NORMAN — Saturday’s Senior Day festivities will be special for Oklahoma coach Brent Venables.
He’s four quarters away from taking the Sooners back to the College Football Playoffs for the first time as a head coach, and the program will be honoring the first class of seniors who spent their entire time at OU with Venables.
Guys like defensive tackle Gracen Halton, defensive end R Mason Thomas and tight end Jaren Kanak will play their last regular season game at Oklahoma Memorial Stadium after enduring many ups and downs over the last four years.
“Just a group of guys, there’s no quit in them,” Venables said on Tuesday. “Group of guys that are incredibly close. They’re family. Their families are your family. You’ve gone through life the last four years with them.
“What an honor it is, incredible men that they’ve become through a lot of intentional effort and maturity.”
This crop of seniors has battled through a pair of 6-7 seasons, but they’ve built a foundation for the Sooners to grow into 2026 and beyond under Venables.
“There is a nucleus of young guys in our locker room that did not flinch (last year),” Venables said. “I know I said that several times. It doesn’t resonate with people when you’re not having success, and I get that. But I, myself and the rest of the staff saw the things that were a precursor to what we’re seeing right now. Everybody sees the success, but they don’t see what I’m talking about behind closed doors and all the sacrifice, discipline, consistency, messaging, leadership moments.”
Now, the seniors are four quarters away from taking OU to its first 12-team College Football Playoff.
And the Sooners might not be done at home, either.
Oklahoma held steady at No. 8 in Tuesday’s CFP rankings, which puts the program in position to host a game in the first round of the playoff.
If the rankings froze today, the Sooners would host No. 9 Notre Dame, and both teams are favored to win this weekend.
With so much at stake, OU will quickly shift into business mode at 2:30 p.m. against LSU.
But Venables hopes to enjoy a special moment with his seniors before kickoff.
“Just have great appreciation,” Venables said. “There’s a football piece, a leadership piece, the quality of humans that they are. So all of those things, I’ve got a lot of admiration and respect and appreciation for them. Saturday’s another game. For me, my message to everybody else that’s in the locker room with ‘em, is doing their part to help these guys have an amazing, last regular season finale game experience. I think that’s really important.”
