OKLAHOMA ASSISTANT BRENT VENABLES A CANDIDATE AT CLEMSON

Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables appears to be a strong candidate to become the next head coach at Clemson.SoonerScoop.com posted a photo yesterday showing Clemson officials arriving at the Oklahoma City airport, and Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips is apparently in town to interview Venables for the job.There were rumors that Oklahoma offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson was also a candidate, but he says he knows nothing about it. Wilson did say he’s heard the rumors about Venables, but he doesn’t know if there’s any truth to them.”Everybody keeps throwing Brent’s name out there from time to time,” Wilson said. “But we don’t ever talk about it up (in the football office).”The 38-year-old Venables played at Kansas State and was an assistant coach there from 1993 to 1998. When Bob Stoops, at the time a Kansas State assistant, became the Oklahoma head coach in 1999, he brought Venables with him.Venables did not show up when Oklahoma assistants were made available to the media yesterday.