I sure hope so given OU is headed to the rugged SEC in two years or so.
Now…if OU was staying in the Big 12 or moving to the PAC 12 or to the American Athletic Conference… I wouldn’t say Coach Venables would be the slam dunk choice. You could maybe then take a flyer on a younger coach like Dave Aranda or Shane Beamer or Dan Lanning or maybe even Lane Kiffin.
But not for this hire with these circumstances in place for OU given what’s at stake.
This is a Big Boy hire which will define Joe C’s ultimate legacy and OU’s football brand for the next ten to fifteen years.
I’m not going to jump the gun and assume it’s a deal until I here the words from Joe C’s mouth at a presser of some sort. But I hope it’s Coach Venables.
Why? Because he’s a winner. He comes from the Bill Snyder, Bob Stoops, Dabo Swiiney coaching trees. He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s a great recruiter familiar with the SEC and what it takes to win in the South at a nationally elite level.
But most of all you could envision a seamless meld with Coach Venables with Joe C and Bob Stoops forming an OU football power triangle of sorts as Joe C gets older.
Coach Venables would be the national face of the program and I think any OU fan would feel good about him being the voice/face of the program in a recruit’s home talking to his parents about why OU is a special place to play football and attend college.
You can never assume anything in coaching hires. I remember my friend was the O State beat writer and the Cowboys were in the process of replacing Bob Simmons as their football coach.
It had been announced Dirk Knutter from Boise State had made a verbal deal to become the next O State coach in two days. The next day I’m playing racquetball with my friend and his cell rang with AP’s Owen Canfield on the other end of the line.
True story …Owen Canfield then tells my friend on Friday the day before the scheduled presser in Stillwater that Dirk Knutter had just signed a contract with Arizona State to become their next head coach.
That is how Les Miles was to later become the O State head coach.
That’s why even though I’m thrilled with what ESPN’s Chris Lowe just reported on Brent Venables being the next OU head coach—I know for a fact you never assume anything in the world of college football hires.
But I very much hope Coach Venables is the hire.
I just saw the Top 6 from the Committee and I’m fine with what they did with Georgia. I’m not sure I agree with what they did because I would have dropped Georgia to No. 4. But I get it. They don’t want a back to back rematch.
But otherwise I agree with the Top 6 as a whole. I’ll do my Final Top 12 tonight and then get ready to head to Detroit per the flat screen to cover the Thunder playing against Cade Cunningham for the first time ever.
I guess I pretty much need to step up my Thunder coverage so as everything written about the Thunder in the Land of Lollipops, Rainbows, and Butterflies per the local media has some sort of truthful honest balance it.
I hope the Thunder Lollipop People can handle the truth now and again.
So much to cover in the world of Oklahoma sports.
Oh… this just in from a source…Joe Brady was fired by the Carolina Panthers. Connect those dots and see where that takes or doesn’t take Caleb Williams.
Never a dull moment in college football.