Oklahoma announced a 2-year contract extension for Brent Venables back in late August. The deal extended the coach's contract by two years, keeping him under wraps and on the books through Jan. 31, 2032. All other details have been under lock and key since then.
Until Friday, when Oklahoma at long last released the pertinent details.
In related news: After a 2-2 start to the season, Venables and the Sooners secured a win over No. 1 Texas last weekend.
According to documents obtained by Sooner Scoop's George Stoia, the 2-year extension doubled Venables's buyout. Oklahoma would have owed the coach $26.2 million if it moved on last season, but that figure now sits at $51.7 million. The buyout shrinks by $10 million and change after each season, commensurate with Venables's salary.
The fifth-year coach is now making $10 million a year, with annual $200,000 raises, topping him out at $11 million for the 2031 season. His school-end buyout drops to $41.67 million for the 2027 season, then $31.67 million for 2028, $21.67 million for 2029, and then $5.83 million for the 2030 campaign.
Venables can earn $500,000 for taking Oklahoma to the College Football Playoff, and an additional $500,000 for each round Oklahoma advances to; he would make $1 million if the Sooners earn a bye. He is also due $125,000 for reaching the SEC Championship and an $100,000 for winning it, a clause that is set to become obsolete after this season.
Now in his fifth season, Oklahoma has been up-and-down under Venables which, in his defense, has taken place in a tumultuous era: a move from the Big 12 to SEC coinciding with Lincoln Riley's unexpected departure to USC. The Sooners have not experienced unbridled success nor outright failure under the Venables reigme, going 6-7 in the 2022 transition season, 10-3 in 2023, 6-7 again in 2024, then 10-3 with a College Football Playoff berth in 2025, and now sit unranked at 3-2 heading into the back half of 2026.
“I’m as disappointed as everyone, as disappointed as every one of our fans, as disappointed as every one of our players, as disappointed as every one of our coaches, including Brent Venables,” AD Roger Denny, hired in January, said at an OU Board of Regents meeting days after Oklahoma's loss to Michigan. “But that doesn’t change how I feel about the long-term future of our program.”