The Oklahoma Sooners were one of the surprise teams in 2025. After going 6-7 in 2024, their first year in the SEC, the Sooners bounced back by going 10-3 and returning to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019.
A big reason for that turnaround was the defense. The Sooners finished in the top 10 nationally in numerous categories, including a No. 5 ranking in overall defensive efficiency. A big reason for this was the return of Brent Venables as the play-caller.
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The Sooners’ head man has made a long career out of being one of the best defensive coordinators in college football. He won three national championships as a coordinator with Oklahoma and the Clemson Tigers. In what seemed to be a make-or-break season, Venables returned to calling the defense.
In a season widely viewed as pivotal for the program’s direction, Venables’ increased direct involvement in defensive game planning coincided with a more aggressive, assignment-disciplined unit that improved significantly in situational defense and red zone efficiency.
While Venables has always influenced the defensive identity, his imprint on weekly schematics was more visible last season and aligned with Oklahoma’s jump in national competitiveness on that side of the ball.
The question now is whether that level of production can be sustained in a more demanding SEC schedule. College football analyst David Pollack believes the foundation is stable.
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“This unit, the way they play, the way they swarm, the way they’re going to play coverage in the back end playing aggressive, these guys are going to make plays,” Pollack said on ‘See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack.’ “They’re going to put up numbers at a high level. They are just going to do that. You count on that from Oklahoma week in and week out.”
If Oklahoma is to continue its upward trajectory and be a legit contender in college football, defensive consistency against elite SEC offenses will remain the key variable, even after last season’s breakout.
Oklahoma’s defensive resurgence is now less about proving it can compete and more about proving it can sustain elite-level efficiency against a full SEC schedule. If Venables’ unit maintains its discipline and situation strength, the Sooners’ rise may not be a one-year spike, but a structural shift.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: David Pollack reveals why you can ‘count on’ Oklahoma
