Brent Venables, Oklahoma Reportedly Agree to New Contract, Will Be Among CFB's Highest-Paid HCs

Brent Venables led Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff last season and will now be with the program for the foreseeable future.

ESPN's Pete Thamel reported Thursday the Sooners and Venables agreed to a new six-year contract that adds two years to his current deal and runs through the 2031 campaign. The contract will pay the coach an average of $10.5 million per year.

According to USA Today's database, it will make him the sixth-highest-paid coach in the sport on an annual average.

Only Georgia's Kirby Smart ($13.3 million per year), Ohio State's Ryan Day ($12.6 million), USC's Lincoln Riley ($11.5 million), Clemson's Dabo Swinney ($11.4 million) and Texas' Steve Sarkisian ($10.8 million) will be paid more.

Smart, Day and Swinney are all national-championship-winning coaches, while Riley and Sarkisian are leading two of the nation's most prominent programs in USC and Texas.

As for Venables, he helped Swinney win two national championships at Clemson as a defensive coach who was widely considered one of the best assistants in all of college football. In fact, the Tigers have struggled to remain among the nation's best since Venables left to become Oklahoma's head coach.

Yet things did not get off to an ideal start for the Sooners during his tenure, as they went 6-7 and lost in the Cheez-It Bowl in his first season. They also went 6-7 and lost the Armed Forces Bowl during his third year in 2024.

In fact, Oklahoma still hasn't won a postseason game in Venables' four years at the helm.

Still, it made notable strides last season, going from a 6-7 team to one that went 10-2 in the regular season and reached the CFP. That was largely because of the play on the defensive side of the ball, as Oklahoma was seventh in the country and first in the SEC in points allowed per game.

That Venables, who is a defensive-minded coach with a defensive background, was able to get the Sooners to play at an elite level on that side of the ball was anything but surprising.

While Oklahoma eventually lost to Alabama in the first round of the CFP, it was once again among the nation's best teams. And that is where Venables will look to help it stay during the course of his new contract extension.