Brent Venables is unhappy with Clemson's defense this spring. Here's why
Brent Venables was the last person to speak to the media after Clemson’s scrimmage Wednesday afternoon. The Tigers’ defensive coordinator was a little busy.
As Clemson’s offensive players and coaches were recapping the action at Death Valley to reporters, Venables was on the field with his defense, which was running after a performance that left him far from pleased.
“We didn’t play very well. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Venables said. “Just consistency, the development of our depth, that’s as much as anything. You gotta be consistent if you’re going to be good.”
Venables said that from the start of Wednesday’s scrimmage, his unit was not playing up to its potential. Tigers quarterback Kelly Bryant had four touchdown passes on the day, while Clemson’s other three quarterbacks each had a touchdown pass of at least 20 yards.
“Our first scrimmage our first unit played really, really well. Today, nobody played. We just came out right away with no kind of energy and intensity, the way you’ve gotta play this game, with an edge,” Venables said.
He believes some of the problems are due to a lack of leadership, which is surprising considering the Tigers return eight starters on defense, all of whom will be upperclassmen in 2018.
He also put some of the blame on Clemson’s defensive assistants.
“The coaches have got to be responsible for it first. Guys have got to leave the meeting room with the right kind of edge and mentality, and that’s our job to get them ready to play. They’ve got to take ownership of it, too,” Venables said. “We’ve just gotta have more accountability. It starts with leadership, coaches, the players … I call it like I see it. If the (offense) earns it, they make a competitive play, then that’s great. More power to them. But just the whole mindset and the attitude, body language, everything just wasn’t where it needed to be. Am I supposed to act like I’m happy or it’s just one day? That’s not how it works. Not for me.”
Some position groups have been playing better than others on Clemson's defense, but as Venables studies the defense as a whole, it is nowhere near where he wants it to be.
“All three units that you run out there are all your defense. It’s not like, ‘Oh, well, the D-line played good and they didn’t.' ... This ain’t DLU. This is the Clemson defense. So whoever runs out there on that field, that field, the practice field, goes into that weight room, that’s our unit. Guys (can’t go), ‘Well, we did our thing.’ That’s not how it works. I wish it did.”
There is time for Clemson’s defense to improve before the spring game on April 14. Eexpectations will be sky high for the upcoming season, with so many players returning to a defense that was in the top five in the country last year.
But right now, Venables is not happy.
“We lacked the leadership and lacked the consistency. Just didn’t play with any kind of focus,” he said. “I thought we were just kind of going through the motions.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2018 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Brent Venables is unhappy with Clemson's defense this spring. Here's why."