Brent Venables faces massive blow as four-star QB from Oklahoma's 2026 class makes major career decision

Brent Venables' Oklahoma Sooners are looking to bounce back after a disappointing 2024 season. The team only had six wins, a sharp drop from the 10 they amassed the year before, and lost the Armed Forces Bowl 21-20 to Navy.

Venables is now working to set the team up for success, not only for next season, but for the foreseeable future. Previously, the team had secured the commitment of four-star quarterback Jaden O'Neal. However, on Thursday, O'Neal decommitted from Oklahoma.

"Four-Star QB Jaden O’Neal has Decommitted from Oklahoma," On3's Hayes Fawcett wrote. "The 6’3" 215 QB from Long Beach, CA had been Committed to the Sooners since June 2024."

O'Neal has not announced which team he is interested in switching his commitment to. However, as a member of the 2026 recruiting class, he does not need to make his decision for several months, at least until next spring.

Brent Venables and the Oklahoma Sooners have John Mateer as their starter for next season

While losing Jaden O'Neal as a possible quarterback of the future is disappointing for the Oklahoma Sooners, it does not affect them next season. The Sooners should be in good hands, with former Washington State QB John Mateer running the offense after transferring in the offseason.

Mateer broke out in his first season as a starter last year, completing 224 of 347 passing attempts for 3139 yards and 29 TDs. He had spent the previous two seasons as a backup with the Cougars.

The Sooners will be hoping that Mateer can follow a similar trajectory to former Miami QB Cam Ward. Ward played at Washington State before transferring to Miami last season. Similar to Mateer, he did not have much experience playing against top-level competition. Despite that, he was a Heisman finalist and became the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft.

So long as he can adapt to tougher competition, Mateer should be a good fit in Oklahoma.

About the author

Alexander O'Reilly is a journalist at Sportskeeda from Kingston, Ontario with over seven years in the field at companies including SenShot, RVBlogger, Monarch Media, WordAgents, GSeC LLC, and IGC.

His favorite college team is Duke, and his favorite sporting memory was Duke winning March Madness in 2010. JJ Redick was Alex's favorite college player when he was young but more recently, Caleb Williams gets the nod. As the Chicago Bears are Alex's favorite NFL team, this was a perfect match.

Alex's proudest moment came when he was interviewed by a radio station in Ottawa on his opinion on recent moves by the Ottawa Senators, which gave him a confidence boost and the knowledge that he could succeed as a writer.

Aside from sports, Alex likes to spend his time playing games. He is also very passionate about running and strives to improve at the half and full marathon distances.

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Edited by Alexander O'Reilly