"I am not gassing it up": Brent Venables spills beans on Oklahoma's offseason achievements as Sooners aim for playoff in 2025

Oklahoma coach Brent Venables spoke at the Southeastern Conference media days on Wednesday and discussed OU's offseason work, including the areas his team needs to work on.

Venables is entering his fourth year as the Sooners' coach and is hoping for big things in the 2025 season.

"Top to bottom we made great gains in the weight room and we really needed to do that," Venables said. "We needed to become more functionally strong... We have improved our strength and speed... I am not here gassing it up. I want to quantify it."

Brandon Drumm

@Bdrumm_Rivals

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Brent Venables on the gains the #Sooners' players have made this offseason: "Top to bottom we made great gains in the weight room and we really needed to do that... We needed to become more functionally strong... We have improved our strength and speed... I am not here gassing it up. I want to quantify it.

Across three seasons at Oklahoma, Venables has posted a 22-17 record. He guided the team to a 10-3 record in the 2023 season, and many expected that the Sooners would improve even further in the following season.

However, OU finished with a 6-7 record last season. Notably, he lost all three bowl games since joining the Sooners.

Despite this, Venables wants his Oklahoma team to be one of the 12 that qualify for the College Football Playoff in the upcoming season.

John Mateer will be QB1 for Brent Venables' Oklahoma in the 2025 season

NCAA Football: Oklahoma Sooners HC Brent Venables - Source: Imagn

John Mateer transferred to Oklahoma in December after playing three seasons at Washington State. Mateer is set to lead the Sooners' offense in the 2025 season.

At Oklahoma's SEC media day event, Brent Venables praised Mateer for choosing the Sooners over other lucrative offers from other teams.

"Every day John is wide-open," Venables said. "He is a guy that deeply cares and turned down more money to be here. ... He is a great competitor and super athletic. Throws the ball really well on the run. ... Handles those tough moments and takes responsibility."

The quarterback led the Cougars to an 8-4 record in the 2024 season, posting 3,139 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions, while adding 15 rushing scores.

It will be interesting to see how Mateer fares in his first year at Oklahoma under Venables.