Thomas Brent Venables (born December 18, 1970) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in assoc ...

at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. He previously served as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enro ...

from 2012 to 2021. Venables played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Kansas State University Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

as a

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

from 1991 to 1992. Prior to his tenure at Oklahoma, he held various assistant coaching positions at Kansas State University, University of Oklahoma and Clemson University. Venables was awarded the

Broyles Award The Broyles Award is an annual award given to honor the best assistant coach in college football. First awarded in 1996, it was named after former University of Arkansas men's athletic director Frank Broyles. The award is presented in Little R ...

in 2016.

Playing career

From 1989 to 1990, Venables played

Garden City Community College Garden City Community College (Garden City CC or GCCC) is a public community college in Garden City, Kansas. It was established in 1919 to provide a means for post-secondary education for area residents. The school initially shared facilities i ...

then at

under head coach

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

from 1991 to 1992.

Coaching career

Early career

In 1993, Venables began his coaching career at

as a graduate assistant. In 1996, Venables was promoted to linebackers coach and served in that capacity until 1998.

Oklahoma

In 1999, Venables began coaching at the

, where he served as co-

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

and linebackers coach for the

Sooners Sooners is the name given to settlers who entered the Unassigned Lands in what is now the state of Oklahoma before the official start of the Land Rush of 1889. The Unassigned Lands were a part of Indian Territory that, after a lobbying campaig ...

under head coach

Bob Stoops Robert Anthony Stoops (born September 9, 1960) is an American football coach. He was the head football coach at the University of Oklahoma from 1999 through the 2016 season, and on an interim basis during the 2021 Alamo Bowl. He led the Oklahoma ...

, with whom he previously worked at Kansas State. He shared oversight of the defense with Stoops’ younger brother,

Mike Stoops Michael Joseph Stoops (born December 13, 1961) is an American football coach and former player, who is the Linebacker, inside linebackers coach at the University of Kentucky. Stoops also served as the head football coach at the University of Ariz ...

, until Mike became head coach at

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

in 2004. Venables then became sole defensive coordinator, and was also promoted to associate head coach. In 2006, he was one of five finalists for the

for the nation's top assistant coach.

Clemson

In January 2012, after it was announced that

would be returning to Oklahoma to resume the defensive coordinator position he had held until 2004, Venables accepted the position of defensive coordinator at Clemson, where his salary was expected to be between $750,000 and $1 million. Venables had been previously reported to be a candidate for the head coaching position at a number of schools including

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

Kansas State Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

, and

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

. On December 6, 2016, Venables was named the winner of the 2016

for the nation's top assistant coach. ''Clemson Diehards'' reported on December 6, 2017, that Venables was the second-highest paid assistant football coach in college football that year, receiving $1.7 million from Clemson. The only coach in this category receiving more money was Dave Aranda of LSU, who was paid $1.8 million.

Oklahoma (second stint)

On December 5, 2021, Venables was named the 23rd head coach at the

, replacing

Lincoln Riley Lincoln Michael Riley (born September 5, 1983) is an American college football coach and former player who is the head coach of the USC Trojans football program at the University of Southern California. He previously served as the head coach a ...

after his departure to become the head coach at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

(USC).

Personal life

Venables and his wife, Julie, have four children: sons Jake and Tyler, who played football at Clemson, and daughters Laney and Addie.

Head coaching record

References

External links

Clemson profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Venables, Brent Living people 1970 births Clemson Tigers football coaches Garden City Broncbusters football players Kansas State Wildcats football coaches Kansas State Wildcats football players Oklahoma Sooners football coaches Sportspeople from Salina, Kansas Coaches of American football from Kansas Players of American football from Kansas