This is a live post, and will remain on the left-hand sidebar to keep track of our current numbers. Below is the year-by-year breakdown of scholarships, which must be set at 85 in August. Only 25 maximum new enrollees for Fall per signing class. If we have made a mistake, please let us know, we want it to be as accurate as possible.

Below, we are not counting the walk-ons we feel may not be renewed.

*-has had a redshirt year.

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Editor's Note: Season Review posts are intended as summaries of the season for use as a single reference later, not exhaustive review posts.

2009 Season Review

2010 Season Review


Our plan for the future with respect to football is to begin releasing position-by-position reviews and prospectus. We think it is best to evaluate the coaches based on their entire body of work, and this involves recruiting. The ones who are gone will not be affected and we doubt what we have to say will truly influence any recruits before signing day, so expect to see them in the next two weeks.

This post is intended as a review down the road, in case we need to look at what happened in the past, so short synopses are given, and we specifically track the QB play, OL play, defensive performance, etc. to see how they varied throughout the year to tell a short story of the 2011 season.

Biggest Win: Auburn was defending National Champions, but winning at night in Lane Stadium and the ACC in Charlotte are the biggest wins.

Worst Defeat: All of them were bad. Clemson was essentially run off the field in every loss.

Record in Death Valley: Unbeaten

Final Ranking: 22 AP, Coaches. 15th in BCS. 32 in FEI.

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Brent Venables had great success at Oklahoma both as defensive coordinator and as co-defensive coordinator. We'll point out the Venables' overall performance, OU's defensive performance compared to a good in-conference foe's performance, and a comparison to Clemson's defensive performance. We also evaluate BV's performance as sole defensive coordinator to his time sharing coordinator duties. Because there is a tremendous amount of data to process, this topic will be addressed through a series of three posts over the next week or so.

Venables was the co-defensive coordinator with Mike Stoops from his arrival prior to the '99 season through the 2003 season. Bo Pelini joined the staff following his departure from Nebraska but left to run LSU's defense after just one year in Norman (2004) as co-defensive coordinator with BV. Venables was the sole DC from the time Pelini left until Mike Stoops returned to OU and Venables left to take over the defensive reins at Clemson.

I'll point out in advance that the Big 12 evolved into a high powered offensive conference over the course of Venables' stay. Thus, the offenses that OU faced early in the '00 decade were not as potent on offense as the teams the Sooners played following the installation of high powered offenses at places like Oklahoma State and Texas Tech. In addition, OU's offensive coaches went elsewhere in the conference to install similar offenses. Introduction of these offenses increases conference rankings' importance. All data featured in this writing were attained from http://coachesbythenumbers.com from the 2001 season through the 2011 season unless otherwise noted.

As detailed below, Oklahoma won 8 games or more in each season of our sample. Venables co-defensive coordinator years featured some outstanding defensive units. OU was in the top two in conference in scoring defense all four of these seasons and ranked 11^th or better nationally in this category over this time period and sixth or better in three out of four of these seasons. Venables defense fell off in his first season as sole DC (sixth in-conference and 37^th overall in scoring defense) then settled down to lead the Sooners to a #1 or #2 Big 12 scoring defense in five of his final six seasons in Norman (his defense was third in conference in terms of scoring during the '10 season). His defenses did slip in the national rankings over this period and ranged from a best in 2009 (7^th overall) to 58^th the year prior. Overall, Venables' defenses ranked 20.9 nationally in scoring and 2.18 in conference play. With a co-defensive coordinator, OU's average scoring defense rank was 6.5 and in conference was 1.75. As solo defensive coordinator, the average national ranking rose to 29.1 and conference to 2.43 over this time period.

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Ed. Note: Since my expertise doesn't include information on the different training regimens, we decided to ask around to High School assistant coaches and strength coaches on what they see with the program. This article is a product of that, and as such is not primarily our own writing.We’ve tried to glean as much info from as many sources as possible, because we think it important to remedy the problems with S&C at Clemson.

Many people question why the heat is so hot on the S&C program right now. We don't think many fans realize what exposure is allowed in NCAA now with regards to coaching. The 11 football coaches don't have unlimited access to the team throughout the offseason. Players cannot be coached in a practice setting year-round because of the NCAA limitations. In fact, actual practice is limited to 2 weeks worth of spring practices (which is stretched out for a month at Clemson), twice that in August, and 2 more weeks of bowl preparation practices. Even then, practices and meetings are limited in timespan by the 20 hour rule. In the offseason, the players can speak to the coaches and watch film of course, but it cannot be required or punished if not attended. The coaches cannot take them outside to the fields and drill them or teach. However, the S&C coach has full access year-round with the team, because they do still get time to train. Football games in October and November are won in the 8 months prior. That is why the best coaches put a premium on hiring the right S&C coach.

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We were fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the folks over at SBNation's Oklahoma blog, Crimson and Cream Machine, and discuss the defensive coordinator's move from Oklahoma to Clemson. They have provided us with a good bit of info on Brent "The Neck Vein" Venables and what we should expect out of him based on the past 13 years in Norman. They asked us a few questions as well, so be sure to get over there and check out our answers to their questions. Also, these guys are pretty friendly and cooperative folks so feel free to ask them items you may have questions about regarding Venables and all things Oklahoma.

Shakin' the Southland Question: Coach Venables openly stated that his decision to leave OU had nothing to do with the return of Mike Stoops. First off, do you believe this? Also, had Venables stayed, how do you think the defensive responsibilities would have been allocated between the two (i.e., would BV have taken a backseat to Stoops as most suspect)?

Crimson and Cream Machine Answer: I think there is more truth to his statement than some people would give him credit for, but at the same time it would be pretty naive to think Mike Stoops' return didn't play some role in things. I'm of the opinion that if Mike Stoops isn't brought back that Brent Venables is still the DC at Oklahoma so yeah, I think it played a part. But with some of the details that have since come out, it certainly seems as if Venables was just ready for a new challenge and I think any rational OU fan can respect that decision.

If Bob Stoops had been able to convince Venables to stay, given how seriously he was considering Clemson, I believe he would have made Venables and Mike Stoops "equals" in terms of play calling. Stoops is loyal, probably to a fault, and I think he would have been willing to give both guys equal responsibilities to keep Venables on staff. Obviously no one can say whether or not it would have worked, but everyone involved has said they were eager to give it another go.

STS Question: We've begun reviewing Venables' body of work at OU and are impressed with his recruiting prowess. How big of an impact will his loss have on Oklahoma and what do you think Clemson gains from a recruiting standpoint by bringing BV onboard?

C&CM Answer: Not to dodge the question, but until Oklahoma actually hires a replacement it will be difficult to determine just how significant a loss Venables' recruiting prowess will be to replace. That said, while as a DC he wasn't out on the road as much as some position coaches, but still routinely took the lead on defensive recruits and has a well-earned relationship of relating well to recruits. He is a tireless recruiter and you routinely hear recruits talk about him as a "down to earth coach" and a guy they can relate to. He's not one to pressure kids into a commitment either which is something I've always appreciated just as a fan. I can say that most OU fans, myself included, feel like Oklahoma's chances of finding a replacement for Venables as both a position coach and perhaps more importantly a recruiter are not good. And I'm not sure how you could take that as anything other than a massive compliment to Venables.

Admittedly, my knowledge of Clemson and their staff is limited but in following recruiting in general it does not appear as if Clemson is hurting in that area. I'd think recruits would find Venables enthusiasm just as infectious as they appear to do with Dabo Swinney. If I were a Clemson fan, I'd be ecstatic thinking about those two guys in the living room of potential recruits.

STS Comment: Steele was also an excellent recruiter before coming here and Swinney tends to keep the coordinators off the road to work on game planning. Venables will definitely be an asset on the recruiting trail but to what extent is still a question. Steele was a primary recruiter in the PeeDee region and Southwest Florida

STS Question: OU's defensive performances dropped off following Stoops' departure for Arizona. Do you think this drop off was due to Stoops' departure, improvement in Big 12 offenses, a combination of OU's fastbreak style & opponents' offensive improvement, or some combination of these items?

C&CM Answer: I definitely think it was a combination of all the factors you very accurately pointed out. Brent Venables isn't afraid to get in a player's face, in a good way of course, but at the end of the day he's still very much a player's coach and I think the defense lost some of their bite when Mike Stoops left. Couple that with the dynamic spread offenses that exploded onto the scene in the Big 12 and OU's employment of the no-huddle, it put the defense on the field a lot more than it had been in the past. One of the issues that caused for Venables' defense is his habit of really only utilizing substitute players along the defensive line. Maybe things will be different at Clemson, though it's not like he didn't have depth at a school like Oklahoma, but Venables rarely used backup LBs and DBs. So when you keep your starters out there for that many plays, it's more a matter of when not if they are going to get beat.

STS Comment: This looks a lot like what we saw out of Steele, only Oklahoma had more/better recruited depth than Clemson. If Venables refused to substitute at OU then we are very likely to see more of the same here.

STS Question: Sentiment out of many Oklahoma fans was that they wanted Mike Stoops back and really gave no thought as to whether BV would stay if he came back (with some outright wanting a replacement prior to Willie Martinez's departure). Are these thoughts accurate for most of the Sooner Nation and are these your thoughts on this topic?

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Confirmed this morning, Oklahoma's Brent Venables has been hired as Clemson's new Defensive Coordinator and LB Coach. His salary at OU was roughly 440K, and its expected he'll get 800-850K at Clemson. He leaves OU after being stripped of playcalling duties for Bob Stoops' brother Mike, whom he shared DC duties with before Mike left for Arizona.

Venables is regarded there as one of the best recruiters on staff, and Stoops put up a fight to try and keep him. He's also been a good LB coach during his time there. Steele came in with similar creds, plus a good NFL pedigree as a LB coach.

The scheme he runs is from the Kansas State coaching tree style. It is a 4-3 OVER defense with varying amounts of Under depending on who they face (Under is what Steele ran against pro-personnel group offenses). I've watched OU a good bit over the years, and they will play more OVER (and nickel) against spread formations, but otherwise a good amount of Under. OU does pattern-read, and will play more zone than Clemson has played under Steele. Overall, Venables' scheme is not a great switch.

We are not terribly thrilled with the hire, as OU fans were not, in general, thrilled with Venables. The Sooners' defenses under his watch had one really good year, ranking 8th, but the rest ranked in the 50s. Many complain of his defenses being too complex for his players. Clemson's was worse than that this year, so improvement is expected, but I do not believe him an elite DC capable of putting Clemson where it should be based on our talent. OU had far more talent in his term there than we have had. Texas had similar talent and put up better numbers in the same conference and timeframe.

Due to lack of time and other articles in the works, no stat comparison will be coming today, but we'll be running multiple articles on Venables

I did not get a chance to watch Dabo's press conference today, but I did get to read the comments on twitter this afternoon and read some of the message board chatter about it. Tonight I did get to read it and listen to the presser, and oh boy.

Dabs started out thanking Steele for his contributions, said he was a friend, and said the parting was mutual. Well it wasn't mutual of course, because if The Sweatshirt wanted Steele to stay, he'd still be here. Steele did technically resign, and he is getting a chunk of his buyout amount, but maybe not the full amount he would if he were outright fired. I do think Steele turns out just fine as a LB coach again, and we'll see how much blame Dabo deserves for his defenses' performances this year. I'm not one to put total blame on a coordinator, as some other idiot fans think we were with the post below announcing his firing.

Is Steele still being paid then?

Yes

So he (Steele) resigned?

No he didn't resign, we both agreed that a change was needed we're going to honor his contract. Again, this allows him to pursue some opportunities that he has to look at.

So he didnt resign and he wasn't fired?

That would be correct.

So he will get a buyout?

Yes, we agreed a change was needed. I didnt want to have to fire him. We needed to talk through some issues and those couldnt be resolved.

What kind of philosophical differences were there?

"We’ll continue to be an aggressive attacking defense. It has to be the right. We may stay within staff. I’ve got great men. Whoever comes in has to have good chemistry. Just got going yesterday. Form a philosophical standpoint - lets attack and get after people. Multiple with our coverages. It’s not about scheme as other things.

So I'm missing something, philosophically you didnt agree but you dont want to change the philosophy?

I cant help you there. Its not about scheme, its other things.

Clear as mud. You can see it in the press conference video here. If you know who that was that asked those questions to clown the Clown in the middle and end of the presser, shake his hand.

Back to the opening statements...

"I’m not going to spend a lot of time on the Orange Bowl. It was poor performance. As I step back, you can’t let a terrible night let us lose sight of a special year. This is a roster that had 42 freshmen on it. I am proud of our football team. We had a great meeting last night. We made great progress in the last three years. This is the best season that Clemson has had in 20 years. I spent time with [former Clemson head coach] Ken Hatfield. We talked about that very thing. It’s hard for him to believe that it has been 20 years. He’s lived a lifetime. This team was special. They did something that will be remembered for a long time. The team has made a ton of progress. Nobody except the guys in this room believed that we would be ACC champions, win 10 games, play in the Orange Bowl."

Dabo is correct when he says you shouldn't let the fact that he let us get our asses kicked up and down the field by GT, NC State, SC and WVU color the results of the season. We did win 10 and the ACC. Thanks Chad. Unfortunately we've looked at the snap counts of this team in several posts here, and you weren't even playing the freshmen on the field, so don't give us the "oh we had 125 freshmen" excuse.

The primary freshmen (and RS Fr) who played major snaps were Breeland, Corey Crawford, Anthony, and our WRs. The rest weren't on the field when the defense got shredded by FSU's backup QB, Maryland's backup QB, BC's 4th string RB, SC's 4th string RB, NC State's backup RB, etc. It wasn't the 3rd string D-line that couldn't control Georgia Tech's front, or couldn't get pressure on Geno Smith, who had been sacked relentlessly in Big East play. It wasn't the 2nd string OL that got Tajh planted on his ass by Troy or Wofford either. Were we young in some places? Sure, but don't give me "oh we had a roster of freshmen" excuse. You guys couldn't get some of these freshmen onto the field.

And you had to mention HATFIELD didnt you?

Dabo was asked about his coaching search, which has at least 4 candidates. The first is known to be Oklahoma's Brent Venables, who I definitely do not want, and who OU fans want rid of, but he does follow the style that Dabo prefers on defense. Venables interviewed for the HC job before Dabo was hired. Another is possibly Charlie Harbison, who I am indifferent on as the Coordinator. I know Harbison thinks some of our packages are too complex for the kids to learn, so thats a plus. He'd like to have someone before signing day, which is definite.

As of last night, I’ve made contact. When this gets out in the public, at a place like Clemson, it doesn’t take long. It’s not fun to have a job opening. There’s a lot of great people you have to say no to. You can only say yes one time. I’m just starting that process.. We’ve contacted all those guys. No issues there. No time frame as to when. Just want to make right decision for staff, players, myself and Clemson. We’ll hire a great guy, a great footballl coach and will bring a lot to the table, and will fit in the culture at Clemson and will buy into the vision that we have. I have four or five names tha are pretty special. We’ll start there."

Yanity asked what his preferred base defense would be, and he said 4-3, but his response about Odd/Even fronts is no-BS. I think we have personnel to play either and the particular style is unimportant. What is important is hiring a good coach to run the defense. His scheme does not matter.

- Dabo announced that reserve FS Carlton Lewis will graduate and transfer to another school. This is one I wasn't expecting, but I do expect another, probably Matt Sanders.

- He expects no other coaches to leave at this time. I think one or two could possibly, depending on the specialties of the DC that is hired, but its too early to guess. Venables is a LB coach.

Dabo when you first took over you expressed a desire to be physically and mentally tough, especially on the offensive line, how much progress do you think you've made there?

See those three trophies? (ACC, ACC Atlantic, Bowl trophy) We've made great strides in that area....We're developing our linemen....thats where we've made a lot of progress.... Theres a standard that we've set and you have to be physically and mentally tough to reach it.

What? Way to bullshit a question about our pitiful OL and mental strength. I guess our mental strength was apparent to him when NC State and WV were putting up 100 points in a quarter. Then he pointed to Chris Hairston as an example of our great physical abilities and praised Antoine McClain and Landon Walker. All the others he mentioned as NFL greats we've put in the league from our OL get railed on by their fans, particularly Richardson at KC.

I was expecting David Hood to ask a question about Joey Batson and Caldwell, since TNet works for the AD anyway, but I don't know his voice from the others. Can someone verify who asked this?

Alot of the toughness questions go back to Joey Batson, it seems like there are websites (HAHAHA) dedicated to it now.

"That is a joke. That’s the problem. It’s crap like that I don’t know where it comes from. People have no clue. Batson is as good a strength coach as there is in the country. I have no idea. If he wasn’t a championship caliber guy, he wouldn’t be there. The discipline and accountability we have and the reason we don’t have crap is that goes on at other places is because of Batson. They respect him. The problem with the internet is that people have their own agendas. I don’t read any of it. Zero. (lie) That’s the devil’s playground. In fact I met with Jon Gruden and with Ron jaworski- they said ‘Your guys are physical and strong. I don’t see many teams that look like your guys.’ It’s an all-encompassing program and it starts with joey. He’s as good as it is out there. As is Abernathy and Greenlee. My standard is the best and if he couldn’t live up to the best he wouldn’t be there."

Never heard that it was a personal problem at all, more philosophic with recruiting and motivation/discipline of the OL....and I'm thrilled if he stays. I just want to see what happens after signing day.

Another reporter asked good questions at the end about toughness

How do you prevent losing again like you did this year, its almost like, in those 4 losses, you hit Clemson in the mouth and you've got them where you want them?

Did you watch the games? It starts with taking care of the football. That affects your momentum, your psyche. Come turn on the film and say Brandon Thompson aint tough. We just got beat. Did you predict us to be 14-0?

Did I? No.

OK, did you predict us to be 10-4?

I thought possibly.

OK, you need tough guys to get it done. You dont win 10 games if youre not tough. You dont win in Blacksburg if you aint tough. We had the 2nd largest comeback in the history of this school. At Maryland, 18 down. Came back from 14 3 times, Never been done. Get your facts right.

Fantastic Dabo, laud them for coming back to win games they should've won without a doubt in the first place. Auburn? OK. Not Maryland.

LW asked him offline, after the Assistant SID hurried him out of the room because of the heat, about the comments made by WVU players about our OL. He dismissed it totally as internet stuff.

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Two years ago Derek Dooley and Tennessee came after Kevin Steele and Clemson upped the ante to keep him here, but now he's out. We have no idea whether he has found another LB job (Green Bay is a possibility) or if he actually wishes to retire, but his office has been cleaned out before Dabo even returned from the AFCA convention.

We have looked at a few guys as possible replacements for Steele that we'd think would fit and could be talked into coming here: Jim Heacock from Ohio State (situation is in flux there), Bob Shoop from Vandy, Tom Bradley at Penn State, Chuck Heater from Temple (formerly Co-DC at Florida), Pat Narduzzi from Michigan State (unlikely as he just renegotiated), and Bill Clark from South Alabama. Randy Shannon had had a deal in place with Tennessee that fell through due to Shannon wanting a multi-year deal, but he is a possibility.

We have heard several disturbing things about Steele's possible psychological breakdown during the Orange Bowl game. Multiple sources have said that he was calling plays from his days with the Panthers, which aren't in the Clemson playbook, and as such the players were totally confused. It reportedly happened during the Auburn game as well. I do not know if that is true, and frankly think it a bit farfetched, but I do know that Steele has a reputation for being a nervous wreck on gamedays. I'm sure most of you recall that he passed out on the sidelines during a game, and I have heard many times that he requires an IV for fluids because he's such a wreck and won't eat at all on gameday. Hopefully he can get these things corrected for his own health.

For whatever reason, his inability to simplify his scheme for the players this year became the primary problem with Clemson's defense, which had been Top 25 the last two seasons. We do not believe Clemson has been as hampered by poor LB talent as many folks believe. I think even good players look like crap when they're too confused and haven't worked on fundamentals enough. We wish him luck in the future because we do think he has been a good coach over his career.

As you see, if the ducks quack loud enough, things happen. As for recruiting impact this weekend, I think it is going to be minimal unless we have a total philosophic shift on defense, and with Dabo's preference for tight coverage and pressure, I doubt that happens. Steele was not the chief recruiter for our defensive commitments this cycle.