Brent Venables is recruiting well for OU football going into the SEC

Now is not the time for nerves or premature buyer’s remorse, especially when you consider this: Venables recruited better before the SEC move than Bob Stoops did in his final days as a head coach, and he’s only trending up from where Lincoln left off Riley.

Upon his return to Norman as the Sooners’ head coach near the end of the 2021 season, Venables salvaged a Top 10 signing class after Riley left for USC. The 247Sports Composite recruiting rankings named the Sooners’ 2022 class as the eighth-best in the country.

Venables’ first full class of 2023 finished No. 5 in the 247Sports Composite, and his 2024 ranking was No. 8. His 2025 class is on pace to crack the Top 10 as well, currently sitting at No. 6. And though it’s early, the Sooners Class of 2026 are ranked No. 3 in the country right now.

Stoops’ last Top 10 class was in 2010, when he signed the No. 5 in the nation. From there, his classes ranked 13th in 2011, 12th in 2012, 16th in 2013, 14th in 2014, 15th in 2015 and 19th in 2016. Good, but not the cream of the crop. There has been a clear regression in the caliber of talent OU has attracted.

Riley kicked things off with class no. 8 in 2017, class no. 9 in 2018, class no. 6 in 2019, class no. 12 in 2020 and class no. 10 in 2021. That qualifies as an improvement, but Venables is on pace to score four Top 10 classes in one less year than Riley.

Want a comparison that’s more substantial than the overall ranking? You’re lucky. For the past decade, college football writer Bud Elliott, now at 247Sports, has compiled annual reports on the “baseline” of college football teams. His value is derived from the long-held theory that elite high school recruiting is the lifeblood of championship-caliber programs.

Consequently, the blue-chip report predicts which teams have recruited well enough to win a national championship based on how many more four- and five-star recruits (blue-chippers) they signed compared to their number of two- and three-star signees stars. in their last four classes. A title contender would maintain a ratio of at least 50%.

OU recruiting was trending downward when Elliott first released his rankings. The Sooners had a combined 42 percent in 2013-14, which was 13th among all teams, but was down 24 percent from 2011-12.

The decline continued in 2015, as Oklahoma ranked 17th in America, with its final four classes comprised of 38 percent blue chippers. In Stoops’ final year, the Sooners had a 36 percent field goal percentage, 18th in college football.

There was solid improvement under Riley in 2017 as the Sooners climbed to a 45 percent shooting percentage. Riley kept it going as the Sooners hit 53 percent in 2018. They were the No. 11 in the nation by proportion standards and ultimately title contenders.

The climb continued with another 11th ranking by 60% blue chips in 2019, then a 63% ratio in 2020 that was tied with LSU for fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The Riley-era Sooners peaked at 66 percent in 2021, which was tied with LSU, Texas and Florida for fifth.

Here’s what’s perhaps the most remarkable thing about all of this: There were three blue-chippers in OU’s 2022 class who decommitted and went elsewhere following Riley’s flight to SoCal. And yet, the Sooners in 2022 climbed back to a nationally-best 71 percent.

It speaks to how historic a class under Riley could have been, but also to the work Venables did in keeping some of the commitments of the Riley regime and adding quality chips late in the cycle, right before signing day. Of the 16 blue chippers in the class, seven were added by Venables in the days between when he arrived in Norman and signing day in mid-December.

The Sooners’ blue-chip ratio remains strong under Venables. After its first full class of 2023, the Sooners were 70 percent blue chippers and tied with Texas for seventh in the nation. Venables has now pushed OU higher, as in the newly released 2024 analysis, the Sooners have a 73 percent blue chip ratio, which is sixth in the nation and fourth in the new-look SEC.

Take your pick — recruiting rankings or top report — but either will tell you that Venables is recruiting at an elite level and positioning the Sooners for success, maybe even a national championship one day, as they enter the SEC .

Tulsa World is where your story lives