Brent Venables' Hot Seat Addressed by Oklahoma's Board of Regents amid 5-4 Record

Despite Oklahoma's 5-4 record this season, the university's board of regents isn't putting pressure on head coach Brent Venables.

"The board doesn't typically comment much on what's going on in the athletic department. That's maybe a smart thing. But I want to say this … our head coach, Brent Venables, is not on the hot seat," Oklahoma Board of Regents chair Rick Nagel said in a meeting on Wednesday morning, per Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman.

Venables had led the Sooners to a 10-3 record and a trip to the College Football Playoff last season before losing in the first round. It was the second 10-win season of his tenure since becoming Oklahoma head coach in 2022. He's yet to achieve a postseason win, losing in all three bowl game appearances.

The Sooners bounced back from a 42-25 blowout loss against South Carolina with a 23-7 win over Florida this past Saturday. Oklahoma has failed to string together multiple wins in a row this season, so Venables shook things up by firing offensive coordinator Ben Arbuckle and promoting Dallas Cowboys legend Jason Witten to offensive play-caller.

"Bragging on his ambition, and his excitement for the opportunity, you can't fabricate that," Venables said of Witten after the win over the Gators. "And I certainly didn't want someone to put a toe in the water, when willing to do it. I wanted someone who saw how good we could be."

Still, with another tough matchup against Ole Miss on deck this week, Oklahoma could revert to its old ways. A poor performance against the Rebels would surely reignite the chatter about Venables' job security.