Bob Stoops weighs in on Brent Venables as new Oklahoma head coach

Oklahoma zeroed in on its next head football coach, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables, just one week after Lincoln Riley left Norman to accept the USC job. And legendary Sooners’ coach Bob Stoops, who took over for Riley in the interim, seems as excited as can be about Oklahoma’s newest hire.

Much like Riley, Venables comes from the Stoops coaching tree. While Riley served as Stoops’ offensive coordinator before his promotion to head coach, Venables served as Stoops’ defensive coordinator. Hired in 1999, Venables was Oklahoma’s co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, then he was promoted in 2004 to assistant head coach, too. Venables coached the defense under Stoops in 2000, when the Sooners were consensus national champions, and he was a Broyles Award finalist in 2006. That season, Venables led Oklahoma to an excellent performance in which the Sooners led the Big 12 in total defense and scoring defense.

“Brent was a major part of our 2000 national championship team here at OU, won two national titles at Clemson and, all told, has coached in eight national championship games,” Stoops said of Venables in a press release. “He knows the formula to win national championships and has the toughness, the attitude and the fight that I think will elevate our program in a lot of positive ways. I’ve always loved his energy, excitement and passion for the game — it clearly spills over to his players. He has the absolute right experience to come in at this time and really boost our program.”

Stoops was Oklahoma’s head coach from 1999-2016. In 18 seasons, he went to 18 bowl games, going 9-9 in postseason play. He won Oklahoma its last national title in 2000, when the Sooners finished 13-0 and won the Orange Bowl in just his second year at the helm. By the time of Stoops’ retirement in 2016, he had amassed a 190-48 record in Norman, and he was succeeded by Riley. Now, as Stoops prepares to help Venables make the transition from Clemson to Oklahoma, he expressed full faith in Venables’ ability to bring Oklahoma back to the top of the college football world.

“With 13 years here at OU and 10 at Clemson, you couldn’t ask for better preparation to handle a job like this and handle it well,” Stoops said. “He’s taking over a 10-2 team that has so much more potential, and the bottom line is he’s the perfect guy to get us to the next level. He has an incredible support system with his wife Julie and his children, and it’ll be great having them back leading the program.”

Venables has been at Clemson since 2012, serving six seasons as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach, before his promotion in 2018. Ever since then, he’s served as Clemson’s assistant head coach, in addition to his duties as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. Venables was a Broyles Award finalist with Oklahoma, but he later won the distinction in 2016, while coaching Clemson.

Clemson’s defense in 2021 ranked No. 9 in the country under Venables’ tutelage, allowing just 308.4 total yards of offense per game.