Dabo Swinney Says It Was ‘Right Time’ for Brent Venables to Move On From Clemson

Clemson Football is going to look a lot different next season.

There will be no Brent Venables roaming the sidelines and no get back coach pulling him off the field.

Wes Goodwin will be calling the plays for the Clemson defense in 2022, and head coach Dabo Swinney said recently on The Players Club Podcast with Darien Rencher that the timing was right for Venables to move on.

“This was the right time, and man, it’s awesome,” Swinney said. “You love to see your players develop and be prepared for whatever’s coming next… But also take a lot of pride in seeing the staff develop.”

Swinney said if it weren’t the Oklahoma job, that Venables would still be in Clemson.

“Brent, honestly if it wasn’t the Oklahoma job, he’d still be at Clemson,” Swinney said. “That was a job that I think he had enough comfort and familiarity with. Like OK, this is what he wants to go do. People are like, ‘Oh my.’ There’s nobody happier, I’m thrilled. I thought there was a couple jobs he probably should have taken, but he just didn’t have peace about it. I mean, great jobs.”

Despite all the changes to his coaching staff, Swinney is extremely excited about what’s coming, and said the change allowed to him to hand out some promotions that were long overdue.

“It created some opportunity for some of my peripheral staff to get some new opportunity,” Swinney said. “But then it also allowed me to hire some new people, promote some people that were very deserving and very ready. So, it’s great. Continuity is great, and change is great. They’re both great. So, I love where we are, and the timing is perfect.”