Many around college football believe Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has lost it, and maybe when they say “it,” they mean Oklahoma head coach Brent Venables, who was Swinney’s defensive coordinator during his greatest years.
The night after Venables was irritated about his OU defense’s 51-0 shutout victory against UTEP in the No. 10 Sooners’ opener, Swinney suffered maybe the worst loss of his career, as LSU made the Tigers look like a Week 1 cupcake in the 51-10 outcome in Lane Kiffin’s LSU debut. Week 1 assured that Venables still has the Sooners rising as College Football Playoff contenders, while it also confirmed why Swinney’s status may soon go from legendary to unemployed.
Venables left Clemson after the 2021 season to return to Oklahoma and replace Lincoln Riley as the Sooners’ head coach. He had previously been a defensive coordinator at OU, including for the Sooners’ last national championship in 2000 under Bob Stoops. He then left Norman to join Swinney’s staff in 2012. Swinney certainly had Clemson’s stock rising, but the Tigers still weren’t a national power yet.
Oklahoma finally benefitting from Brent Venables’ defensive genius as Tigers crumble
Clemson was 29-19 between 2009 and 2011, Swinney’s first three seasons in charge. Then Venables got to town. With Venables running the defense, the Tigers went 121-18 and won two national titles between 2012 and 2021. In 2016, Venables was named the Broyles Award winner as the best assistant in college football…