Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is receiving a five-year, $11.6 million contract, sources told ESPN. Clemson's board of trustees will formally approve the new contract at its meeting Thursday morning.
Yahoo! Sports first reported the details of the contract, believed to be the largest total compensation ever for a college football assistant coach. LSU defensive coordinator Dave Aranda will continue to have the highest annual salary for an assistant after agreeing in January to a four-year, $10 million deal to remain with the school.
Venables, 47, will earn $2 million annually in his new deal, with a $200,000 retention bonus in the first two years and a $400,000 retention bonus in the final three years. He arrived at Clemson in 2012 after 13 years at Oklahoma.
Clemson has won at least 10 games in each of Venables' six seasons on staff, reached the College Football Playoff in each of the past three seasons and won a national title in 2016. The Tigers' defense has annually been one of the nation's best, and Venables' name has surfaced for several head-coaching vacancies in recent years. According to the new contract, Venables will not have to pay a buyout if he leaves Clemson for a head-coaching job but would owe the school 25 percent of his remaining compensation if he departs for another assistant coach position.