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TheRobGoldberg is the featured Columnist for December 6, 2021.
Jacob Kupferman is a photographer.
According to Pete Thamel, Oklahoma and Venables have finalized a deal for him to become the football team's head coach.
A group of Sooners officials traveled to South Carolina to hammer out the details of a contract, according to Bruce Feldman of The Athletic.
Venables has been an assistant for several decades and has been considered one of the top assistants in the country. He was on the Oklahoma coaching staff from 1999-2011 and helped the team win the national championship in 2000.
The 50-year-old has been the defensive coach at the school since 2012 and has won two more titles.
He takes over the Sooners job after Riley left for USC.
In the past seven seasons, Oklahoma has won at least nine games each year. The squad won six consecutive Big 12 titles before falling short of the conference title game.
During his five years at the program, Riley created some of the best offenses in the country and helped Baker and Kyler Murray win the Heisman Trophy.
Losing in the national semifinals in three of the last four years has been the problem, as well as missing the College Football Playoff in 2020 and 2021.
The last national championship for Oklahoma was in 2000.
Venables has high expectations for the Sooners to keep the national title in their grasp and also bring home a trophy.
