Can Brent Venables turn the tide in his matchup with Steve Sarkisian?

The Oklahoma Sooners and the Texas Longhorns will face off again on Saturday, as the annual renewal of the Red River Rivalry is upon us. For the two head coaches, Brent Venables for OU and Steve Sarkisian for the 'Horns, it's another measuring-stick game against another head coach with a championship pedigree.

Sarkisian is one of college football's premier offensive gurus. He played quarterback for LaVell Edwards at BYU for two seasons, before getting into coaching a few years later. Multiple stints on Pete Carroll's staff at USC led him to the head coaching job at Washington, before USC stole him away after a few years.

Things came crashing down for Sarkisian with the Trojans, however, and he was fired for personal issues. He restarted his career with the Atlanta Falcons, with multiple stints on Nick Saban's Alabama staff in between. That led him to another chance as a head coach at a big-time program. Texas hired him ahead of the 2021 season.

Sarkisian is a quarterback whisperer, calling the offensive plays himself for the Longhorns, and he's led the program to the College Football Playoff twice in his first five years. Texas is among the most talented teams in the nation each year, and they head up to Dallas ranked No. 1 in the country this season.

Venables is the opposite in just about every way. He's one of college football's premier defensive masterminds. He played linebacker for two seasons for Bill Snyder at Kansas State, before immediately joining the KSU staff when his playing days were over. After a few years, he joined Bob Stoops' inaugural staff at Oklahoma, helping OU to great success.

After a long stretch with the Sooners, he left to coach at Clemson under Dabo Swinney. The Tigers won a lot during Venables time as an assistant, and he finally became a head coach when Oklahoma hired him ahead of the 2022 season.

Venables calls the defensive plays himself for the Sooners, and he took the program to the College Football Playoff last season. However, OU heads up to Dallas unranked and struggling to begin the 2026 season.

Both coaches have championship backgrounds as assistants. Sarkisian won the 2003 title at USC and the 2020 title at Alabama. Venables, meanwhile, won the 2000 title at Oklahoma and the 2016 and 2018 titles at Clemson. However, both coaches are still looking to break through and win it all as the head man.

In their four meetings as head coaches, Sarkisian has had the upper hand. Texas is 3-1 against Oklahoma in the last four years, with the only loss coming in 2023. In the other three games, the Sooners failed to score a touchdown.

For Venables, this game is the most important one yet in the series. He cannot be labeled as the guy who always gets bested by Sarkisian. With both coaches matching up head-to-head and handling the play-calling duties, Venables has to find a way to get the upper hand over his rival. He has to win the chess match with his defense against Sarkisian's offense.

Venables, the defensive genius, and Sarkisian, the offensive maestro, are different in almost every way. However, two big things bind them together. One is their championship DNA as assistants, as they've both worked for legendary coaches at the top of their games. The other is this rivalry, which will forever link the two coaches in history. Venables has to make sure he starts winding up on the winning side of that history more often than not.

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This article originally appeared on Sooners Wire: Can Brent Venables turn the tide in his matchup with Steve Sarkisian?