For Oklahoma Coach Todd Bates, Family and Relationships Are the Foundation

Brent Venables' top lieutenant hadn't even considered a path into coaching when he was still playing, but he started at the bottom and quickly climbed his way into the elite.

Brent Venables’ hire of defensive line coach Todd Bates was as intentional as college football gets.

After Bates worked for Venables for five years at Clemson, they were intent on continuing that relationship.

A proven coach, a dynamic recruiter, a family man who professes his faith and lives by a code — Bates was essentially No. 1 Venables’ hire.

And yet, like many journeys, Bates’ venture to Norman almost never happened. Bates was playing for the Tennessee Titans, never imagining where his post-playing career would take him.

“I didn’t even know coming out of college,” he said. “Wanting to go chase a dream to play in the NFL as long as I can.”

Bates said last week his old coach, Michael Shortt, asked him at the time if he’d ever considered being a graduate assistant.

“At the time,” Bates said, “I had not. Because I wanted to exhaust every ounce into chasing that (NFL) dream. He doesn’t even know what he did. He planted the seed, and he continued to water that seed and that seed blossomed.”

When his playing days ended — “like, right after I finished playing and got cut by the Titans,” Bates said — his first job was at Hadley Park Community Center in Nashville.

“I got a job over there coaching everything under the sun,” Bates said. “That kind of shows what I wanted to do with my life, man. It was a calling, and it chose me.”

Bates got his degree in business administration and his coaching career was underway.

“I never planned to be a coach,” he said.

And yet, it now seems destined.

Todd Bates as an Alabama linebacker / Dale Zanine-Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

In 2007, he landed a high school job at Talladega High. In 2008, he coached high school ball in Oxford, AL. The 2011-12 seasons were spent at Idaho State coaching defensive linemen. In 2013, Bates took a junior college gig at East Central Community College in Decatur, MS. The came a three-year stint at Jacksonville State.

That’s where Dabo Swinney finally took notice.

Swinney hired Bates in 2017 to coach Clemson defensive linemen, and he both landed 5-stars and developed first-rounders. He was Rivals’ recruiter of the year in 2019, and in 2020 he was a major figure in signing the No. 1 class in the country.

And, of course, built that chemistry with Venables.

“Coach Venables, he really sold me on day-to-day, every day that I got to work with him at Clemson,” Bates said. “Just seeing him get the best and squeeze a dollar out of a dime. I'm very thankful for the opportunity that I had at Clemson. Coach Swinney gave me my first opportunity, and I loved those players while I was there. But I got the chance to come here and have the opportunity to be a co-coordinator and continue to grow under Coach Venables.

“You kind of look at your growth and you kind of count everything when you get to be at the level that I've been blessed to be on and under some great coaches. During my five years at Clemson, I grew. A lot of people had a hand in that, but I was with Coach Venables every day. I just saw the way he treated players and the way he pushed the staff. I really wanted some more of that, and I had an opportunity. So I couldn't pass it up.”

Todd Bates (left) at Clemson :: Ken Ruinard / staff-USA TODAY NETWORK

Bates and his wife La’Tesa, married in 1983, have four kids: daughter Angel, son Josiah and twin daughter Summer and Star.

Family and relationships are at the core of everything Bates believes, and it’s why his players and his teams were so successful at Clemson.

“It hasn't just happened by chance,” Bates said. “You don't do something 10 years in a row and it's just by chance. So recruits are drawn to that, and they know that it's not just that. The relationships that we're able to build, these guys are part of our families. We really have those real relationships. That's what I would say really drives it over the edge.

“When you truly know your players inside and out and they truly know you, you're going to get the best out of them. And that's what we've done. We've been at our best because we've been able to get the best out of our players.”