Column: Guess which program is learning that first years aren't fun? Oklahoma

Let’s say you’re someone like me, whose sports consciousness began when Craig Biggio jumped into Jeff Bagwell’s arms celebrating a second-straight NL Central championship. In other words, mid-to-late 1998.

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If you’ve followed Texas football since then, you’ve seen 1) One Heisman 2) Two Rose Bowl wins 3) Two Big 12 titles and 4) One National Championship.

In that time period, you’ve also seen more coaching changes than Big 12 titles.

Texas has made three coaching changes since the turn of the century. There was the change from Mack Brown to Charlie Strong in 2014. Strong’s first-year regular season record? 6-6, followed by a “borderline erotic” WALLOPING at the hands of Arkansas in the Texas Bowl. Then, came the switch from Strong to Tom Herman in 2016. Herman’s record during his 2017 campaign? 6-6, with a WALLOPING of Missouri in the Texas Bowl where the Longhorns secured the bag. Finally, just after the calendar turned from 2020 to 2021, Steve Sarkisian replaced Herman to become the third Longhorn head coach in the span of six years. Sarkisian went 5-7 in his first year, not even earning the right to deliver WALLOPs in a bowl game.

The lesson I took away from that span of tremendous upheaval? First years suck.

You have the “change of the culture.” You have, oftentimes, the change of offensive and defensive systems. Now, there’s also the threat of constant change of the transfer portal, something Texas both felt the brunt of and took advantage of last season.

Texas, or at least its fans, are used to this type of change at this point, painful though it may be.

Oklahoma? This is something unfamiliar to those with OUDNA.

Credit to the Sooners, they have proven adept at “handing over the keys.” Gomer Jones (real name) took over for Bud Wilkinson. Barry Switzer took over for Chuck Fairbanks. Lincoln Riley took over for Bob Stoops. More often than not, it’s worked out for those in Norman, Gary Gibbs notwithstanding.

For a program without Texas’ level of upheaval since Stoops took over in 1999, it makes sense for crimson and cream faithful to think nothing of the change from Riley to Brent Venables. “They’re Oklahoma! Why would they step back? Venables is a program guy! He was on Stoops staff! Plus he’s tough, not like Riley’s culture. More like his brisket.”

Breaking news to Norman, first years suck.

Venables changed offensive systems. Jeff Lebby is good at what he does, but Riley is considered a top offensive mind in the modern game. Making that switch at the top and trying to install a new system always has its pitfalls. Dillon Gabriel’s experience in the system is valuable, and his addition was a prudent move by Venables. But the other players? They’re learning on the fly and not fast enough to outscore — checks notes — TCU and Kansas State.

Venables‘ track record on defense speaks for itself, but he’s not calling plays. He left that up to Ted Roof. No matter how it turns out down the road, players who fit Alex Grinch’s system are playing for Venables and Roof. Like-for-like fits? Probably not. A common struggle in first-year regimes, as the game in Fort Worth illustrated.

As Paul Wadlington explained earlier, prognosticators who prognosticated that everything will be fine because “it’s Oklahoma!” ignored a fact pattern Texas fans knew all too well. Changes happen for a reason. Hires are made for a reason. For Texas, it’s mostly been to correct a deficiency. Pick your football buzzword, and you’ll probably pick one of the reasons for a firing and subsequent hiring at Texas from the past nine years.

Oklahoma fans haven’t seen this type of program upheaval in over two decades — a time period filled with a national title, contention for more, conference crowns, and Heisman Trophy winners — and many are learning for the first just how painful it is.

Does that have an effect on Saturday’s game? Yes and no. OU will be as motivated as Texas is, no matter what Venables said in his Tuesday press conference. But Texas has a better sense about themselves than they did last year, and Oklahoma is still finding its footing in what they want to be in the Venables era.

That’s all to say, first years under new coaches typically are filled with growing pains. The Longhorns’ goal on Saturday is to pair growing pain with actual pain for Sooner players as they walk back up the tunnel, see an empty half of the Cotton Bowl, and more points on the UT side of the ledger.