Clemson football: Who runs the program if Dabo is quarantined?

What would Clemson football do if Dabo Swinney was quarantined?

This is a question that more than likely been asked and answered by everyone involved with Clemson football. As we become ever closer to college football season, the stakes become higher and higher for everyone involved.

While Clemson has been very open about the number of people in the program that have tested positive, we don’t know who has tested positive and because of federal privacy laws. Identities will never be known unless the individual themselves volunteer that information.

While we know who the backup positional players are, what about the backup head coach?

Both defensive coordinator Brent Venables and tight ends coach Danny Pearman have additional titles to their names. Venables is the “associate” head coach while Pearman is the “assistant” head coach and both have more than likely talked about what their roles would be should Swinney be quarantined with COVID-19 at some point.

Typically, the coach with the title of “associate head coach” such as Venables as, usually means they make more money and have more responsibility than someone with the “assistant head coach” tag. As far as Venables and Pearman are concerned, Venables will make nearly $2 million more than Pearman in 2020.

The best option for Clemson football isn’t a coordinator at all.

Does that mean that Venables will be the best option to be the acting Clemson football head coach should Swinney be forced to stay home?

I would argue he would not be and not because he isn’t capable of doing so or because he could not do it. Instead, the argument would be that Venables has far too much on his plate to take on the added responsibility of being the head coach, and all that comes with it.

As the linebackers coach as well as the defensive coordinator, he simply would not have time to take care of the head coaching responsibilities.

The coach that makes the most sense would be Robbie Caldwell should this situation happen in 2020.

Caldwell has experience as a head coach in major college football and as the offensive line coach, would have more time than most coaches in the staff to take over Swinney’s responsibilities for a couple of weeks and allow the rest of the coaching staff to maintain their day to day with little disruption.

While no one wants to see anyone test positive for COVID, the good news for Clemson football is there are plenty of capable coaches that can step in and keep the train moving in the right direction.