One head coach with a $51 million contract was put on hot seat warning as the 2025 college football season approaches.
$51 Million College Football Head Coach Put On Hot Seat Ahead Of 2025 Season originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
In 2022, Lincoln Riley left the Oklahoma football program to take the job at USC in a shocking turn of events. That left Oklahoma scrambling for a new coach, and in came Brent Venables, who spent time as an assistant coach under Bob Stoops and worked with Dabo Swinney at Clemson in both years of its recent national titles in 2016 and 2018.
Venables signed a six-year, $51 million deal in 2024 that earned him $8.5 million per year, marking a significant move for the program. In his first three years, Venables has gone 22-17 with two 6-7 seasons and zero bowl game victories, so the pressure is mounting.
Moreover, Oklahoma went unranked in the preseason Coaches Poll for the first time since 1999, although the Sooners did land at No. 18 in the Associated Press preseason poll.
As the season begins, Venables' seat might be getting hot, especially while taking care of a program used to winning football games.
Hot Seat Warning Issued to Oklahoma Coach
On Wednesday, former NFL player and current college football analyst Kevin Carter put Venables on the hot seat watch ahead of the 2025 season.
"When you look at what he's done going into his fourth year as a head coach at Oklahoma, he's 22-17 overall," Carter said. "That's not gonna get it, man. This Red River faithful, they've put all this trust in you and paid you all this money.
"That's just not gonna get it. That Red River rivalry is real, and to me, the seat's gotta get hot because you're not only in the SEC, you're in a big-name, marquee program."
Carter also mentioned the game in 2024 against Texas, which is dubbed the Red River Rivalry, and the Sooners lost that one 34-3 in a lopsided affair.
In Venables' first three seasons, Oklahoma went 6-7, 10-3 and then 6-7 again. In 2024, their first year in the SEC, the Sooners lost to Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina, Ole Miss, Missouri and LSU in the regular season. They finished the season with a 21-20 loss to Navy in the Armed Forces Bowl.
If things don't turn around for Oklahoma this year, it could be the end of the road for Venables' time in Norman.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 14, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports
