toward the Sooners’ revenue share, which is how student-athletes now get paid.
USA Today first reported the news, but the only word from Venables or OU at the time was a statement from the university that said, “It was initiated by Coach Venables as a one-time give-back to contribute to the department’s revenue-sharing efforts.”
Finally, Saturday night after the Sooners beat Illinois State 35-3, Venables was asked and explained why he made the gesture and also admitted he didn’t know how the information got out.
Brent Venables explains why he took pay cut to go toward Sooners’ revenue share
“I did it because I think it was the right thing to do,” Venables said. “I’ve lived a very favor career, way more than I deserve. I wanna help Oklahoma be a winner. Everybody can play a role into that. (Venables’ wife) Julie and I spoke over several days on what that might look like. We worked it out with the administration. I just think it’s right. The players deserve that. Everything’s different than what it was 5, 10, 15 years ago…