What’s the narrative that’s looming for Brent Venables‘ Oklahoma moving into the 2025 season? Shaky Eight gave a trailer stating, “They won’t all be saved this time around.” They explored the head coaching seat temperatures, and Venables’ result came as “scalding.” On the other hand, Lance Taylor believes that the two head coaches who are under maximum pressure are Hugh Freeze and Venables.

Among these two, hanging by a thread, Venables’ string is likely to get snapped. The reason? They have been blessed with a gauntlet of a schedule as Venables’ boys will be playing the hardest seven games in the conference. If this was not enough, here comes some more tough discussions for Oklahoma. Thanks to their standings in the first AP Top 25 Poll ranking.

The AP Poll generously gave the Sooners the most ranked preseason opponents in the country, placing them at No.18. This marked the 26th straight season that Venables’ program has been ranked in the Top 25 of the AP Poll. This was taken on the August 13 episode of Cover 3 Podcast. Looks like the analyst Chip Patterson is not quite convinced with the AP Poll, and relies more on Coaches Poll. He said, “How about the AP having Oklahoma as a top 25 team? Coaches, no. Coaches fade and Brent Venables. Like I said, loving the Sooners.”

To which Tom Fornelli replied, “I think the AP voters are more inclined to look at narratives and possibilities.” This was then doubled down by Bud Elliot, “Yeah, totally agree. I also think you if you had the player personnel people vote in the coaches poll instead of the coaches, it would be better than the AP.” Well, the analysts are too cautious about the Venables era. After all, his Oklahoma stint has not been without its hiccups. 

Taking Lincoln Riley’s seat in 2022, the Sooners were ranked ninth in the preseason, and after opening 3-0, moved up to sixth. Still, three straight losses dropped them out of the Top 25. The end result? Venables’the  boys finished the season 6-7 with a bowl loss to Florida State. Things got a bit better in 2023. Oklahoma at the beginning were ranked 20th and climbed all the way to sixth before ending the season 15th. But again the past came to haunt Venables’ squad in 2024.

Expectations were hitting the roof, as it marked their debut in the SEC. At the beginning they were ranked 16th. Venables’ squad came up with a good momentum by starting the year with a 3-0. But the tables turned as Oklahoma lost four of its next five games, including a 31-point loss to Texas, to drop out of the rankings. Elliot thus came up with a brutal take, “There is a bit of like, are we sure Venables can coach here? Which scares the h–l out of me. Like record, Venables is my number one question about this team. Is he just a Will Muschamp? Is he just a D Coordinator cause that happens sometimes?” Not just the head coach, even the quarterback was not spared from the critical analysis. 

Brent Venables’ burden got heavier with a quarterback whose past came knocking

Looks like when it’s John Mateer, his past is going to hold high value. For instance, right now, Venables quarterback has caught the headlines because of a game from almost three years ago. Back then, USC captured a win over UCLA in November. However, images have started to do rounds that show Mateer making a payment regarding Riley’s squad’s victory over UCLA. The Venmo payment screenshot makes the seat hotter for Venables’ quarterback as it reads, “Sports Gambling (UCLA vs USC).”

And what did Mateer say in his defense? The quarterback claimed, “The allegations that I once participated in sports gambling are false. My previous Venmo descriptions did not accurately portray the transactions in question but were instead inside jokes between me and my friends.” This reaction came off as interesting for Elliot. He thinks Mateer is either intentionally hilarious or so clueless that it comes across as brilliant. He shared, “John Mateer is either like really funny or so dumb that he’s genius. And either way, he’s good. Like, unless they find the guy who’s on the other end of these transactions and he’s like, ‘Yeah, it was actually sports gambling.’” 

While Brent Venables can just focus on the proving part to save his seat, his quarterback has got too many things on his plate. He got to prove himself in the SEC and go for a good run in the Heisman race. At the same time, he will have to go through his social media actions in the past and delete them. As Danny Kanell noted, “I talk to my kids about it all the time. Just be careful what you post. They’ll go back years, and this is to me for materiates is welcome to the SEC moment. Like, you’re at the big time now. Like everything you’ve done in your past is going to get scrutinized and they’ll dig deep.” Could this off-field drama throw a wrench in Mateer’s career climb?