ARLINGTON, Texas — The good news for Brent Venables is that if his first head coaching gig doesn’t work out, he can always find work as a tour guide or the next Billy Mays. The man can talk. Berry Tramel, the estimable Oklahoma sportswriter, timed the preamble of Venables’ introductory press conference at Oklahoma and determined it ran eight minutes longer than the Sermon on the Mount.
Venables went on so long Thursday at Big 12 Media Days, he got to just three questions in his allotted 20 minutes.
Probably just as well, because he couldn’t answer the question everyone wanted to ask anyway, namely, when will Texas and OU hightail it for the SEC?
Here’s a better question: Which coach will actually make it there?
Nothing against Venables or Steve Sarkisian, who has the benefit of a year’s head start, but we were wrong about the last Texas-OU pair. And, frankly, there was more buzz about Tom Herman and Lincoln Riley.
Only five years ago, we were all writing about the birth of the next great rivalry in the history of the series. Texas officials were giddy over beating out LSU for Herman. Bob Stoops had so much faith in Riley — a figure charismatic enough to invite allusions to a young Bud Wilkinson — he felt secure handing him the keys.
The new guys in Austin and Norman seemed so impressive, it conjured hopes of a matchup like Mack Brown and Bob Stoops, hired a year apart in another century. Mack got his head handed to him more often than not at the State Fair, but he got in his licks, too, not to mention Texas’ first national title since bell-bottoms.
Little that Herman did in his short tenure at Texas made anyone think Texas was back for long. Riley, on the other hand, was practically a god, right up to the moment he beat it for the beach.
Now one of the best rivalries in college football is in the hands of a couple of guys noted primarily for the work they did in someone else’s programs.
Or as Sarkisian put it Thursday, “Without Nick Saban, I wouldn’t be sitting here today in front of y’all.”
Sark came off exceedingly humble Thursday, which is probably a good look after a 5-7 debut. He confessed that he didn’t do a great job “developing the team and ... the bond on our team as well as I would have liked.” To that end, he said the staff has concentrated on identifying leaders and communicating. Talking instead of texting. Listening. Transparency.
“Authentic” is the new watchword on the Forty Acres.
“Time will tell what the fall looks like,” Sarkisian said, “but I think we have it. We’ve got a tight-knit football team right now.”
Of course, it could come unraveled at any time, maybe as early as Sept. 10, when Sark’s former boss comes to Austin.
What sustains Sarkisian in the interim is the excitement over the success he’s had in recruiting, particularly at quarterback. We can debate whether Arch Manning ever actually shows up in Austin, or if Quinn Ewers will still be here if the latest Manning doesn’t change his mind. But, for now, the prospects are enticing.
The thinking was that Sark would prepare the Longhorns for the SEC, and, to that point, he’s tried to make them over in that image. Big, physical fronts on both sides of the ball. Speed on the perimeters.
His defense should benefit immensely from the association with Gary Patterson, a “special assistant” to the head coach. Sarkisian, who knew the TCU legend mostly by reputation, has been struck by his rapport with his other assistants. Called him a “sounding board” for the rest of the staff and a “forward thinker.” Gary probably can’t be as effective in a hands-off role, but he remains the most creative defensive mind in college football. Couldn’t hurt Sark’s chances of turning it around.
Same with Bijan Robinson, maybe the best running back in the nation. Certainly the fastest, at least on I-35.
“If I’m going to get in a Lamborghini with him,” Sark said of Robinson’s wheels, “hopefully I’m the one driving it.”
Might test that “all gas, no brakes” ethos.
If the jury remains out on Sarkisian, we have yet to set a court date for Venables. He can ride the wave of resentment toward Riley only so long. Oklahoma hasn’t suffered through a losing season since John Blake’s last, in 1998, meaning an entire generation of Sooner fans has grown up knowing nothing but winning. Once it becomes an expectation, the opposite becomes all the more precarious.
Joe Castiglione, the athletic director who hired the last three coaches, knows his stuff. If he’s not the type to panic, the timing remains problematic. Any sign of weakness heading into the SEC may test the patience of Venables’ boss.
At any rate, unless the Big 12 lets Texas and OU out of their commitments before the official 2025 exit, I don’t like the chances of both coaches making it. Sark’s seat is already warm, making Venables an easy bet. But if Thursday was any indication, he could talk me out of it.
