CLEMSON – Coming to Clemson was a no-brainer for Markus Strong.

Why?

First of all, he knew he had an opportunity to come right in and compete for the starting job.

“I wanted to come in and be somewhere where I was kind of the guy,” Clemson’s newest defensive tackle said. “I wanted to be the guy for someone.”

Secondly, he came to Clemson because he was very familiar with the culture here.

How is that exactly?

Strong came from Oklahoma, where former Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is currently the head coach. It is known that Venables has instilled the same culture at Oklahoma that he coached under Dabo Swinney at Clemson for 10 seasons.

“Their relationship, they are like brothers,” Strong said. “They worked with each other for, I don’t know how long, but they grew up in the coaching world together. They have seen how guys develop. They’ve seen the people they developed and what comes with it. So, I know what I am going to put my name on.”

When he put his name in the portal and Clemson started to show interest, Strong did not waste any time. He called Venables and asked for his opinion.

“He is going to shoot it straight with me,” Strong said.

Strong also spoke with former Clemson defensive tackle and coach Miguel Chavis, who is now the defensive ends coach on Venables’ staff. Chavis played for Swinney from 2008-’10 and then coached at Clemson for several years (2017-’21) before going with Venables to Oklahoma.

“So, I know what to expect, and I know what they are looking for and what they are trying to bring out of a guy and that really helps me in a lot of ways,” Strong said.

Chavis told Strong that Swinney is going to push him like no one else, because he is going to expect the best from him considering who he has already played for.

“He is going to push you. He is going to expect the best out of you, but he is also going to push you to be a better man,” Strong remembered Chavis saying. “Those two things help, but speaking of Coach Chavis, literally the day after I committed, he called me on a FaceTime. He said, ‘It is different now, I will always love you, but now you are my Clemson brother for life.’

“So, me coming to Clemson was like open arms, so I have enjoyed every bit of it.”

The similarities between the two programs have been very noticeable at times for Strong. Venables took some of the same sayings Swinney has used and used them at Oklahoma.

“Sometimes I have listened to what Coach Swinney is saying and I can almost finish the sentence sometimes because I have heard the same thing from Coach V,” he said.

What are some of those lines?

“Do what you could have when you would have, so that you will not wish that you should have when you could have.”

“It is just such a funny saying, I and have heard it so many times I was just like, ‘Dang!’ The first time I heard it here, I was like ‘there is no way,’” Strong said. “There are some of the same things. They go by some of the same principles. They have learned together and they talk together, so the way they went about it, I feel like they are almost connected in a way.

“There was a picture on my phone, when I first got here. I was looking at pictures from the Reese’s Senior Bowl. It was a super nice little picture. They do not look alike, but you can tell that chemistry was still there with them. Like they were bothers at the end of the day.”