Todd Bates Officially Leaves Clemson, Named Oklahoma Assistant

Former Clemson assistant head coach Todd Bates said draw to work with Brent Venables led him to Oklahoma.

Oklahoma announced Tuesday that Clemson assistant head coach/defensive tackles coach Todd Bates is joining Brent Venables' staff for the 2022 season. 

Reports surfaced Monday that Bates was headed to Norman. He worked under Venables, the former Clemson defensive coordinator, from 2017 until last month when Venables left to become OU's head coach. Bates appeared to be staying at Clemson. He received a new contract worth $750,000 per year for three years and the title of assistant head coach, but there was a draw to work with Venables, Bates said. 

Bates will hold the same title for Venables as well as co-defensive coordinator/run game and work with the tackles. 

"First, I want to thank Coach (Dabo) Swinney for the great opportunity he gave me at Clemson," Bates said in an OU press release. "I moved out there five years ago and he introduced me to Coach Venables. Since then, Coach V and I have worked hand in hand. He's more than a co-worker to me; I consider him a brother. And when he got the job at OU, immediately I was interested in possibly joining him because I've learned so much from him, chiefly to 'take pride in what you do and one day you'll be proud of what you've done.' 

"I just look forward to rolling my sleeves up and going straight to work and building relationships. That's what this profession is all about. It's about the relationships you build with players and the lives you touch. I look forward to continuing that here with Coach V."

Bates was also Clemson's recruiting coordinator that last two years, and he's been instrumental in bringing talented players to Tiger Town, something Venables will rely on him to do for the Sooners. 

"Todd brings tremendous passion and is a very relational coach," Venables said in the release. "He's got a lot of gifts, but right at the top is his ability to communicate. He's just a great leader of men; really brings out the best in people. He's a technician as a coach and very tactical. He's very demanding of his players and they play incredibly hard for him because he's also very demanding of himself."

Swinney has yet to comment on Bates' departure or anything relating to a coaching search as the Clemson staff is currently out of the office. 

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