Replacing Lincoln Riley with Brent Venables may turn out to be one of the best things to ever happen to Oklahoma football.

That’s saying a lot.

Riley was less than candid when he quit OU to take the job at USC. Riley won a lot of games at OU. He averaged 11 wins and two losses each season. He won the Big 12 Championship four times and he went to the College Football Playoff three times in five years.

But he couldn’t win the big games, particularly in the playoffs. And you could count on him losing once or twice in the Big 12 to teams that were inferior to his.

And Riley doesn’t seem genuine when he says OU’s decision to go to the SEC didn’t negatively impact his hasty departure.

On the other hand, Venables is true blue. He turned down several jobs during a very successful 10-year run at Clemson. He was honest about those courtships.

Venables coached the defense under former Coach Bob Stoops and they were highly successful, winning a national championship and playing in more title games.

Unlike Riley, Venables can coach a championship-level defense. And Venables is anxious to take on the powerhouse teams in the SEC. At Clemson, he played them and beat them routinely.

You can’t fault Riley for taking a job for more money. But he didn’t really let OU make a counter offer because he was determined to leave. Winning in the Pac-12 will be a lot easier than the SEC. Riley didn’t win a national championship and he left town on bad terms.

Venables has all the opportunity to succeed. The fans already love him and he knows how to win big games.

It’s nice to have an OU coach who wants to be here and who knows how to reach the mountaintop.