OU Regents approve new 6-year contract for Brent Venables

ARDMORE – Brent Venables is set to be in Norman for a long time.

The OU Board of Regents voted to approve a new six-year contract for Venables during its meeting Friday. The new contract that begins this season will begin with the 2024 season and run through the 2030 season.

Venables’ new contract is worth an average of $8.6 million per year, for a total of $51.6 million. The contract includes a $250,000 bonus for winning the SEC championship game and a $1 million bonus if the Sooners win the national championship.

Venables was hired from Clemson as the Sooners’ new football coach in December 2021, when he initially signed a six-year, $43.5 million contract. The contract, which paid him $7.1 million last year, made him the 17th highest-paid coach in college football. He is entering the third year of his former contract before receiving a new contract.

Now, the new contract will see him lead the Sooners in their first seasons as a member of the SEC.

That was a big part of the reason the Sooners felt it necessary to strike a new deal now.

“The importance of not just talking about stability and forward thinking and what our program wants to do to pursue future success and demonstrate it … I think our move in the contract for coach Venables is a perfect example of that,” OU athletic director Joe Castiglione said, “and what he’s been doing since he’s been on campus for two years and we’re moving into a new league and putting the foundation in place for us to continue to be successful and chase championships.”

The Sooners went 6-7 in Venables’ first season at the helm before showing real improvement in 2023, finishing with a 10-3 record and third in the Big 12 regular season standings. Venables is 16-10 as a head coach.

“He’s worked for three of the greatest coaches that college football will ever see, and they’ve all been a part of this different thing. … He’s been able to see cultures run by people who focus on the key elements and the most important . this role itself, he took the best of everyone and made it his own. Now you see and you have seen in the last two years how he implements it and how he prioritizes it.

“There’s nobody who has more energy than him. He’s everywhere.”

In addition to adjusting Venables’ contracts, the Regents addressed several other assistants.

OU defensive ends coach Miguel Chavis His salary increased to $690,000 in 2024 and $740,000 for 2025 and beyond, with his contract also extended through January 2027. Running backs coach DeMarco MurrayHis contract was also extended through 2027, with a raise to $800,000 in 2024, $840,000 in 2025 and $865,000 in 2026.

This offseason, each assistant received a raise and an extension through 2027. That was also a priority before Venables received a new contract.

“He’s done a fantastic job assimilating a great job,” Castiglione said. “There were several people on the staff who were targeted and offered jobs to top-15 programs this offseason, and we were able to work with him to keep them all.”

Former OU player Curtis Lofton was also approved as the Sooners’ new general manager, which included a raise from $101,500 to $300,000.

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