The Oklahoma Sooners have locked up their leadership long-term: The Sooners agreed to a six-year contract with head coach Brent Venables, per ESPN’s Pete Thamel. The deal will be worth a little over $46 million, per multiple reports.
Sources: Oklahoma has agreed to a new six-year contract for coach Brent Venables. The new six-year deal includes a significant raise for Venables, and there’s been an uptick in overall program commitment as OU heads to the SEC. pic.twitter.com/Poq859eg40
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) June 21, 2024
The contract keeps Venables, who was hired by the Sooners in 2021 to replace Lincoln Riley, in Oklahoma through 2029. The 53-year-old coach will also stay at the helm to help navigate Oklahoma’s transition to the SEC.
Under the new contract, Venables will earn $7.225 million next season, which his salary rising each season and eventually capping at $7.925 million in the final year. He signed a six-year, $43.5 million contract when he joined the Sooners two seasons ago.
Per ESPN, the deal has received board approval, which was the final obstacle to making it official.
Venables was hired in December 2021 after Riley left for USC, and has gone 16-10 in two seasons with the Sooners. The first-time head coach led Oklahoma to a 10-2 record in the 2023 regular season, including big wins over No. 3 Texas, before losing to Arizona in the Alamo Bowl. Oklahoma went 7-3 in-conference and finished third in the Big 12; the Sooners finished the season at No. 15 nationally.
Prior to becoming head coach, Venables had been co-defensive coordinator and later assistant head coach at Oklahoma from 1999 to 2011 before spending 10 seasons as an assistant at Clemson.
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