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The vision has come to fruition on the defensive side of the ball. In 2025, they were led by homegrown, developed players on defense. There were transfer portal additions that made a difference, like Damonic Williams, Kendal Daniels, and Marvin Jones Jr. However, the vast majority of the production on defense came from players recruited and developed by the coaching staff.
The defense has had the luxury of vision continuity, even if the guy holding the defensive coordinator title has changed. Ted Roof and Zac Alley have held the DC title, but Venables has set the vision, and he has kept the majority of his assistants in Norman throughout his four-year tenure.
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On the offensive side of the ball, though, that hasn't been the case.
That's largely due to the Oklahoma Sooners' offensive coordinator turnover over the last three seasons. From Jeff Lebby to Seth Littrell, now to Ben Arbuckle, it's the first time the Sooners have had the same OC for two consecutive years since 2022-2023.
And that's a good thing for the Oklahoma Sooners.
The only way for the Sooners to have the same sustained success on offense that they've had on defense is to have continuity. They'll have the same offensive coordinator back and, likely, the same quarterback, with Michael Hawkins Jr. planning to enter the transfer portal. Oklahoma will have five offensive linemen returning who started at least six games for the Sooners in 2025.
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If they can get Isaiah Sategna to return, the Sooners will be able to bring back their leading receiver for the first time since Marvin Mims led the Sooners in 2021 and 2022.
While the transfer portal will matter, retaining that many snaps from the 2025 season will allow them to build on what they did well and improve what they didn't. Oklahoma can go into the portal looking to add to its talent instead of completely retooling. And that's going to allow them to improve as the defense has over Venables' four years.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Continuity, not transfer portal most important to Sooners improvement
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