To all those portal issues with QB shopping, add:
6) Who in their right mind is going to want to play in that system? Disregarding the money for a minute, it's one thing for Jalen Hurts or Kyler Murray to come play in Lincoln Riley's video game heisman trophy offense. It's quite another to sign up for the Seth Littrell experience behind an iffy (and I'm being generous here) offensive line. Who is going to invest their NFL future in that? Their best bet for immediate success is to hire a new coordinator who has a transfer QB attached to him, like Lebby and Gabriel.
I don't think time is necessarily on Venables side here, despite the contract extension. He went 6-7 in year 1 with the worst OU loss ever in the RRS. Last year he got fat at 10-3 on a shitastic schedule. They are only going to be favored against Auburn and Maine, and maybe South Carolina the rest of the way. So that puts them at 6 wins plus a bowl game? That ain't gonna cut it at a place that won 14 conference titles between 2000 - 2020. I can't see him having longer than next year to figure it out, and the schedule is going to be just as brutal.