In 2025, as the temperatures start to get below freezing and the flat plains of Oklahoma allow gusts of wind to hit Norman, making it unbearable, head coach Brent Venables is in the trenches doing the work that no one is thinking about.
Just when the Sooners start to lose all of their staff or a few here and there like their defensive coordinator and assistant general manager, they start to gain traction in the portal. Since that’s happened, they have really made big-time moves that have this program on the right track to having a successful rebuild.
One of the things that Venables and co. are doing that isn’t being talked about quite enough, and it’s pretty hard to do in this new era of college football, is retaining some really, really good, young football players.
Yes, they have lost the second most players to the transfer portal on the SEC. However, you can make a case that the majority of the players they lost were not going to play much in 2025, and the ones they have managed to keep that were on the brink of leaving, will have big roles in 2025.