Anyone who goes on to play college football at an elite program like Clemson was probably a dominant player at the high school level who had dreams of playing professionally.
For some, that becomes a reality, but for others the realization hits that they won’t be able to play football in the NFL and they’ll have to figure out what they’re going to do after graduation.
That can be hard for some.
But for others, they already have a plan mapped out on how they want their lives to go when they are done competing on the football field.
Current Clemson safety Tyler Venables finds himself in the latter camp as he shared with The Clemson Insider that he already knows what he’s going to do when his eligibility expires at the conclusion of this season.
“I have a political science degree, but I am not going to law school. That is my desire, to be a GA (graduate assistant), analyst or whatever. I want to be a part of a team somewhere,” he said.
Based on his last name, that shouldn’t come as a shock.
His dad, Brent, was a longtime assistant for the Tigers before taking his first collegiate head coaching job with the Oklahoma Sooners in 2021. After a rough start to his tenure, the former Clemson defensive coordinator was able to win 10 games last year and earn a lucrative contract extension.
Tyler was only able to compete in two contests last season because of injury, but that might have sparked his decision to become a coach when he graduates.
According to him, it was head coach Dabo Swinney and defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin’s idea to put a headset on him.
That gave him an experience he had never had before.
“I kind of felt like I was inside a video game, while also listening to somebody play chess. Listening to Coach Goodwin talk, here is why he is thinking this and here is what is going on here and what set they are in and what call we are going to do and here is why. It was just stuff like that. It was just a really cool experience to hear all that goes on behind the scenes. I had never had that experience before, ever,” Venables said.
Even though his plan is to get into coaching when he graduates, it’s likely the safety wants to spend his last year on the field instead of being on the sideline.