Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables agreed to a $1 million salary reduction for the 2025 season, according to documents obtained by USA Today.
Venables's salary has been reduced from $8.55 million to $7.55 million for this year, but otherwise the deal remains unchanged. He will return to his regularly-scheduled $8.65 million salary for 2026, and rising up to $8.85 million in 2029, the final year of the contract. Per his contract, Venables would be owed 100 percent of his remaining salary if fired without cause, subject to offset and a duty to mitigate. That equates to $34.9 million if fired after the 2025 campaign.
An Oklahoma spokesman told USA Today that Venables initiated the pay cut to jump start OU's rev share. "It was initiated by Coach Venables as a one-time give-back to contribute to the department's revenue-sharing efforts," the spokesman said.
One can't help but wonder if there was more to the move than simple fundraising. Oklahoma began the year ranked No. 16 in the AP poll but ended the year under .500 for the second time in Venables's three seasons. The Sooners were non-competitive in losses to Tennessee, Texas, South Carolina and Ole Miss, gagged away a late lead at Missouri, and then followed an emphatic upset of Alabama with a 20-point loss to LSU and an Armed Forces Bowl loss to Navy.
While I a psychologist, I can't help but wonder if Venables's donation was an acknowledgment for a job poorly done, an apology, or a bit of self-imposed accountability. "I'm at one of the best football programs in college football history,” Venables said this week. “Pulling up to the Switzer Center every single day is so tremendous. Again, responsibility and what I have to own, I want to put (out) a product that everybody that loves Oklahoma is incredibly proud of how we do it.”
And while I am not an accountant, I also can't help but wonder if Venables's accountant would've rather his client had made a $1 million donation back to the university rather than taking the pay cut.
Either way, the worst should be behind Venables and Oklahoma. He hired Ben Arbuckle from Washington State to serve as offensive coordinator, who in turn brought John Mateer with him to play quarterback.
Unranked in the Coaches Poll but ranked 18th by the AP, OU opens its 2025 season Saturday against Illinois State (6 p.m. ET, SEC Network+).