Brent Venables explains why Oklahoma is having a spring game again
Brent Venables spoke about the importance of a spring game for the Oklahoma Sooners.
After a one-year hiatus, the Oklahoma Sooners will be having a spring football game again in 2026. The first opportunity to see Team 132 on Owen Field will be on April 18th at noon inside Gaylord Family - Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. While the fans are obviously in favor of the spring game's return, especially as opposed to last year's "Crimson Combine" experiment, it sounds like head coach Brent Venables has identified the need for a spring game.
He told the media on Tuesday that the game is important for his team. "We don't have many opportunities to be able to get out and play and get everybody on the field, and bring a crowd in and let our guys have an experience for what game day will be similar to, so this will be an opportunity to really evaluate where we're at from that standpoint, and really just operationally," Venables said. "The season's gonna come quick, from our opener with UTEP, to going on the road in three of the first five weeks, its gonna be a great, great challenge ...
So anytime we can get in the stadium and play and try to simulate a game is going to be really beneficial for us. " Last year, likely due to the rising trend in college football of not having a spring game, the Sooners followed suit and shelved the annual contest. For many schools, that was due to the presence of the spring transfer portal window, when teams could lose players they'd spent all spring coaching up.
With that window gone, Venables and OU decided to bring the game back, as he clearly sees its importance for his squad. While many players haven't been participating in spring practices due to injury, and also won't be playing in the spring game, there are still plenty of other new and returning faces that fans will be looking forward to see for the first time in 2026, with the season-opener on September 5th now less than five months away. Contact/Follow us @SoonersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Oklahoma news, notes and opinions.