Clemson’s kicking situation was not great last season, with hopes that 2024 will see a far better season for the Tigers’ special teams unit.
Graduate kicker Jonathan Weitz’s run last season ended with a bang, but that was merely a band-aid after Robert Gunn III was benched. Clemson heads into the upcoming season with Gunn competing for the starting job once again, with true freshman Nolan Hauser, one of the kicking recruits in the 2024 class.
Swinney and the Tigers have honed in on special teams this offseason, and they are working hard to improve. Special teams must be routine if you want to compete for a College Football Playoff birth.
“For special teams, it’s the kicking competition. The number one thing for us there is that we have got to get better in field goal,” Swinney said. “That really hurt us, especially in the early part of the year, and we’ve tried to address that. Hopefully we’ll have great competition there and improve there.”
The competition for the starting job has been fierce. Swinney likes what he’s seen from both kickers as the season draws near.
“It was a tough year for (Gunn). He had a great spring, great summer, great fall camp, and he had some failure early and it wasn’t good,” Swinney said. “I didn’t really know what to expect this spring and how he was going to fully respond and compete, especially with Nolan getting here.”
“I thought that Robert was one of the bright spots this spring,” Swinney added. “He really competed. They both kind of were, they basically finished neck and neck coming out of spring. So, more to come, but I think the biggest thing with Robert is how he will take it to gameday.”
Consistency with field goals could be huge for Clemson next season.