What Oklahoma Can Expect From Brent Venables' Defense in Season Two

When Brent Venables was at Clemson, the Tigers' defense got markedly better in year two.

Believe it or not, Clemson hasn’t always had the dominant defense we’re used to today. Before Brent Venables took over for the Tigers in 2012, Clemson was searching for answers on that side of the ball.

After a rocky first season in Norman, the Sooners are searching for answers too. If history repeats itself, Oklahoma may be in a good spot. Venables’ defensive units saw year-to-year improvement at Clemson and the defensive-minded head coach has key talent returning.

Billy Bowman, Woodi Washington and Key Lawrence were all heavy contributors in the secondary who are expected back in 2023. Oklahoma returns one starting linebacker in Danny Stutsman, who gets another season mastering the scheme and has young talent waiting in the wings. But senior David Ugwoegbu has entered the transfer portal.

Oklahoma also received holiday gifts through the transfer portal, as Reggie Pearson, Dasan McCullough and Trace Ford all have the potential to be instant starters on defense. It’s safe to say the Sooners will look quite a bit different on that side of the ball next fall, and on-field improvement could be on the horizon.

In 2012, the year that Venables took charge of the Clemson defense, the Tigers experienced a defensive bump from the season before. 

The year before Venables arrived, the Tigers had the No. 81-ranked defense in the country in opponents' points per game. After they hired the defensive coordinator from Oklahoma, Clemson experienced a massive jump to No. 48 in the country, allowing 24.8 points per game. His defense forced 1.8 turnovers per contest and allowed 396.2 yards a game on average.

The elevation in defensive success bought the Tigers a few more wins, too. Instead of 10-4, Clemson finished 11-2.

The following season in 2013, a year after Venables was settled in and his scheme was implemented, there was noticeable improvement across the board. 

Clemson allowed 22.2 points per game defensively, good for the 24th-ranked scoring defense in the country. The Tigers allowed nearly 40 less yards per game in Venables’ second season, with an average of 2.3 takeaways per contest.

It’s important to give Venables and his staff time to develop players on the roster as well as the new recruiting classes. His last stop shows he can have success and turn a unit around, and trusting him to do that in Norman would seem a safe bet. 

Like Clemson, Oklahoma needs a big jump fro its defense in year two to get the train moving.