Swinney comments on Oklahoma’s pursuit of Venables

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney on Sunday commented on Oklahoma’s pursuit of Brent Venables as its next head coach.

As TCI previously reported, Clemson’s confidence in its ability to hold on to its longtime defensive coordinator has waned since he emerged as one of if not the Sooners’ leading candidate to replace Lincoln Riley, who left after five seasons as OU’s coach to fill the same role at Southern California. ESPN’s Chris Low reported that OU hopes to have a deal finalized with Venables as soon as Sunday.

As of late Sunday afternoon, nothing had been made official between Venables and OU. Swinney said he’ll comment more on the situation if the time comes to address something more concrete.

“Definitely not something we’re not going to talk about right now,” said Swinney, who spoke on a media teleconference after Clemson was chosen to play Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl later this month. “This is about our team. It’s about this opportunity and this matchup. If there’s something to be talked about there, we’ll discuss that at the appropriate time.”