The only/best thing I could see would be a recruiting issue. Keeping the ones Bill signed. But even then, that is assuming that Venzy wants the same type of kids and that those kids are stupid enough to not understand what is going on.
I honestly think any transition that keeps Bill would be more damaging than good in that it keeps a control freak over the shoulder of a guy who will be making changes to Bill's systems and it will be confusing to staff and players. Just seems 1. unlikely and 2. like there is way more negative than positive in such a hypothetical.
I never said Venables would run the show for the first year. It would be Snyder's show because it's always Snyder's show.
Here are some things I feel we can comfortably say based on observation:
1. Brent Venables has a great job and can be extremely picky about his next move
2. P5 schools, in general, are not hiring assistants to be head coaches any longer, unless it's an internal promotion (i.e. Helfrich, Fisher, etc.). There are a couple of exceptions (Narduzzi @ Pitt, Beaty to Kansas), but those are pretty awful jobs. For the most part, even really good coordinators are being pushed to the mid-major ranks to prove themselves first. Montgomery to Tulsa, Morris to SMU, Herman to Houston, etc. are a few different examples.
So, let's just say that you're Venables, and you're making $800k a year and living life comfortably at Clemson. Maybe you have no interest in making $1.3 million coaching at an AAC school. You're making a lot of money without a lot of pressure.
However, you're not opposed to coaching a good P5 program. Obviously, some black hole job like KU doesn't interest you, and maybe you aren't into coaching at Kentucky, Vanderbilt, North Carolina State, etc. You'd rather just coach at Clemson because it's fun, you're paid like a mid-major HC, and life is good. If some bigger program you have interest in, like UW, comes along and you're into it, that's great, but odds are those guys are going to go after an established mid-major guy or some lateral P5 coach. That's just what the last few years have shown us.
So, LHC Bill Snyder gives you a call. He talks to you for a little bit about how things are going, he congratulates you on a great season and how good your defense looks. He talks about not getting any younger. He says he wants to keep his family together, but he's afraid that his AD won't promote anyone from within. He discusses how he's talked with John about how he wants to leave his program and your (Brent) name came up. He'd like to talk with you about an opportunity to come in for a year and then take over the program so he can retire and go watch his grandkids' baseball games. He'd like to step down now, but it's too late before signing day and he likes the class he's put together. He also doesn't want his staff to have any uncertainty about their future with a lot of the jobs already getting filled across the country.
This isn't some scenario where we're saying he's not ready. He's ready. Everyone knows that he's ready. Snyder probably knows he's ready. It's more along the lines of Snyder wanting to have a gentle exit as opposed to an abrupt one (like last time) and the chaos that ensues from that. He loses a lot of control that way. From Venables' perspective, this may be the path of least resistance to a good P5 job so he doesn't have to spend time at some place like Tulane or South Florida like most of his assistant peers. Especially if there's an understanding that he will be named HC when Snyder steps down after the 2015 season.
No mid-major job, easy transition with no rush to put together a staff, not having to re-recruit current commitments and cobble together a class in less than two months, etc. Just a very simple lateral move with a gig at a winning Big 12 school within 12 months. Hell, we'll even pay you 800k.
It's not a slap in the face. It's actually somewhat practical.
