Brent Venables Discusses New Staff, New Direction For Struggling Offense

The University of Oklahoma Head Coach Brent Venables announced that Jackson Arnold will be back as the starting quarterback for their upcoming game against Ole Miss.

Venables said Joe John Finley will call the plays for the Sooners, who are set to take on Ole Miss at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

The head coach also talked about the promotion of Kevin Johns to co-offensive coordinator, though he acknowledged the challenges Johns faces in learning the team's "verbiage and language."

"It's certainly not fair for him, that also you got to learn a new verbiage and language and how we intimately operate, you know, with this current team, with these players," Venables said. "And so it's all very player-focused when it comes to that, and what's fair for them, and what he's capable of doing in four days." Venables recognized the offensive line as a weak point for the Sooners and said the new coaching staff will need to find schemes that play to the group's strengths.

"Some of it's positioning, some of it's techniques, some of it's physicality, some of its strength, some of it it's not a good matchup," Venables said. "I think offensively, you can find ways to not ask them to do things that they're not capable of doing. That's part of coaching."