On the eve of their Saturday contest against the Illinois State Redbirds, Oklahoma Sooners head coach Brent Venables has reportedly made a financial decision regarding his salary.
According to documents obtained by USA Today’s Steve Berkowitz, Venables is taking a $1 million pay cut for the 2025 season, reducing his salary to $7.55 million.
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Moreover, an Oklahoma spokesperson told USA Today that Venables initiated the decision as a one-time contribution to the school’s revenue-sharing program, which can now provide up to $20.5 million for athletes under the House v. NCAA settlement, with most of the money likely going to football.
“It was initiated by Coach Venables as a one-time give-back to contribute to the department’s revenue-sharing efforts,” the spokesperson said to USA Today.
Venables joins a list of college football coaches directing their pay to revenue-sharing initiatives, including Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy, who accepted a $1 million reduction, and Florida State’s Mike Norvell, who is reportedly contributing $4.5 million of his salary toward similar efforts in Tallahassee.
OU athletics director Joe Castiglione spoke to SoonerScoop and praised Venables for taking the initiative to help the program out.
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“It really shows a lot of leadership on Brent’s part,” Castiglione said. “He came forward with the idea, knowing there were needs for our program. He wanted to help. He recognized the need to retain players already on our roster and those we needed to recruit, and he wanted to help participate in the revenue-sharing formula going forward.”
After making this financial decision, Venables can turn his attention to the field as the Sooners should take care of the Redbirds. Nonetheless, the biggest test comes on September 6 when the Sooners welcome the Michigan Wolverines.
It’s this game against the Wolverines that could allow for Oklahoma to build positive momentum heading into SEC play as Venables and his team push to be one of the teams that qualify for the College Football Playoff.
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