As one of the premier defensive coordinators in the country, Clemson’s Brent Venables has turned down offers from all over to stay with the defending National Champions. In the process, Venables has become the highest paid assistant in history and produced one of the nations top defenses.
Going into his eighth season as Clemson’s defensive coordinator, Venables has set the bar for what a coordinator in today’s college football landscape should be. Venables came to the Tigers after head coach Dabo Swinney lured him away from the Oklahoma Sooners after the 2011 season. Venables also held the defensive coordinator position in Norman from 1999-2011.
In July of 2018, Clemson made Brett Venables the highest paid assistant in college football history. Clemson gave Venables a five year deal worth $11.6 million. The contract gives Venables $2 million per year with retention bonuses of $200,000 per year for the first two years, and $400,000 per year for the final three.
What makes Venables different from most college coaches and coordinators is his loyalty to the Clemson program. He has had the opportunity to leave every year and pursue opportunities at other schools, including head coaching jobs, but Venables has stuck by Dabo Swinney and the program at Clemson. This type of loyalty is an anomaly in this day and time. Venables seems to be content where he is. Proof of that: Venables son, a 3-star safety just committed to play for the Tigers as a member of the 2020 recruiting class.
Having a high caliber assistant stay with a team pays dividends in a lot of ways, but one of the biggest ways is recruiting.When you can go out on the recruiting trail and show the recruits about the stability and productivity of the defense, the results speak for themselves. If my count is correct, Venables has had 19 players drafted to the NFL from his defense since his arrival in 2012. Along with this, having one of the nations top ranked defenses year in and year out is a strong selling point to recruits.
Last years defense had one of the best defensive lines in history, giving the Tigers the fifth ranked team in the country in total defense. Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell, Austin Bryant and Dexter Lawrence all departed for the NFL, but the difference between Clemson and other programs is that the Tigers do not rebuild, they reload.
Clemson has been in the top 10 in scoring defense 4 out of the last 5 years. This years defense only has four starters returning from last years team, but that doesn’t mean that you are going to see a decline in productivity. In 2014, the Tigers led the nation in total defense with only four starters returning. In 2015, they allowed 313 ypg with only three starters returning. It goes to show that Venables can take a young, inexperienced group and turn them into a cohesive unit that produces a top product. Going into fall camp, there are no set in stone starters according to the coaching staff, but players like defensive end Xavier Thomas, and defensive tackle Nyles Pinckney are emerging as the new leaders for the defense.
If we have learned anything about the Clemson Tigers over the last few years, it’s that no matter how many players leave for the NFL, there are plenty of other top recruits to take their place. The difference with these players from other programs is that Clemson’s players will make an immediate impact on the field, and keep Clemson in the National Championship picture for years to come. With the duo of Dabo Swinney and Brent Venables roaming the sidelines, the Clemson Tigers football team isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
