Venables leaving Clemson

One of Clemson’s top assistants has been hired away to run his own program for the first time ever, leaving Dabo Swinney with a massive void to fill on his coaching staff.

Oklahoma has finalized a deal to make Brent Venables its next head coach, The Clemson Insider has confirmed. As TCI previously reported, the two sides began having conversations soon after Lincoln Riley, who spent five seasons at the helm of the Sooners’ program, accepted the head coaching job at Southern California on Nov. 28.

A week later, Venables’ hire at OU is happening.

Venables has spent the last 10 seasons at Clemson, where he became the architect of some of the nation’s best defenses. The 50-year-old Venables, who became the nation’s highest-paid assistant coach this season, has turned down other FBS head coaching opportunities over the years, but OU is a place he’s all too familiar with.

Venables’ ties to the Big 12 Conference run deep, though, assuming he’s still OU’s coach by then, he will be part of the Sooners’ transition into the SEC in 2025. Venables came to Clemson in 2012 from OU, where he spent 13 years as a defensive assistant, including a stint as defensive coordinator, under Bob Stoops. Before that, Venables, a Kansas native, spent six seasons as an assistant at Kansas State, his alma mater.

Clemson experienced a quick defensive turnaround under Venables, who replaced Kevin Steele after the Tigers allowed a whopping 70 points to West Virginia in an Orange Bowl loss to end the 2011 season. The Tigers finished 81st nationally in points allowed that season, but Venables moved Clemson into the top 50 in that category in his first season at the controls.

The Tigers have had a top-25 scoring defense every year since, including five seasons in the top 10. Their best defensive season statistically during Venables’ tenure came during their 2018 national championship season when the Tigers gave up the fewest points in the country (13.1 per game).

This year’s version, which carried a sputtering offense through the first half of the season, isn’t far behind.

Clemson heads into its bowl game allowing just 15 points per game, good for second-fewest in the FBS. The Tigers pitched a shutout against South Carolina — the first on either side of the in-state rivalry since 1989 — in the regular-season finale.

Now Swinney is looking for his third defensive coordinator since taking over as Clemson’s head coach in 2009. These particular shoes won’t be easy to fill.