3 possible candidates to replace Brent Venables as DC

The Clemson Tigers have lost defensive coordinator Brent Venables to the training ice. Who can they choose to replace him?

Dabo Swinney’s quest to get Clemson back to the pinnacle of college football in 2022 just got a whole lot tougher.

Tigers defensive coordinator Brent Venables is leaving to take up a job as head coach at Oklahoma, which means Swinney must identify a replacement.

Whoever he chooses will have a big shoe to fill considering the work Venables has done at Clemson over the years.

Who stands out in the top potential replacement roles?

3 candidates to replace Brent Venables is Clemson DC

Mike Tressel

Mike Tressel, grandson of Jim Tressel, helped Cincinnati get into the College Rugby Round as defensive coordinator under Luke Fickell.

He spent five years as a defensive coordinator at Michigan State and has extensive experience coaching defenders. He produced eight All-Americans with Sparta.

Derek Mason

Swinney is able to swing over the fence and find a way to get Derek Mason out of Auburn.

Mason served as Vanderbilt’s head coach for seven seasons before being fired after the 2020 season. Prior to that, he was a respected defensive coordinator under David Shaw at Stanford.

Auburn’s defense got better under Mason and they would be disgusted if they let him go. That’s what would make this a dream job if Clemson could pull it off.

Todd Bates

To maintain continuity, an obvious choice for Clemson was to advertise from within.

Todd Bates has been with Clemson since 2017 as a defensive line coach. He is a strong recruiter and has led the line of the Tigers to huge success in the trenches.

He was never a defensive coordinator but he is a promising figure with a decade of full-time assistant experience.

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