Clemson's Head Trainer to Retire

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced Wednesday that longtime trainer Danny Poole is stepping away from being the Tigers' head trainer.

Poole has been with the Clemson Football program for nearly 40 years, including the last 14 with Swinney. The two have worked together for 19 years overall, dating back to Swinney's days as the Tigers' wide receivers coach.

According to Swinney, Poole made the decision to retire from being the full-time trainer, but he still wants to serve Clemson. He wants to transition to a different role for football and the athletic department in general.

"I am happy for him," Swinney said. "We have a lot of construction going on over there and he is in a good spot and really feels like this is the right time to transition.

"I will say this, man. I am thankful to Danny Poole. And I am thankful to Beth (his wife). You can't appreciate the job of a trainer until you see it up close day in and day out."

Poole just finished his 21st season as Clemson’s director of sports medicine, and a veteran of nearly 40 years at Clemson. He supervises a department that attends to the athletic training needs of over 500 athletes. He directs a staff of eight full-time athletic trainers, nine graduate assistants and approximately 16 undergraduates.

Poole is a graduate of Western Carolina University, with a degree in health and physical education in 1979. In Cullowhee, he was published in the NATA Journal in 1979 for the “D.P. Method for Blisters.” He added a master’s degree in health education from Memphis.

Poole was honored in 2001 by his peers with the Athletic Trainer’s Service Award, presented by NATA to role models and leaders in the field. In 2010, he was named president of the Atlantic Coast Conference Sports Medicine Association and served two terms in that capacity. He also served on the advisory board for several knee brace companies.

He earned the Fred Hoover Award of Excellence in 2010 by the South Carolina Athletic Trainers Association, which is considered the Hall of Fame for SCATA.

Poole is from Charlotte, N.C., and is a graduate of West Mecklenburg High School, where he was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2019.

--photo courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications