There’s an old football adage that says if you have two quarterbacks, what you actually have is no quarterback.

Don’t look now, but with the release of Clemson’s post-spring depth chart earlier this week, the Tigers officially have two quarterbacks — for now — with the starting QB listed as Willy Korn “or” Kyle Parker.

The idea behind the aforementioned adage is the quarterback should be the unquestioned leader of a team, and splitting the duties doesn’t allow either signal caller to step into that role.

This theory has been disproved on some occasions in recent years, most notably in the case of the 2006 Florida Gators, who won a national championship with Chris Leak and Tim Tebow each seeing significant action.

And while Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has said he’s not averse to the idea of playing two quarterbacks, I don’t see the benefit in this case.

Sure, you may see both Korn and Parker splitting snaps in the opener against Middle Tennessee — although we should remember the Blue Raiders beat Maryland, something Clemson was unable to do, last season — but beyond that, it doesn’t make much sense.

After all, the two quarterbacks in question have similar skill sets. Korn is taller, a little bit more mobile and should have a better grasp of the playbook, while Parker has a much bigger arm and seemed to have the ever-elusive ‘it factor’ in spring ball.

Still, both of those guys are going to make their living in the pocket, running the show and feeding the ball to playmakers like C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford. Neither Korn nor Parker is going to bring what Tebow brought to Florida’s successful two-quarterback system – a dynamic ball carrier – and alternating series between the two seems like a great way to keep either from establishing continuity with the first-team offense.

All that being said, I don’t necessarily believe that the fact Korn and Parker are currently listed as co-starters means Swinney plans on it staying that way.

After all, a post-spring depth chart is worth about as much as the paper it’s printed on — and the one I’m looking at came via e-mail.

Nevertheless, we’ll wade on through the rest of it, and most of the depth chart is fairly unsurprising.

One exception is at right tackle, where three co-starters — if such a thing exists — are listed, with Landon Walker, Cory Lambert and true freshman J.K. Jay apparently still vying for the spot. My guess is this is an effort to motivate Walker, who is the incumbent here, and a clear message to him that the coaching staff was less than impressed with his performance in the spring.

In a way, that’s the primary purpose of a post-spring depth chart — to reward the guys who’ve been working the hardest and serve notice to those whose effort has been lacking.

An example of that is at free safety, where Sadat Chambers is listed as the starter. Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele regularly singled out Chambers in the spring for his solid play, but I’m not sure I buy that he’ll actually start come fall. This is a guy that was moved to running back two seasons ago, and backing up James Davis and C.J. Spiller isn’t a job you give to someone you’re anxious to get on the field.

I’d expect the supremely talented Marcus Gilchrist to get more than a passing glance at free safety once fall rolls around.

Another point of interest is at bandit end, where Ricky Sapp and Kevin Alexander are listed as co-starters.

Alexander is another guy that has been regularly praised by the staff in spring practice, but being listed along with a guy with all-world talent like Sapp is more indicative of his effort and the fact that Sapp is still rehabbing a torn ACL. Alexander will no doubt see significant time somewhere — perhaps linebacker — this season, but if he beats out Sapp at bandit, I’ll be shocked.

In the end, a post-spring depth chart is what it is. Something to talk about, a way for coaches to motivate or reward players, a jumping-off point for fall ball and fodder for a column during a lull in the sports world.