By: Darby Childress

Being the son of one of the top defensive coordinators in college football has its perks, but, as Clemson commit Tyler Venables learned, it is not all perfect. Especially when it comes to recruiting. Tyler received offers from Oklahoma, Miami, Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina, and a few others, but due to his obvious leaning towards Clemson, where his father coaches and brother attends, many schools chose not to attempt to sign the three-star athlete out of Clemson, South Carolina.

Tyler attended Daniel High School, the same school as former Clemson athletes: DeAndre Hopkins, Shaq Lawson, and Kyle Young. In his senior year, he helped lead his team to an 11-1 season and the third round of the South Carolina State Playoffs. In high school, Tyler played quarterback. He accounted for 6,927 passing yards, and 73 touchdowns in the first three years of his high school career. In his senior year, he had a school-record of 3,281 passing yards and forty-eight combined rushing and passing touchdowns. He had a completion rate of 67.6% with 253 completions for 374 attempts. Tyler also played on the defensive side of the ball as a defensive back where he had 75 tackles, seven of those for a loss, and four interceptions in his senior year alone. Though he mainly played quarterback in high school he will be playing safety at Clemson under his father’s coaching staff. Due to his experience as a quarterback, it is hard to know how he will adjust to playing safety at Clemson, but his experience on defense in high school should make the transition easier.

In his senior year Tyler was named Offensive Player of the Year for the region, was a first-team all-regional honoree, and a nominee for Mr. Football for the state of South Carolina. Though many have assumed that Tyler’s offer was helped by the fact that his father is a part of Clemson’s coaching staff, his athleticism tells another story. He runs a 4.53-second forty-yard dash, a 4.40-shuttle, and has a 34-inch vertical jump. Not only does his athleticism make him a sought after player, but his dedication to the sport is unmatched.

This was proven by him playing the vast majority of his senior season with a torn ACL, though it did affect his rankings among other athletes with him finishing his high school career ranked nationally as the eightieth overall safety and 1,043rd player overall. He has been described as a “sleeper”, or a player who does not necessarily draw a lot of attention but is a very solid player who will contribute a lot to this Clemson football team in the future.

Clemson football in the past few years has brought in many football legacies, such as both of Dabo Swinney’s sons, Will and Drew who are both current players for the Tiger’s football team. The difference between the families is that both Will and Drew were both walk-ons to the team while Jake and Tyler both received offers from Clemson. Tyler committed to Clemson on June 2, 2019, where he will join his older brother, outside linebacker, Jake Venables. He was recruited by, his father, Brent Venables, and Mickey Conn. He signed with Clemson on December 18, 2019, his father’s birthday, and enrolled at Clemson in January of 2020 as a pre-business major.

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