The February edition of National Signing Day has passed. And yet, zero drama in relation to the Oklahoma Sooners.
The same can pretty much be said for what was seen during the December early signing period for OU, too. At least, that’s what Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables felt at the time.
The Sooners sign 18 players in their 2025 class. In the middle of a changing college football landscape, impacting roster construction specifically, OU is thrilled about its incoming group despite the lighter number.
“Excellent group of guys,” Venables said. “Hit on most of our targets in a really competitive space.”
It’s one thing to get the commitment from a recruit the program likes. But it’s another to get pen on paper. Oklahoma seeks players who won’t stir the pot in between those two moments and in 2025, OU found what it was looking for.
“Recruiting never stops,” Venables said. “What I appreciate, man, there was no drama whatsoever. I say this a lot, and this is my 30 years of experience in doing this that if there’s drama in recruiting, whatever that means, if there’s drama in recruiting, there’s going to be drama when they come to your campus. So just always something that I’ve always kept in my back pocket and been very keen to.”
Now to be clear, there was ‘drama’ related to OU between the two signing stretches. But it was really only related to one player, five-star Michael Fasusi, who ended up joining Oklahoma anyway. While that situation stole the spotlight, it may have created an illusion that the signing period for OU was more hectic than it actually was. Venables feels this concept is important, not just in the present but the future in relation to the program.
“I don’t ever take things for granted,” Venables said. “I don’t think we had to do anything any different than what we’ve done in the past in regards to, you know, it’s about relationships… Just, our guys, when they commit, it means something. Again, we’re not gonna be immune to decommitment. Some of it’s by strategy. Some of it, people are free to make their decisions as they see fit.”
And that rings true in a few ways. More relevantly for OU, though, it’s easy for prospects to look elsewhere when the spot they’re pledged to is struggling on the field. It wasn’t the 2024 the Sooners were hoping for and as a result, their commits received an earful from others while trying to convince them to look elsewhere. Most of OU’s class was assembled prior to the start of the ’24 season and because most of it stayed intact, Venables feels it’s a testament to the class’ mindset.
“I think when people, you look at this year, I think people have a voice of reason. There’s no panic. They are aligning with a body of work, they’re aligning with a university that’s represented excellence for a long period of time. And nobody — I think you look at college football, I think nobody is immune to some of the things that happened this year to us. A little bit of the instability in the environment that you’re dealing with. So I think this is a class that had faith in people and relationships with people, and a belief that hey, maybe there’s even more opportunity — I know I had opportunity, but maybe there’s even more of an opportunity that myself and other guys in this class that we can come in and be the glue and be a part of an opportunity to help turn around what we’re trying to do.”
Oklahoma knows the program identity it wants under Venables and his staff. But the Sooners aren’t ignoring the fact their reputation may have been overshadowed by a 6-7 record. Venables feels this 2025 class will help success return to Norman as it’s full of players and people who are perfect OU fits, on-and-off the field.
“We just continue to be who we’ve been,” Venables said. “Be consistent, be real, genuine, honest.”