Arbuckle is out. Now Oklahoma has to get the entire offense right.

About damn time.

That was my reaction when Oklahoma finally fired Ben Arbuckle. I called for it Sunday. Nothing about the announcement Monday made me wish I had been more patient.

But the relief has a shelf life. Brent Venables has removed the offensive coordinator. He still has to fix the offense.

Those are two different accomplishments, and the second one is going to take considerably more than a press release.

Oklahoma announced Monday that Jason Witten will coordinate the offense and call plays for the remainder of the season. That gives him a real opportunity. It also gives the rest of us something better than another argument about what a coach might do someday.

We get to watch him work.

Witten gets an opportunity. The job still has to be earned.

I understand why people are intrigued. Witten knows football. His playing career matters. His experience leading a high school program matters. The work he has done with Oklahoma’s tight ends belongs in the evaluation, too.

None of that answers every question about running an SEC offense.

Now we have to see a game plan these Sooners can execute.

• Does Witten give the quarterback — whoever it is — an answer when pressure comes?
• Can he give OU’s running backs a chance to contribute without having to make three defenders miss?
• Does his plan put the football in the hands of people who can make plays?
• And when the defense takes something away, will Witten have another answer ready?

If all those things seem pretty basic, it’s because they are. Under Arbuckle, Oklahoma spent too much time making basic offensive competence feel like an unreasonable demand.

Witten inherits the roster and the problems. He cannot rebuild the entire offense between practices.

Nobody is asking him to.

Making the players’ jobs clearer and getting them to execute the fundamentals are Witten’s non-negotiables.

Too often under Arbuckle, Oklahoma’s offense showed how little attention it paid to the details.

One good Saturday would be welcome. It would not settle the permanent hire. We’ve already seen an encouraging performance become the sales pitch for a turnaround that didn’t survive the next game.

Witten has to show his offense can execute the basics more than one week in a row.

Then show us the adjustment when an opponent has seen the film and comes prepared.

Venables has to hire an offensive leader

The permanent job requires more than choosing the next play.

Who is developing the quarterbacks? Who owns the protection plan? Who decides what the offensive staff needs to look like? What happens when the quarterback you recruited gets hurt, struggles or leaves?

The next coordinator needs responsibility for those answers and enough authority to do something about them.

Venables cannot hire someone to fix the offense and then make every important decision about the offense before the new guy walks in the door. If the existing pieces fit, explain why. If they do not, be willing to change them.

That applies whether the hire is Witten, Chip Kelly or somebody who has barely entered the public discussion.

Championship programs have consistent offensive leadership. They develop quarterbacks well enough to survive the departure of one good player. They can still run the ball when the other team knows they’re going to run.

The Sooners’ next coordinator needs a track record against defenses capable of fighting back.

What the HOF Hot Board actually tells you

On our November 5 Hot Board livestream, we opened with Kelly atop the board, followed by Neal Brown and Rob Ezell. The board weighs published reporting, performance, offensive autonomy, feasibility and search momentum.

This is an early forecast. It is not a report that Oklahoma has offered any of those coaches the job, and an index score is not a percentage chance of being hired.

My personal top five on the show are Kelly, Brown, G.J. Kinne, Jonathan Brewer and Andy Kotelnicki. That preference list is separate from the forecast. I am not moving somebody up the predictive board just because I like him more.

Witten belongs in the discussion as a serious contender. He also remains unranked and ungraded on this board because we do not yet have the college playcalling evidence to score his audition honestly.

Leaving that space blank is more useful than inventing a number to make the graphic look finished.

As evidence changes, the board should change. A credible report of contact matters more than another person repeating a candidate’s name. Actual offensive improvement under Witten should matter more than how much we enjoyed watching him play on Sundays.

That is the standard.

I wanted Arbuckle gone because the offense was not getting it done. I am glad Venables finally acted.

Now give Witten a fair evaluation. Give the outside candidates a serious one. And stop asking Oklahoma fans to accept the promise of a functioning offense as a substitute for having one.

The next hire has to stand up on Saturdays.