Sooners HC Brent Venables makes a strong self-criticism after his team's NCAAF tough season

The latest loss to Navy delivered the final blow to an Oklahoma Sooners team that failed to meet its expectations this season in the NCAAF. Brent Venables, the leader of the team off the field, made a strong self-criticism and took stock of what this year meant for his team.

“Yeah, again, just disappointed. You know, obviously falls, everything falls on me,” Venables stated. “So, really disappointed in myself and I need to be a lot better and I think that goes without saying. You know, go 6-7 and, you know, you did all these things right. So just got to be a lot better.”

The narrow 21-20 loss last Friday in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl highlighted all the weaknesses of the Oklahoma team, which finished the regular season with a negative record of six wins and seven losses.

“If we’re dropping it, we’re not converting fourth down, or we’re missing field goals or we’re giving up, you know, explosive runs? Everything falls, you know, at my feet,” Venables said.

Oklahoma Sooners defensive back Jaydan Hardy (14) celebrates with his teammates after making a play against the Houston Cougars offense on Saturday, September 7, 2024 at the Gaylord Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Sooners‘ season was undoubtedly not what was expected, neither for their coach nor for the program as a whole. It will be a matter of regrouping and starting fresh to enter 2025 with a much stronger roster and achieve better results.

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Venables reflects his disappointment after the great effort from his players

The disappointing campaign of the Sooners throughout the season in terms of results doesn’t align with the effort and dedication the players put into each game. At least, that’s how head coach Brent Venables chooses to see it.

“You know, just, I’m hurt for the players because I know they’ve worked hard,” Venables started. “I know it’s easy to take shots at, certainly, us as coaches. We’re the coach and that’s why we got the whistle and all that. Taking shots at the players too. Everybody’s disappointed, embarrassed, all of those things but I’m not embarrassed of the fight, the commitment, the work, the belief, the strain, the sacrifice – all the things that these guys have represented. I’m not in any way, shape, or form embarrassed or disappointed in them for that.”

The hope of bouncing back next season

It’s often said that when you hit rock bottom, the only way to go is up. Next season presents a great opportunity for the Sooners, who will need to significantly strengthen their roster to improve upon this year’s disappointing campaign.

“We’ve got a lot of experience coming back and we know the reasons. We had a lot of guys that had opportunity this year that happened because of guys not being available. I think we gained valuable experience that will pay off. My expectation is it will pay off,” said Venables. “But we got a lot of work to do, you know. But we’ve got a great group of guys coming back and a great foundation coming back. We’ve recruited well.”