Texas A&M Football: Why the Aggies Should Pass on Hiring Brent Venables for DC

Texas A&M football head coach Kevin Sumlin is in the market for a new defensive coordinator after Mark Snyder was let go the day after the Aggies' 23-17 loss to LSU.

Sumlin will make a mistake if he hires Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables to take over the same position in Aggieland. 

The Aggies finished the 2014 regular season with a 7-5 record. The Aggies' biggest issue for the last two seasons has been a defense that has struggled to stop the opponent. The new Aggie defensive coordinator will need to build a defense that can consistently stop the run. 

The Aggies are allowing 223.5 yards per game rushing and 5.1 yards per rushing attempt. In 2013, the Aggies defense allowed 222.3 yards per game rushing and 5.4 yards per rushing attempt. It is impossible to consistently win games in the SEC when you cannot stop the running game. 

When a defense can consistently stop the run, it can force an offense to become one-dimensional, which makes its play-calling more predictable and easier to defend.

Ideally, the defense is the foundation of the team. The offense can have an poor day, or weather can limit what an offense can do during games. A strong defense should be the one consistent element that a team can rely on.  

Sumlin has the opportunity to make a splash hire that will get the attention of recruits and turn the defense around. That hire is not Venables for a couple of reasons.

Coaching Shows Up when Talent Is Similar 

You want your defense to show up every week and display the ability to shut the opponent down. Venables' Clemson defense was able to do this in 2014 against the weaker teams, but it struggled against the top teams on the schedule.

In losses to Georgia and Georgia Tech, the Clemson defense allowed an average of 289.5 yards rushing and 6.4 yards per rush attempt. In a 23-17 loss to Florida State, Clemson only allowed 13 yards rushing in the game, but it allowed the second-string quarterback to pass for 304 yards. 

Clemson's defense has obviously struggled to show up against teams who are able to match the Tigers in talent. 

In Venables' last season as the defensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 2011, his defenses were lit up by Baylor, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. Venables' Sooners defense allowed an average of 43.3 points and 561 yards per game in those three losses. 

When the talent is similar, the difference between the teams will be the coaching, and Venables proved lacking in that area. 

Great coaches will find a way to put their players in a position to be successful. Average coaches can get elite results with elite talent. Great coaches find a way to coax elite results out of average talent. Venables has not proven he is capable of this. 

2014 Results May Be Fool's Gold

The 2014 Clemson Tigers defense currently leads the country in total defense. While that is impressive, that is an outlier on Venables' coaching record. 

In 2010, Venables' Oklahoma defense allowed 361.9 yards per game and 4.1 yards per rush attempt. In 2011, the Sooners allowed 376.2 yards per game and 3.7 yards per rush attempt.

In 2012, Venables went to Clemson, and the Tigers defense allowed 396.2 yards per game and 4.2 yards per rush attempts. 

In 2013, the Tigers allowed 357.1 yards per game and 3.7 yards per rush. In 2014, the Tigers are allowing 259.6 yards per game and 2.78 yards per rush attempt. It is pretty obvious that Venables has coached good, solid defenses at the major college level. 

The results he is getting in 2014 may be related more to a favorable schedule than coaching prowess. Because of conference scheduling and Jameis Winston's suspension, the Tigers only faced one of the top five passing quarterbacks in the ACC in 2014. 

The Clemson defense allowed 35 points and 478 total yards to North Carolina and their quarterback Marquise Williams in a 50-35 win for the Tigers. 

The Aggies need a defensive coordinator who is going to build a defense that is going to get the opponent off the field consistently. They do not need someone who will shut down the bad teams but let the good ones go up and down the field on them. 

Venables is a solid defensive coordinator who has done a very good job at Clemson in 2014. But he is not the right man to get the defense turned around in College Station.