Brent Venables Gives Update on Oklahoma's Search for Offensive Coordinator

Venables fired OC Seth Littrell midseason and is now entering crunch time on finding his replacement with the early signing period and transfer window opening soon.

Nov 9, 2024; Columbia, Missouri, USA; Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables locks arms with his team prior to a game against the Missouri Tigers at Faurot Field at Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images

Oklahoma still has two regular-season games left on the schedule, but with the college football timeframe today, Brent Venables already has to be looking toward the future, especially with a big hire to make. 

During his weekly press conference on Tuesday, Venables got several direct questions about where he stands on hiring OU's next offensive coordinator, and whether all the rumors and speculation about Dan Mullen are true.

“We've talked to several people, and so we feel like we're in a good position where we need to be,” Venables said. “Haven’t put a hard deadline on it, making that decision. Doing the process its due diligence. There's a lot of layers to it, as you can imagine, and very sensitive to what we're trying to do here to finish out the year, give ourselves a chance to win our last two regular-season games and continue to get better, and then, I've got to, there's got to be a sense of urgency. There certainly is, finding the best solution to where we're at right now. 

“But there is a real thing called a regular season that's got to finish up. And if I'm talking to the right people, which I believe I am, then they're going to be sensitive to finishing what they started and being loyal to their players and the people that they work alongside with, things of that nature. But sooner rather than later is when I want it finished. But I want to get it right, and so that's our focus.”

A name that continues to pop up in the Sooners’ offensive coordinator search is Mullen, the former Florida and Mississippi State head coach who was also Tim Tebow's offensive coordinator in Gainesville. Florida fired Mullen during the 2021 season and he hasn’t had a coaching job in college since, instead working as an analyst for ESPN. Before he was a head coach, Mullen was a successful offensive coordinator at Florida and also coached quarterbacks at Florida, Utah and Bowling Green. 

Venables was specifically asked about Mullen during Tuesday’s presser, and it sounded as if Mullen is not only a target for Venables now, but also was before he promoted Littrell from offensive analyst to offensive coordinator last year. 

"I’m not going to comment about the details of the search,” Venables said. “I reached out to him a year ago, so.”

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Venables fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell midseason after Littrell called plays for the Sooners for only seven games. Co-offensive coordinator and tight ends coach Joe Jon Finley has had playcalling duties since. Offensive analyst Kevin Johns was also promoted to co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the move. 

“Seth is an all-time great Sooner," Venables said in a press release after the decision. "He has a deep love for this university and football program, and has poured his heart and soul into both. Despite that, our performance as an offense this season has not at all lived up to the OU standard and I felt a change was necessary now."

Theoretically, the early firing gave OU a jumpstart on finding Littrell’s replacement, which will be a crucial hire for Venables and his future at OU. The Sooners are now entering crunch time, though, despite still preparing for Alabama and LSU on the schedule. The early signing period is only weeks away, starting on Wednesday, Dec. 4. 

The transfer portal window also opens on Monday, Dec. 9. Not having an offensive coordinator then or depending on who it is could play a huge factor for who stays and who hops in the portal from OU’s offense. 

Considering those fast-approaching dates, still with two games left, Venables was asked about the search for his next offensive coordinator during Tuesday’s weekly press conference. 

Other possible candidates include names like Ben Arbuckle, Jake Spavital, Joe Craddock and Mike Shanahan.