Column: How Oklahoma's Coaching Staff is 'Falling Incredibly Short'

Brent Venables acknowledges Sooner Nation's angst and says "it falls on my shoulders," while offensive coordinator Seth Littrell says the losing is "unacceptable."

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

NORMAN — Give Brent Venables credit. He certainly seems to have his finger on the pulse of the Oklahoma fan base.

And after the Sooners fell to 4-3 on the season Saturday with a 35-9 loss to South Carolina, he seems to fully embrace his role in OU’s ongoing debacle.

“I hate it for our fans. People that love Oklahoma,” Venables said. “We’re not doing anything to … enhancing the brand and the image of what this place has represented for such a long time. 

“And how you do what you do matters. We’re all falling incredibly short right now. But every single bit of it falls on my shoulders. It’s my responsibility and I’ve got to get it figured out. That’s on me.”

The Sooners have been blown out in back-to-back weeks — once by the arch-rival and No. 1-ranked team in the country at a neutral site, the other in Norman by an unranked team and traditional also-ran in the Southeastern Conference. 

This week, OU is back on the road at No. 18 Mississippi. Now at 1-3 in SEC play and having lost three of their last four games — all three were essentially over by halftime — Venables and his coaching staff are in the crosshairs of those passionate fans that comprise Sooner Nation.

“What we put out there today as a football team is nothing remotely close to the standard here at the University of Oklahoma,” Venables said. “Certainly not what we planned for today. 

“My job as the head coach is to evaluate everything and figure it out and find a way to put us in a better way position to be successful.”

So what’s the path forward? Is there one?

“The problems are easy to identify,” Venables said. “Fixing them isn’t always quite as easy, but that’s what we’re working relentlessly to do. We’re not doing it fast enough.”

The coaching staff tried some different things against the Gamecocks, with co-offensive coordinator Joe Jon Finley joining offensive coordinator Seth Littrell upstairs in the coaches box.

“It’s just another set of eyes,” Littrell said. “I felt like we just needed something different, obviously with the last couple of weeks, making sure we were seeing the same things. I think it was — it was great.”

“The iPads are amazing. You can learn a lot from those as well,” Venables said. “But to be able to see the structure of the defense and things of that nature (helps).”

Also, freshman walk-on Jacob Jordan finally got some offensive snaps, and essentially produced the team’s best game as a wide receiver this year: 6 catches for 82 yards.

And of course, Jackson Arnold was back on the field after starting QB Michael Hawkins opened with three catastrophic turnovers.

But almost nothing else looked appreciably different.

Littrell and Venables both said they liked the offensive game plan going into Saturday, but that game plan quickly went into the trash can when Hawkins threw two interceptions and lost a fumble on the Sooners’ first three series and the Sooners trailed 21-0 even though the defense only had played five snaps.

“First and foremost, it's unacceptable to come out and play that way early,” Littrell said. 

“You felt good (about the game plan) going in obviously until you go play and you match up,” Venables said. “Obviously wasn't anything about it that was good.”

It ended up being OU’s worst home loss to an unranked team since losing 52-24 to Kansas in 1996.

While Venables does embrace his role in OU football’s current state, it’s probably unlikely that he recognizes just how bad things have gotten, or how far the program has fallen. His arrival from Kansas State as co-defensive  coordinator in 1999 slid perfectly into Bob Stoops’ plan for an immediate rebuild from the Gary Gibbs-Howard Schnellenberger-John Blake decade of mediocrity and ineptitude. Success is all Venables has ever known at OU.

Now that he’s in charge, does Venables realize that every time his team takes the field, someone is sifting through the record books, examining the 1990s and the 1960s and the 1940s, trying to find the last time OU football was this bad?

Maybe he does. But more likely that’s not something he’s interested in knowing. What good would it do? Things only get tougher from here. 

In two seasons playing in the Big 12, Venables faced a ranked opponent in just three of the 18 league games.

This year alone, OU faces six ranked teams in the SEC. After Ole Miss comes a home date with FCS opponent Maine, but then the Sooners take on current No. 17 Missouri, No. 15 Alabama and No. 7 LSU.

For an OU offense that hasn’t shown a pulse in three of its four conference games, that means facing some of the nation’s most accomplished defenses. 

South Carolina’s defense now ranks No. 16 nationally in total yards allowed. Missouri ranks No. 9. Ole Miss ranks No. 13. (Texas is No. 1, Tennessee is No. 4.)

Simply put, it doesn’t look good for the Oklahoma offense. 

And worst of all, the Sooners have shown almost no progress in eight weeks. Despite a seemingly endless stream of injuries — particularly at wide receiver — young players and backups simply have not developed. An offensive line that was completely rebuilt from last year has been exposed week after week and Saturday produced just 1.3 rushing yards per attempt and gave up nine quarterback sacks.

The lack of player development falls squarely on the coaching staff.

“We got to be better,” Littrell said. “I got to grow. I got to continue to mature. Listen, I'm a fighter. I always have been. I'm going to continue to fight. I love this place. I hate it (losing). It's unacceptable. But I love where I'm at. I'm going to keep fighting. I know who I am as a person. I know who I am as a coach. I believe in our guys. That won't change. I love our guys. That won't change. 

“Obviously, I got to find different ways to get them to execute at a high level even when we're playing the competition we are. That's coaching. That's what I'm supposed to do.

“I hate it. It's unfortunate. It's not acceptable. We have to be much better. I have to be much better. We'll continue to fight to do that.”

Venables also sounds resolute. But even his relentless positivity is beginning to show a little wear and tear.

“We have a strong culture. We have a strong belief system,” Venables said. “The results that we’ve got in the last couple of weeks is — nobody desires that. Nobody wants that. Nobody accepts that in any way. It’s not acceptable. 

“But the only way that you bounce back from it, you get better from it is, man, you have fight. And you’ve got to continue to lead. You’ve got to continue to lead. You’ve got to have the courage that it takes, that your effort, your mindset, your attitude, your leadership is not conditional. It is second nature. It’s who you are. It’s what your DNA is.”