OU’s Brent Venables Hired As Clemson DC After Much Confusion

Dabo Swinney won coach of the year awards largely thanks to his wisdom in hiring Chad Morris as offensive coordinator, who turned a sleepy offensive unit into one of the nation’s most improved. Based on that, we’ll consider him an expert in hiring very expensive coordinators until proved incorrect. Venables usually held his own in the points-happy Big 12, where he never gave up 70 points in a bowl game.

For more on the Tigers, visit Clemson blog Shakin’ the Southland.

From before his drawn-out, confusing hire, here’s Clemson blog Shakin’ the Southland -- a blog with an excellent mind for defensive football, might I add -- with premonitions about the Tigers bringing him on:

Those OU fans who are believed to have wanted rid of Venables? They’re concerned about waking up in a post-Venables world, actually, according to Oklahoma blog Crimson and Cream Machine:

Considering the events of Wednesday, this had to happen how it did. Dabo Swinney finally sent out a text blast to the media announcing Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables had been hired in the same capacity at Clemson. Throughout the day, texts were exchanged with various members of the media, leading to moments of confusion about Venables status with Oklahoma and/or Clemson.

Then again, Swinney also used shorthand, so BV could be Brent Venables, or it could be anyone else with the initials BV.

Brent Venables is going to Clemson. Or he’s staying at Oklahoma. Or he’s just messing with everyone involved in this circus right now. At this point, nobody has a clue what’s going on, and maybe that’s for the best.

Venables has been texting up a storm, apparently, and wires seem to be crossed somewhere along the line. To recap: multiple reports indicated Venables was Clemson-bound on Wednesday afternoon. Shortly thereafter, he sent a cryptic text to Dave Sittler, saying “I’m staying.” Except, as Sittler later explained, it was part of a joking conversation in which Sittler threatened to visit Venables in South Carolina. Context matters.

Tulsa World sports columnist Dave Sittler reached out to Venables to get confirmatio and instead received a two-word text response:

“I’m staying.”

Venables has denied to Sooners beat writers that he’s taking the Clemson job, but it looks like that might just have been a misdirection.

For more on the parties involved, visit Oklahoma blog Crimson and Cream Machine and West Virginia blog The Smoking Musket, plus Clemson blog Shakin’ the Southland.

Reports of Wildcats defensive coordinator Chris Cosh heading to USF stirred up speculation that Venables may have an opening elsewhere in the Big 12, should he feel crowded out by Mike Stoops’ addition to the OU staff. And now we’re all caught up.

It still appears to be either Clemson or Oklahoma, with all signs up until a couple days ago pointing to an exit to the Tigers. If any more rumors pop up in the interim that Sittler needs to go out of his way to put out, we’ll stay on top of them.

For more on the parties involved, visit Oklahoma blog Crimson and Cream Machine and West Virginia blog The Smoking Musket, plus Clemson blog Shakin’ the Southland.

A Venables exit would make further sense with Mike Stoops already returning as co-defensive coordinator, wouldn’t it?

He’d be the second coach in the state to leave to join Dana Holgorsen at WVU this month, following Oklahoma St. Cowboys associate head coach Joe DeForest, if he were to make the move to Morgantown.

As far as replacements go, Clemson blog Shakin’ the Southland has a list all rarin’ to go:

So there’s one more school competing for a defensive coordinator in the southeast.