Oklahoma may have just solved the problem of its defense not being tough enough.

After Lincoln Riley unexpectedly bolted for USC and the Pac-12, Oklahoma has hired former OU assistant and Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as the Sooner head coach. Venables will be called on to handle the switch from the Big 12 to the SEC, which could happen as early as next season.

Riley left OU with no chance for OU to counter and he is actively recruiting players who had committed to OU.

Venables, 50, won a national championship with the Sooners and two more recently with Clemson.

“This is an incredibly special opportunity,” Venables said. “Julie and I and our family are extremely grateful for the belief in us — and certainly in me — to be the next head coach at Oklahoma, one of the winningest and most tradition-rich programs in college football history. Our memories from Norman, where all four of our children were born, have been nothing but great. We’re looking forward to making another decade-plus of incredible memories as we transition to a new era of Oklahoma football, especially with the opportunity and the challenge to join the SEC, the premier conference in all of college football.”

Venables was an assistant for former OU coach Bob Stoops.

“Brent knows the formula to win national championships and has the toughness, the attitude and the fight that I think will elevate our program in a lot of positive ways,” said Stoops who is interim coach for the Sooners. “I’ve always loved his energy, excitement and passion for the game — it clearly spills over to his players. He has the absolute right experience to come in at this time and really boost our program.

“With 13 years here at OU and 10 at Clemson, you couldn’t ask for better preparation to handle a job like this and handle it well. He’s taking over a 10-2 team that has so much more potential, and the bottom line is he’s the perfect guy to get us to the next level. He has an incredible support system with his wife Julie and his children, and it’ll be great having them back leading the program.”

Former Kansas State coach Bill Snyder echoed those sentiments.

“Brent and Bob Stoops started their Division I careers with me at Kansas State and were principal figures in the university’s lengthy successes,” Snyder said. “Like Bob, Brent is dedicated to the growth and development of young student-athletes. He is extremely knowledgeable, a strong leader, a hard worker and committed to daily improvement and the highest degree of success.”

The 50-year-old Venables was co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Oklahoma from 1999-2003 and as associate head coach, defensive coordinator and linebackers coach from 2004-11.

Venables has coached in eight national championship games between his time at OU and Clemson, winning titles with the Sooners in 2000 and Tigers in 2016 and 2018. In 26 years as a full-time assistant coach, Venables’ teams have 26 winning seasons, won 13 conference titles, have been to 30 bowl games (includes four College Football Playoff National Championship games) and won at least 10 games 21 times.

“He’s had many opportunities along the way,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney. “This was just the right fit for him and the right time with a lot of familiarity for him at Oklahoma. I know he is well-prepared. It’s been fun for me to watch him really grow since 2012, and I’m excited for Oklahoma because they’re not only getting a good coach, they’re also getting a great man who is going to do it the right way.”

Since joining Clemson, Venables built one of the nation’s top defenses. Over the last 10 years, the Tigers rank first nationally in sacks (445; next most is 392) and opponent third-down conversion percentage (30.2%), second in opponent pass efficiency rating (111.1) and takeaways (244; tied), third in scoring defense (17.8 ppg) and opponent completion percentage (53.3), fourth in total defense (311.4 ypg) and pass defense (190.5 ypg), fifth in interceptions (148) and sixth in rushing defense (120.9 ypg).

They won conference titles each year from 2015-20.

OU vs. Oregon in the Alamo Bow

Meanwhile, Oklahoma will make its 55th bowl appearance when it faces Oregon in the 29th annual Valero Alamo Bowl on at 8:15 p.m. Dec. 29 in San Antonio, Texas. This is OU’s first appearance in the Alamo Bowl and Oregon’s third (the Ducks beat Texas 30-7 in 2013 before losing 47-41 to TCU in 2016).

OU is No. 16 in the College Football Playoff rankings, No. 14 in the AP poll and No. 13 in the Coaches poll. They have a 10-2 overall record and were tied for second place in the Big 12 with a 7-2 league record. OU ranks 10th nationally in scoring offense (38.4 ppg) and 56th in scoring defense (25.2 ppg).

Oregon is 10-3 overall and finished 7-2 in Pac-12 regular season play. The Ducks, who are No. 14 in the CFP rankings and No. 15 in the AP and Coaches polls,  lost 38-10 to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship, and its other defeats were at Utah (38-7 on Nov. 20) and at Stanford (31-24 in overtime on Oct. 2).

Only two Sooners make All-Big 12 first team

In what could be seen as a reaction of the departure of Oklahoma and Texas to the SEC, the Sooners only had two first-team selections – fullback Jeremiah Hill and punter Michael Turk. Only Texas Tech (one), West Virginia (one) and Kansas (none) had fewer first-team selections.

OU had seven players on the second team: Marquis Hayes, Gabe Brkic, Isaiah Thomas, Perrion Winfrey, Brian Asamoah, Nik Bonitto, and Dalarrin Turner-Yell.