Todd Bates headed to Oklahoma

According to multiple reports, Clemson Recruiting Coordinator, Defensive Tackles Coach, and recently named Assistant Head Coach, Todd Bates is headed to Oklahoma to join Brent Venables staff as Co-Defensive Coordinator.

We reached out to a source close to the situation but were unable to confirm the move as coaches and staff are out of the office for the first part of the week. However, we would expect an update soon out of Norman, Oklahoma in the near future.

Bates just completed his fifth season at Clemson after joining the Tigers in 2017. Between his tenures at Jacksonville State (2014-16) and Clemson (2017-20), every primary starter under his guidance over the last eight years has earned at least one career all-conference selection. 

Clemson has ranked in the Top 10 in the nation in sacks in all five of Bates’ seasons with the Tigers. This year, both Tyler Davis and Bryan Bresee collected All-ACC honors, one year after Bresee was a Freshman All-American and earned ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020.

In addition to his success developing Clemson’s defensive interior, Bates has been recognized as one of the nation’s premier recruiters. In 2019, he was named Rivals’ Recruiter of the Year for his contributions to Clemson’s 2020 recruiting class that ranked No. 1 nationally according to ESPN, No. 2 according to Rivals and No. 3 according to the 247 Composite. He was named as Clemson’s recruiting coordinator following the 2019 season.