Bruce Feldman weighs in on state of Oklahoma program after coaching change

Bruce Feldman weighed in on the state of the Oklahoma football program in an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show. According to Feldman, the Sooners will be just fine under the direction of coach Brent Venables.

First, the presumed loss of Caleb Williams to a new program feels like a big loss for Oklahoma. However, Feldman isn’t worried about the Sooners quarterback position. He believes Dillon Gabriel will be a great fit for the program.

“Dillon Gabriel was all set to start classes at UCLA. I mean, he was a guy who had like 74 touchdowns and 12 picks at UCF. And decided no, I’m not going to go there basically at the eleventh hour,” stated Feldman. “Pivoted and decided I’m going to go play at Jeff Lebby’s system in Oklahoma. He knows that system well.

“I think that’s a very good – I don’t want to say it’s backup plan – but I think if that’s what they pivoted to, it’s going to work out really well for Oklahoma.”

Continuing, Feldman also believes the Sooners will be able to replicate much of their offensive success from recent seasons.

“I suspect they can sell a lot of offensive production that that system has had. I think it’ll be a little different – obviously without Lincoln [Riley] – but there are some key pieces there,” stated Feldman. “One of the secret weapons to the Oklahoma offense was their run game, and why it wasn’t what most people think of in an air raid offense.

“Run game coordinator Bill Bedenbaugh — a lot of people thought he was going to leave. He’s arguably the best offensive line coach in college football, and he decided he wanted to stay.”

Even with the loss of Lincoln Riley and his offense, Feldman believes the Sooners will be just fine.

Feldman on Oklahoma: ‘I don’t expect them to fall apart.’

Moreover, Feldman believes Venables will be able to keep Oklahoma at the forefront of their conference.

“Venables did a really good job at Clemson,” stated Feldman. “I think – especially with them in the Big 12 – I don’t think there’s going to be big drop off from them.

“Obviously Caleb Williams was a jolt that’s likely not coming back, but I think with Dillon Gabriel they’re going to be just fine on offense. And I suspect they’re going to be probably as good as they were this year. Now whether they can take the next step and be a team that can actually win Playoff games, that’s another story.

“But I don’t expect them to like, fall apart. How they seemed to move out of the bombshell aspect of Lincoln Riley moving on, I think they’ve recovered pretty well.”

Oklahoma will look different next season. However, Bruce Feldman believes the Sooners are still one of the teams to be reckon with in the sport.