Change afoot, with or without Venables

New reported hire another reminder Castiglione, Nagy building bigger program

Oklahoma football coach Brent Venables talks to his team during fall camp. (SoonerSports.com photo)

As Oklahoma prepares for its second season of SEC football, coach Brent Venables’ future remains a mystery.

We know he’ll be his own defensive coordinator, we know he’s made upgrades at both quarterback and offensive coordinator and we think we know it’s some sort of make or break season for him.

He doesn’t have to soar, perhaps, but maybe he has to win nine games, or maybe eight or maybe seven to keep his job.

That shouldn’t be the metric, really, because eight wins that should have been 10 remains underachievement and eight wins that should have been six against the toughest schedule in the nation is the opposite.

Therefore, will he look like he’s figured out this head coaching thing?

What’s the quality of his decision-making?

Is he trying to win like it’s 2008 or 2016, or is he trying to win like it’s 2025, given all the factors this new college football world has wrought?

Those should be the metrics.

Sooner athletic director Joe Castiglione still wants wins, but he has to know those are the real questions as Venables enters his fourth season at the helm.

Castiglione also knows this:

He’s already busy building a football program designed to outlast Venables, whether a new coaching search begins in December or in 20 Decembers.

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