Brent Venables: Oklahoma Football Assistant Hired by Clemson

Brent Venables has been hired by Clemson to be its defensive coordinator, according to newsok.com. His contract has yet to be formally approved, but he is expected to earn between $750,000 and $1 million per year under head coach Dabo Swinney.

WIth Venables' departure, Mike Stoops is Oklahoma's sole defensive coordinator. Additionally, OU has a vacancy at linebackers coach, a role Venables also held in Norman.  

The move was made possible when Kevin Steele, Clemson's former defensive coordinator, left the program. According to espn.com, Steele reported that he was fired from the program, while Swinney maintained Steele had resigned.

The Tigers ended the season on a 70-33 loss to West Virginia in the Discover Orange Bowl in which the Mountaineers set a bowl record for points scored and racked up 401 passing yards and 589 yards of total offense.

Venables, who was co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oklahoma since 1999, played at Kansas State and was a graduate assistant from 1993-95, linebackers coach from 1996-98 and defensive run game coordinator in 1998 under Bill Snyder before accepting a job with the Sooners.

During his tenure in Norman, Oklahoma won a national championship in 2001 in addition to seven Big 12 titles. Among the prominent players Venables coached are Roy Williams, Rocky Calmus, Teddy Lehman, Tommie Harris, Derrick Strait, Curtis Lofton and Travis Lewis.