Report: Brent Venables to take $1 million pay cut in 2025

OU coach Brent Venables will take a $1 million pay cut in 2025, according to a report by USA Today. SoonerScoop can confirm the report.

Venables was set to make $8.55 million this year. Now, he will make $7.55 million. According to the report, this reduction was “initiated by Coach Venables as a one-time give-back to contribute to the department’s revenue-sharing efforts,” an Oklahoma athletics department spokesman told USA Today.

His contract will remain the same following the 2025 season, as he’s set to make $8.65 million in 2026 and 2027, as well as $8.75 million in 2028 and $8.85 million in 2029. Those amounts are fully guaranteed if Venables were to be fired without cause following this season.

This reduction in pay comes following a 6-7 season in which Venables received a new contract the summer before the 2024 season, worth $51.6 million and keeping him in Norman until 2029.

Taking a salary reduction is not uncommon in college football. Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy also recentlt took a $1 million pay cut. And LSU’s Brian Kelly publicly announced last year that he would be donating $1 million of his salary toward NIL.