What Oklahoma's Coaches Are Asking Santa For This Christmas

Sooners on SI takes a look at what a few OU head coaches could be asking for throughout the holiday season.

Santa and Oklahoma's mascot, Boomer. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Snow won’t be blanketing Norman this December, but the holiday spirit is in full swing. 

A pair of top 15 basketball teams are gracing the Lloyd Noble Center, Brent Venables’ football program just landed a new quarterback to pair with his exciting, young offensive coordinator and two talented teams are lying in wait to roll out onto the diamond this spring. 

The transfer portal and the NIL era mean programs across the country have to update their wishlists multiple times per year, leaving little for Santa to work on when December rolls around. 

Still, there’s plenty that could help the programs on campus in Norman as the calendar flips to 2025.

Brent Venables: A Pair of 5-Star Leaps

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables celebrates with fans after beating Alabama. / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

In the midst of the winter portal madness, there’s so much for any football program to ask for. 

Venables has already added Ben Arbuckle has his new offensive coordinator and John Mateer as his new quarterback, giving Sooners fans a pair of shiny new pieces to get excited over as Oklahoma rolls into spring football. 

Rebuilding the offense could lend itself for a handful of exciting gifts, but we’re going to look to the other side of the ball. 

Teaming up with Zac Alley helped Venables push his defense another step forward in 2024, but OU will have to replace tons of experience next season. 

Danny Stutsman ended as a consensus All-American, and while his production will be difficult to replace, Stutsman’s leadership is unmatched. 

Thankfully, Kip Lewis and Kobie McKinzie appear to be a strong duo ready to lead the linebackers in 2025. 

Ethan Downs was a fantastic locker room presence and he was always relied upon to set the edge. 

Oklahoma has yet to add another player in his place through the portal, but a big offseason of development from Adepoju Adebawore could help fill that gap. 

The former 5-star defensive end got a nice helping of snaps as a freshman in 2023, but an ankle injury disrupted the early stages of the 2024 season.

Getting him fully healthy and in a spot to be a difference-maker across from R Mason Thomas would help the secondary out, while giving the Sooners a pair of dynamic pass rushers. 

Safety Peyton Bowen also battled through some bumps and bruises in 2024, and another step forward from him could not only help ease the loss of Billy Bowman, but add another ballhawking playmaker alongside Robert Spears-Jennings.

Both of Venables’ former 5-star recruits have more than enough talent to raise their levels of play. Maintaining the standard on defense would give Arbuckle and Mateer enough time to get settled in Norman, and the expected offensive improvements could help turn around 2024’s 6-6 regular season record. 

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Porter Moser: A Healthy Jadon Jones 

Oklahoma coach Porter Moser / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Porter Moser’s Sooners are off to another fantastic start. 

The comeback victory over Michigan announced that this year’s group might be a bit different, led by a talented backcourt of Jeremiah Fears, Duke Miles and Kobe Elvis. 

Now, they’ll have to buck last year’s trend and hold up throughout conference play, which will be another tough task.

Moser and his coaching staff worked hard to build out OU’s depth throughout the offseason, and the returns look good so far from Luke Northweather, Dayton Forsythe and Brycen Goodine despite Goodine having to battle through an ankle injury to start the year. 

But there’s still another piece that’s yet to take the floor for the Sooners. 

Veteran guard Jadon Jones has been held out of action with a back injury, and his return would add to OU’s depth. 

He was a sharpshooter from deep last year for Long Beach State and a nice defensive piece, and his return would give Fears, Miles and Elivs yet another option as defenses are bound to focus in on the backcourt in SEC play. 

The road ahead will be difficult but not unfamiliar, as all Moser knows at Oklahoma is a grueling conference schedule.

Injuries mounted down the stretch a year ago, which contributed to the Sooners’ late-season falters, so getting every piece possible healthy to take on the SEC grind would be a big boost. 

Jennie Baranczyk: A Red River Sellout 

Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jennie Baranczyk and her coaching staff were clearly on the nice list last year. 

Not only were the Sooners able to keep together the entirety of a talented 2023-24 squad, OU was able to add center Raegan Beers to round out the roster. 

Her addition has taken Oklahoma’s defense to another level while adding size on offense the Sooners haven’t had through Baranczyk’s first three seasons. 

So Santa’s elves didn’t need to assemble a new toy for Baranczyk to utilize on the floor. 

But Oklahoma will open conference play on Jan. 2 against the No. 5-ranked Texas Longhorns at 8 p.m. at the Lloyd Noble Center, and Baranczyk’s team needs a raucous crowd. 

The Sooners and the Longhorns have been through wars the past few years in Big 12 play, and the move to the SEC will only raise the stakes for both programs. 

OU’s non-conference exploits — ranked wins over Louisville and Michigan with its only loss coming in overtime to No. 14 Duke — give confidence that this team has the mettle to push into the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament and perhaps further. 

To get a favorable draw in March, the Sooners will need to protect their home floor in a tough SEC conference, and the fanbase needs to turn back the clock to pack out the Lloyd Noble Center as it once was when Sherri Coale battled Connecticut, Texas and Baylor in front of sold out crowds. 

Skip Johnson: L Dale Renovations 

Oklahoma coach Skip Johnson / Brad McClenny/The Gainesville Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK

Skip Johnson’s tenure at Oklahoma has been a massive success to date.

His team in 2020 was shaping up to make a run to Omaha before the season got nixed for the pandemic, and in 2022 he took the Sooners to the Men’s College World Series Championship Series. 

Last year, be brought postseason baseball back to L Dale Mitchell Park for the first time in over a decade, and he is poised to put another talented team on the field this spring as the Sooners enter the SEC. 

Fan support has grown and grown over the past few years for Johnson’s group, and now he needs the stadium and facilities to match the growth of the program to keep recruiting momentum going. 

Oklahoma opened up the outfield berms for NCAA Regional action, leveling up the atmosphere during the Sooners’ postseason run — changes that need to stay as the Sooners welcome in a host of top programs in conference play. 

Fundraising efforts have been pushed by OU’s administration, but Santa needs to bring one last push to get some of those plans over the line to support Johnson and his staff. 

The Sooners did a nice job adding through the transfer portal to replenish the talent on the roster, but giving Johnson elite facilities to recruit with and even more fans in the stands could help him take the program to new heights in the next few years. 

Patty Gasso: Name Tags

Oklahoma coach Patty Gasso / BRYAN TERRY/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK

What do you get the coach that has everything?

Patty Gasso’s historic senior class just won a fourth-straight national title inside Love’s Field, Gasso’s new multi-million dollar place. 

She’s got a few key pieces returning in 2025 — including Ella Parker, Kasidi Pickering, Cydney Sanders and Kierston Deal — and she’s filled the roster with a historic recruiting class and an impressive transfer portal haul.

There are a few options of things to get Gasso. 

Santa first considered a box cutter. Now that the Sooners are fully moved in to Love’s Field, they need to break down all the moving boxes and ship those off to the dumpster. 

But Gasso likely turned those duties over to her hitting coach and son, JT Gasso, so it’d be a bit of a waste for the head coach. 

Now that she’ll finally get to coach her team again as she develops a young roster, she could also use a new bat to put the entire team through line drills. 

Though Rawlings has Gasso and the entire program well stocked with top of the line gear, so that’s unnecessary as well for Gasso. 

What the legendary coach really needs is time and patience while she guides her team through the ups and downs of a long season to get ready for yet another postseason run, in the mean time a large stack of name tags could be useful to fully introduce all the fresh faces to the fanbase at Love’s Field throughout the Sooners’ early-season homestand in 2025.

But maybe Santa could also throw in a cozy Dodgers World Champions hoodie for good measure to make sure Gasso enjoys the holidays and properly celebrates her baseball team’s latest triumph ahead of a busy 2025 slate.