Dabo responds to Brent Venables being mentioned as head coaching candidate

A report from CBS Sports surfaced Sunday afternoon stating that Arkansas is interested in hiring Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables as its next head coach.

The Razorbacks fired Bret Bielema on Friday after finishing off a 4-8 season with a home loss to Missouri.

Tigers coach Dabo Swinney responded to the report on Sunday during his ACC championship teleconference and said Clemson’s only focus is on Miami right now.

“We are 100 percent focused on Miami. I don’t know anything about that,” Swinney said. “I never get too worried or focused on any of that stuff. There’s a million rumors and whatever. Brent’s focus, I promise you, is on getting ready for Miami.”

Swinney added that he does encourage assistants to go for head coaching jobs if they feel like it is the right situation and fit for them.

Former Tigers offensive coordinator Chad Morris took the head coaching job at SMU following the 2014 regular season.

“I’ve always had a policy of if guys have opportunities somewhere down the road that they think is good for them then that’s great,” Swinney said. “But nobody’s sitting around worrying about any of that stuff. Everybody’s focused on trying to beat Miami this week. That’s it.”

This story was originally published November 26, 2017 at 4:48 PM with the headline "Dabo responds to Brent Venables being mentioned as head coaching candidate."