![]() Beyond the field, just the stadiums - when I was talking about in my opening statement about this league, it's one thing I love about this conference, just the stadiums you get to go into every single Saturday. “Certainly, this league is different,” Beamer said. (Photo: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports, 247Sports) South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer speaks to the media during SEC Media Day at Grand Hyatt in Nashville, Tennessee, on July 20, 2023. Even if Oklahoma can get back to the level it operated at under Bob Stoops and Riley, Beamer believes there will be an adjustment period for the Sooners as they join a new conference when it comes to line-of-scrimmage play and what to expect on the road in the SEC. The expectation is that the program will make a leap in Year 2 under Venables as it prepares for its move to the SEC in 2024. ![]() After an offseason evaluation into his first year at the helm, Venables has also put an increased emphasis on efficiency in everything the Sooners do - from off-field habits to on-field situational awareness. He believes the program will have more competitive depth this fall, which should help combat those late-game issues and keep players fresher late in the season. In the 19 months since he was hired, he has overhauled the roster, with 77 new players joining the program since his arrival. It was a transitional year for Oklahoma as Venables sought to rebuild the program in his vision. The defense, Venables’ calling card as a career assistant on that side of the ball, didn’t live up to expectations, either. Five of the Sooners’ seven losses were decided by one score, including each of their final four losses down the stretch. OU went just 6-7 overall while posting its first losing season since 1998. The program experienced a step back last season during Brent Venables’ first season at the helm following Riley’s departure for USC. ![]() They also made the College Football Playoff in four of those seasons (2015 and then 2017-19). They finished 11-2 in Riley's final season in 2021. The Sooners went 9-2 in 2020, during the pandemic-impacted season, but still claimed the conference title. The Sooners, who have 50 conference titles in program history, won six consecutive Big 12 championships from 2015-20 while winning 11 games each in 20, and 12 games each year from 2017-19. ![]() So, they had a heck of a season in 2021 with Lincoln (Riley), so they are not very far off, that's for sure.” And then in 2021, they won 10 games, 11 games, something like that. “…This is a team that prior to this season had won five straight conference championships in the Big 12 going into 2021. “I think they are certainly ready,” Beamer said Thursday at SEC Media Days in Nashville, Tennessee. Now entering his third year back in the SEC, Beamer is perhaps more uniquely qualified than most to assess the Sooners’ readiness for their leap to college football’s premier conference next summer. The former OU assistant made that move at the end of the 2020 season, when South Carolina hired him as the Gamecocks’ head coach. Shane Beamer has walked the path that Oklahoma will soon follow - making the move directly from the Big 12 to the SEC.
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