Brent Venables takes veiled shot at Auburn during introductory press conference

The Oklahoma Sooners have officially introduced Brent Venables as the team’s next head coach. Venables comes to Norman after a stint at Clemson as the Tigers’ defensive coordinator. Oklahoma held an announcement event on Monday, where Venables addressed a crowd of Oklahoma fans and students, and he made sure to take a shot at Auburn during his speech.

Venables was a candidate for the open Auburn job last season, but he declined the opportunity. Now, Venables will eventually face off against Auburn once Oklahoma makes the move to the SEC.

“To my children, you’ll love this story. Sometimes you need just a little bit more encouragement to get you pulled through the knot hole,” Venables said in his announcement event at Oklahoma. “So my daughter and I, about a month ago we were laying up in her bed and we’re saying prayers. I’m always telling you to dream big, right? Don’t put limitations on yourself, don’t let somebody tell you that you can’t accomplish something.”

Venables said that all it took was for his daughter to remind him about his candidacy for Auburn for him to realize he should take the Oklahoma job.

“So she says, ‘Well dad, why didn’t you take the Auburn job last year?’ I had referenced it, I was a little bit nervous. I didn’t think they had the alignment there that we have here. So I was a little bit nervous, I said I was scared for her. She said, ‘you don’t have to be scared, you told us to dream big. Chase your dreams,’ she told me. So they’re the ones that fueled me to make that final decision to say yes to Oklahoma. So I want to thank my daughter.”

Venables is excited for the opportunity to return to Oklahoma

Venables originally joined Oklahoma’s coaching staff in 1999 as the Sooners’ co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach under Bob Stoops. He won a national championship in 2000 in that role and appeared in two more in 2003 and 2008. Now, he has two more national championships under his belt from his time at Clemson. He had an opportunity at Auburn last year, but Venables is now looking to carry that success back to Norman, Oklahoma.

“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 & the challenge to join the SEC, the premier conference in all of college football,” Venables said in a statement on Sunday.

Venables might not have taken the Auburn job last year, but he has continued to be a top candidate for openings around the nation and now has a new gig in Oklahoma.