The dust on Clemson’s spring football season has been settling for more than a week following the team’s annual Orange and White game on April 9.
Based on limited practice access and feedback from coaches and players, The Clemson Insider is taking inventory of the offense, defense and special teams heading into the summer. TCI previously took a look at the offense and defense.
Here’s what we learned about the special teams after the Tigers’ 15 spring practices:
There is a legitimate punter competition
When Will Spiers exhausted his eligibility after last season, the assumption was Aidan Swanson – the only other player on last season’s roster that’s punted in a game – would essentially be handed the punting duties after biding his time behind Spiers the last two seasons.
But B.T. Potter isn’t going down without a fight.
Potter, the Tigers’ veteran kicker, also punted this spring. Swanson had the slightly better spring game, averaging 45.5 yards on six punts. Potter, who also dropped a snap before getting off one of his punts, averaged 42.3 yards on six kicks. But there were some days during the spring where Potter held the edge.
The competition is so tight between the two that Swinney said deciding on a starting punter is the only real question he still has about his team coming out of the spring. Swinney said the job will go to whoever the coaching staff believes is the best man for it even if that means Potter has to pull double duty in the fall.
Return game waiting to get whole again
When it comes to the kick return game, first-year special teams coordinator Mike Reed stated the obvious in that Clemson ultimately has to put its best returners on the field regardless of the position they play. Running back Will Shipley may still be the most explosive kick returner on the roster after averaging more than 27 yards per return as a freshman last season, though Shipley missed most of the spring so that he could fully recover from a lingering injury.
Kobe Pace also has experience returning kicks, though the junior running back also didn’t participate this spring with a toe injury. That left fellow running back Phil Mafah to handle most of the kick returns this spring, and running backs coach C.J. Spiller said all three are capable of getting the job done. But Shipley’s speed gives the Tigers a different dynamic in that role, and Reed and Spiller both said Shipley’s recent injury history won’t stop them from keeping him there if it’s what is best for the team.
At punt returner, fellow freshman Will Taylor briefly gave the Tigers a shot in the arm there before a torn ACL cut his season short. Taylor, a two-sport athlete, missed all of spring and has yet to play a baseball game as he works his way back to full strength following reconstructive surgery.
Taylor may resume that role this fall, but keep an eye on a few other receivers who could also get a look at helping Clemson improve its 4.4-yard average on punt returns last season, including incoming freshman Antonio Williams, whom receivers coach Tyler Grisham called a “natural” as a punt returner.
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