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The questions, three of them, are short but open-ended:

1) What are you up to nowadays?

2) What are your thoughts on the state of Clemson Football?

3) What do you make of the current landscape of college athletics amid the transfer portal and Name, Image and Likeness?

ALSO SEE: THE CLEMSON 30: Charlie Whitehurst | THE CLEMSON 30: Tymere Zimmerman | THE CLEMSON 30: Jeff Francoeur | THE CLEMSON 30: Michael Dean Perry | THE CLEMSON 30: Da'Quan Bowers | THE CLEMSON 30: Woody Dantzler | THE CLEMSON 30: Airese Currie | THE CLEMSON 30: Kyle Young | THE CLEMSON 30: Dustin Fry | THE CLEMSON 30: Tye Hill

Tigerillustrated.com has spent the past two months tracking down 30 former Clemson football figures whose names still resonate with fans.

We will spend the better part of the next two months sharing their responses.

Today our eleventh installment in THE CLEMSON 30 series features former Clemson defensive back Robert Carswell.

I'm in my second year as the assistant principal at Joseph Keels Elementary School in Columbia. And I'm currently enrolled at Wingate University, pursuing my doctorate in educational leadership. I start my dissertation in August. I'm aspiring to be a superintendent. I'll do one more year as an assistant principal, and then I'll put my name in the hat to be a principal. And then I'll take the necessary steps from there to become a superintendent.

This is my seventh year in education. I taught second grade, spent three years out in Fairfield County, and then came and taught two years in Richland District 2 before becoming assistant principal here.

Living in Columbia, I'm "that Clemson guy" to everybody down here. I'm holding the fort down. It was rough those years we were losing to the Gamecocks. It got pretty bad down here. But I definitely appreciate Coach Swinney and the guys turning the tables.

I'll go to school with my jersey on, my hat, my bowl ring. I'll even put my helmet on and walk through the halls. So they know what my allegiance is down here. The kids love it when I put that helmet on.

And every time we beat them, I've got an old wrestling championship belt that I'll put on. I'll walk through the halls after the game wearing my helmet and that belt. It's a lot like the belt one of the players wore when we beat them a few years back. It's a championship, Ric Flair-style belt. I wear it only after we beat South Carolina. Man, I'll go into Wal-Mart wearing it. I'll go to the local grocery stores and just shop around wearing that helmet, my jersey and the belt.

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And the students give it right back to me. If we lose a game, they'll decorate my door and all kind of stuff. But then I'll lay down the ultimate trump card: "I never lost to the Gamecocks."

I've been married 14 years. We have a daughter named Grace who's in seventh grade. I'm living that girl-dad life, collaborating with former teammates on how to do their hair and all this other stuff.

Man I love it. When Coach Swinney took over I supported him. And I love that he's taken the program to new heights. Not only has he taken it to new heights, but he's sustained it. And he's done it the right way. He's graduating our players. Our guys are going on to be productive in the NFL, and the guys who aren't in the NFL are going on to be productive because of some of the programs that he put in place, programs that help make the transition from football to life. I really applaud him and commend him on that.

And I'll tell you something about Coach Swinney: The way he links the current program with past players is truly special. I've got a video of my daughter walking in the national championship parade, and of my wife and daughter walking down the hill into Death Valley. I think my daughter was 7 or 8 at the time, and she thought that parade was all about her and her father. The fact that Coach Swinney would allow former players to come in and be a part of that, man, I think that's special.

I used to work the summer football camps, so I knew Coach Swinney but I didn't know him really well. I got a chance to talk to him, and he asked me if I was married and just some things about my personal life. I told him I was a teacher and aspiring to be a principal, told him about my daughter Grace.

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The next time I talked to him was three or four years later, and man some of the first things he asks me are: "How is Grace doing? How's your wife Demetria? How's your pathway to becoming a principal?" I just think that's amazing for him to be able to make those connections. I mean that's special. I have a hard time remembering what I ate for breakfast. For him to remember something about me from three or four years before, I just thought that was real special.

I'm kind of 50/50 on all that change. I'm kind of old-school and believe you go in and fight for your position, you get coached hard, and you don't necessarily transfer like that. But I can see where there is a benefit as well.

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You look at some former Clemson guys -- it seems to have worked out well for Chez Mellusi at Wisconsin. He was putting up some pretty big numbers before he got hurt. You look at Zerrick Cooper going and doing some impressive things at Jacksonville State.

But I guess where I cringe is where you see guys team-hopping: They go here and they don't play, so then they transfer again. I think those guys miss out on that camaraderie that players and teams have that are at one place for years. When we go back to Clemson and visit with my former teammates, we get a chance to sit down and tell stories. We don't talk about the scores of the games. We don't talk about the games. We talk about the different stories that happened on the team bus, or on the airplane, or in study hall. Sometimes guys can miss out on that when they transfer all over the place.

I'm kind of mixed on NIL as well. I think it's great that guys can come in and make some money off their name and likeness. But I just want them to stay focused on school and remember they are student-athletes, focus on football and family and all that stuff. The NIL should come third.

But there are some guys who don't get a chance to play professional football, and they leave the game with the same bumps and bruises and soreness that guys get when they go play in the pros. It would be nice for them to walk away with a nice jump start in life, allowing them to secure some money while they're in college to kind of help out their families and get started on life. I think that's great.

But again, I just want guys to stay focused on what's important. I heard Coach Swinney say "Keep the main thing the main thing" and I think the main thing is student-athlete and taking care of business on the field and in the classroom.

On Monday Tigerillustrated.com will release the 12th installment of THE CLEMSON 30.

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