Oklahoma, Brent Venables agree to new 6-year deal before SEC move - ESPN

Oklahoma has agreed to a new six-year contract with football coach Brent Venables that includes a significant raise and adds two additional seasons.

The new contract, which the Oklahoma board of regents approved Friday, will keep Venables on contract in Norman through the 2029 season. The deal has a total value of $46 million, the regents said. The 53-year-old coach is set to earn $7.225 million in 2024 before his salary climbs to $7.625 million in 2025, eventually topping out at $7.925 million in the final year. He signed a six-year, $43.5 million contract when he arrived to the Sooners in December 2021.

Venables is coming off a 10-3 season at Oklahoma, and the commitment by the school is part of an overall push to help prepare the program as it enters the SEC this year.

At Oklahoma, Venables is 16-10 in two seasons, and secured a top-10 recruiting class in 2024. Oklahoma has the No. 7 class in ESPN's 2025 class rankings.

Venables was a longtime successful assistant coach and coordinator at Kansas State, Oklahoma and Clemson. He has coached in eight national championship games.

He took the Oklahoma job two years ago after being selective for a decade about becoming a head coach. His decision came in the wake of being a linchpin of two staffs that won national titles at Clemson.

From the moment Venables arrived at OU, the school was preparing for the move to the SEC. It has significantly increased the financial commitment to the support staff, which included 22 more members in Venables' first season compared to the prior year.

The contract was formally approved by the OU Board of Regents Friday afternoon.

Venables' second season included an upset of No. 3 Texas in the Red River Rivalry game, which highlighted a 10-2