Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables signed a five year, $11.6 million dollar extension last week with the school. The deal is the largest contract ever given to an assistant coach in college football history.

Venables is worth every penny. Clemson’s has boasted one of the best defenses in the ACC and in the nation the past five years under his watch.

For all the credit that head coach Dabo Swinney and the quarterbacks have gotten in recent years in Death Valley, it is the defense that has stepped up in big games and played well.

Assistant coaches at the collegiate level deserve a raise. Between recruiting year round and coaching, they spend a lot of time away from their families. Head coaches get all the credit for the success of a program but any head coach worth their salt will tell you that it is the assistants that make the program successful.

Hopefully more schools will follow suit and pay their coordinators like Clemson. If for no other reason, it might keep coaches around and allow for program stability.