Venables Leaving for Clemson

The Brent Venables era “is over at Oklahoma,” the Tulsa World reports.

“Venables confirmed in a text message to the Tulsa World at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday night that he has accepted Dabo Swinney’s offer to be defensive coordinator at Clemson.

[…]

“His exit ends a 13-year run that saw him go from a 28-year-old wunderkind, an intense heart-and-soul personality that helped drive OU’s defense to greatness, to a 41-year-old coach left beleaguered by inexplicable defensive busts by his players.”

The return of Mike Stoops “and a perceived demotion is believed to [be] the impetus for Venables’ departure.”

“Money is believed to be a factor in what insiders called ‘a very difficult decision.’ Venables said in a later text that leaving was ‘hard to do.’

“He got a new contract in 2007 that paid him $210,000, but that was raised in 2008 to $315,000 (which at the time was among the 10 highest-paid coordinators in the nation). After the 2008 national championship game, Venables was bumped again to $345,000, and after his 2009 unit ranked in the top 10 in the nation in rushing defense, total defense and scoring defense, he got another increase to $395,000. Venables’ most recent increase in October 2010 put him at $440,000.

“Speculation out of Clemson is that Venables could make upwards of $600,000 to $800,000. Swinney last month nearly tripled the annual compensation of first-year offensive coordinator Chad Morris to $1.3 million.”