Facing Brent Venables Every Day Causing Tony Elliott to Lose Hair

Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott says Brent Venables is the best defensive coordinator in the country and every time they face off in a scrimmage, he loses a little more hair.

Tony Elliott is happy to have Brent Venables on his side.

However, just because the two are on the same coaching staff doesn't mean they never square off against one another. A handful of times each year, Clemson's offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator find themselves on opposing sidelines.

Such was the case on Saturday when the Tigers held their first scrimmage of fall camp and according to Elliott, going one-on-one with Venables comes with its own unique set of consequences.

"Oh man, see my hairline, that's what it's like," Elliott said laughing. "What little bit of hair I got keeps on falling out. That's why he's the best in the country. Very aggressive. Very, very multiple. Again you know, he does a lot of things."

In fact, facing the Clemson defense every day in practice can be overwhelming at times, and facing the group in scrimmages can be an even more daunting task. So much so that Elliott has to remind his players, in particular the younger ones, to keep their eyes on the prize. That it's not unusual for the defense to be ahead of the offense at this point in time.

"They have to put their plan in based off of the formations that we're going to show them," Elliott said. "So a lot of things aren't going to match up, so you just see a lot of multiple things."

"Especially for young guys, that's the difficult thing. And the challenge is just, 'hey boys, calm down. You're getting exposed to everything right now.' But once we get into a game we're going to pare it down, and by that time, you'll have seen everything. Nothing will overwhelm you."

Elliott knows as well as anyone that, as the old adage goes, iron sharpens iron. At the end of the day, there is no better way to prepare his offenses, than to have them facing off against Venables and his group, each and every day.

"Brent does a good job man," Elliott said. "He's gonna attack you, be aggressive. He puts a lot of pressure on us so it's always tough going through it. But I really, really love it, embrace it and understand that it's making us better for the long run."

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