Oh for sure. That is something that is amiss in Sark's program. He's probably overly deferential to his coordinators.*
But broadly speaking, to compete regularly with the UGas, OSUs and Alabama's of the recent past (probably should throw Michigan and ND in there too), you need multiple consecutive years of top rated classes with solid evals and development. You can't just walk into a situation with an aggregate 4 star rating, and nothing more, and expect that squad to execute and perform at a top level. I think Sark knew there'd be a dropoff but didn't know how it would interfere with his plans. And has misunderestimated a bit what it would take to reach a Bama level of talent.
And, I think he lets himself be deceived that his team executing his offense in practice means they'll reliably do it in games and is shocked when they can't. And then tries to force the issue and make them play through it to do what he thinks they can. And I think that's a valid coaching strategy to a point. Jerritt Elliott makes the volleyball gals play through underachievement regularly, sometimes to their short-term detriment.
But OU maybe proved that when clubbed over the head that we lack the talent/execution to do that, he can adapt. It's just not his first instinct.
*There's nothing fundamentally wrong with deferring/delegating, I think most of the best leaders do it and do it well, but maintain accountability. If Sark has to be the uber control freak micromanaging every assistant, I don't think he can or will do that.