There have been struggles on offense for much of the 2024 season. Sure, they scored 51 points against Temple and 34 against Tulane, but the Sooners haven’t looked like a team playing in a rhythm at all this season.
Saturday’s loss at South Carolina, spurred on by turnovers on their first three drives wasn’t what led to the decision, but it was likely the straw that broke the camel’s back. Before Saturday, Oklahoma’s offense wasn’t playing well. Saturday simply was the culmination of seven games of issues.
During his weekly coach’s show on Monday, Brent Venables revealed that his decision to make a change at offensive coordinator wasn’t a decision based on just one or two games.
“A lot goes into you making those types of changes and it’s over the last several months,” Venables said Monday on his weekly coaches show. “There’s a body of work that you look at all of it and evaluate it. Obviously, we haven’t played winning football on offense.”
Oklahoma started out 3-0, but it was a grind to get there. Since then, the Sooners are just 1-3. Their lone win came against Auburn, where they needed a big play on defense to pull off a miraculous comeback. Since SEC play has begun, the Sooners have made two quarterback changes and now changed their offensive coordinator structure.
Joe Jon Finley takes over as the playcaller because of his familiarity with the playbook and the offense as a whole. Kevin Johns, who was an analyst doing advanced scouting for the team, joins the offensive staff as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Johns previously worked with quarterback Riley Leonard at Duke and and former Sooners offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson at Indiana.
There’s no telling how much the change will make a difference. The Sooners have several more really good teams on their remaining schedule. But Venables is still somewhat optimistic that they can see improvement.
“I do believe if we make some incremental improvement, play to our potential, do the things that the game requires you to do in order to execute and win (we can be successful),” Venables said.
The first big test for Finley, Johns, and the offense comes this Saturday when the Sooners make the trip to Oxford to take on the Ole Miss Rebels.
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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Brent Venables shares what went into offensive coordinator change
