Oklahoma fans react to Brent Venables leaving Clemson for Sooners

Oklahoma football fans are over the moon with the hiring of Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as the Sooners’ new head coach.

It’s been a hell of a week for Oklahoma football but they came out of it feeling pretty good.

The Sooners were stunned when head coach Lincoln Riley left Norman to take the open job at USC.

Fans had a week to speed through the stages of grief with the announcement of Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as Riley’s replacement zooming them right to acceptance.

Oklahoma football fans are ecstatic about Brent Venables

Sooner Twitter was wild with excitement over their new hire.

Venables has a clear connection to Oklahoma. While he has turned down other jobs in the past, the national-title-winning defensive coordinator coached on Bob Stoops’ staff from 1999 to 2011. Oklahoma won the 2000 BCS title with his fingerprints on the defense.

He left for Clemson in 2012 and has helped the Tigers win multiple national championships in his time there as well.

When it comes to defensive coordinators, it’s tough to find one more universally perceived as the best in the game.

Venables’ challenge is to take what worked for him as a coordinator and apply it to being a head coach for the first time. The 50-year-old has learned from the likes of Stoops and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, so Sooners fans have reason to hope he knows what it takes to succeed in that role.

This year’s coaching carousel has been all about making a splash. By hiring a coach some thought would be a coordinator for life, Oklahoma just made one of their own.

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