Clemson’s Dabo Swinney congratulates ‘great friend’ Brent Venables as he takes OU job

Clemson football head coach Dabo Swinney issued a statement Monday after former Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables was introduced as the University of Oklahoma’s next head coach:

“I am super excited for Brent and Julie and the entire Venables family,” the statement, released from Clemson’s football Twitter account, read. “Man, he’s not only been a great co-worker and defensive coordinator, but he’s been a great friend.

“I’m so excited for this opportunity for him. He’s been very patient. He’s had many opportunities along the way. This was just the right fit for him and the right time with a lot of familiarity for him at Oklahoma. I know he is well-prepared. It’s been fun for me to watch him really grow since 2012, and I’m excited for Oklahoma because they’re not only getting a good coach, they’re also getting a great man who is going to do it the right way.

“His hiring is a great compliment to our program and to all the great players that we’ve had. I’m going to miss him, but at the same time, I’m also excited about moving forward here and the great opportunity ahead. Today is a great day for Brent and his family and a great day for Oklahoma, and the entire Clemson Family and I are proud of — and thankful for — his 10 years here and the lives he impacted in the process.”

Venables hired

Venables, 50, was announced Sunday night as the successor to Lincoln Riley, who left the Sooners last weekend after five seasons to take the head coaching position at the University of Southern California.

Venables left Oklahoma to become Clemson’s defensive coordinator almost 10 years ago.

At Clemson, he was a Broyles Award finalist in 2015 after his defense finished fourth nationally in third-down conversion percentage (27.7) and in sacks per game (3.2) and fifth in tackles for loss per game (8.4). Two years before that, the Tigers’ defense led the nation in tackles for loss (122) and Venables was one of Rivals’ top-25 recruiters and one of 247Sports’ top-50 recruiters in the nation.

Venables finally won the Broyles Award in 2016 following a season where the defensive unit set a school record of 49 quarterback sacks, which was replaced by the 2018 national championship defense’s record of 54 sacks. That group also had five first- or second-team All-Americans, including two consensus selections in Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins. Both were first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft.

During his time at Clemson, Venables won two more national championships with a 6-0 record in ACC title contests. As a full-time assistant coach, he’s never had a losing season over 25 years with 29 bowl games and 21 seasons with 10 or more wins.