Brent Venables got to 'just be dad' watching son at Clemson during OU football bye week
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NORMAN — When Brent Venables left his post as Clemson defensive coordinator to become the head coach at OU, one of his players, Tigers safety Tyler Venables, had a decision to make.
Stay at Clemson or follow his dad to Norman.
“This is your decision,” Brent Venables told his son. “This is what going from boyhood to manhood is all about. You’ve got to follow your dreams. This is mine.”
Four years later, Tyler is still a Tiger. The sixth-year senior played a handful of special teams snaps Saturday in Clemson’s 24-10 win against Florida State.
And Brent, with the Sooners on a bye, was there to see it. He dressed like a Tiger dad — Clemson pullover and ballcap. Similar to the uniform he wore as Dabo Swinney’s defensive coordinator for 10 seasons, including two as Tyler’s coach and four years coaching his oldest son, Jake Venables, who played at Clemson from 2018-21.
Now in his fourth year as the head man at OU, Brent’s opportunities to see Tyler play in person have been rare.
“I don’t get very much of an opportunity to do that, if at all,” Brent said Monday in his weekly news conference. “It’s fun to be there for his moment, his journey. Being a coach, sometimes everything’s about you and your career and the family kind of follows suit.”
But Saturday, Venables loved “being able to just be dad.”
It’s been a disappointing season for the Tigers (4-5), but they played some Venables-esque defense against the Seminoles. Swinney said Venables brought “good mojo” back to Death Valley.
Swinney said he went over to Venables and asked his former DC what he thought Florida State would call on a second-and-14.
“Probably a screen or draw!” Swinney yelled, impersonating a raspy Venables.
Venables hadn’t seen the clip before his Monday news conference, but he heard about it.
“He’s got me down,” said Venables, shaking his head. “He’s good at the impressions.”
Speaking of impressions, Tyler Venables sounds exactly like his dad. And, shocker, Tyler wants to be a coach once his playing days are done.
“He’s got great instincts for the game, he’s always been a leader, he thinks from a different type of lens,” Brent said. “His football natural instincts are a little bit different.”
Tyler Venables was born in Norman, but his bio lists his hometown as “Clemson, South Carolina.” He went to D.W. Daniel High School, five miles north of Clemson’s campus.
“He worked hard for his opportunity there, all of his best friends were there, he had established himself as a leader and player there. Might have been a girl that kept him there, too,” Venables said with a wry smile.
Brent and his wife, Julie Venables, both got to make the trip to Clemson, South Carolina — their old home — over the weekend. In addition to their two sons, Jake and Tyler, the Venables’ have two younger daughters, Laney and Addie.
Brent said he and Julie have seen Tyler, nicknamed T-Bone, show “exponential growth and maturity,” in the time away from his mom and dad.
“Would I have loved to see him every day? Selfishlessly speaking, absolutely,” Brent said. “… You’ve just got to figure out things and build your own opportunity, own name, so to speak. It’s been a lot of fun for us to watch that take place.”
When Tyler decided to stay at Clemson, Brent told his son: “We’ll always have your back. And that’s what FaceTime is for.”
Thankfully, the Venables’ schedules aligned Saturday. There was no need for FaceTime with Brent back on the Clemson sideline.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Brent Venables used OU football bye week to watch son Tyler at Clemson
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