Clemson’s return to the field in preparation for the 2022 college football season is imminent.
The Tigers’ spring practices will begin Wednesday and culminate April 9 with the annual Orange-White game at Memorial Stadium. Clemson is coming off yet another 10-win season, but the Tigers are trying to get back to the top of the ACC’s Atlantic Division standings and ultimately the College Football Playoff after missing out on both for the first time since 2015.
Clemson will try to do it amid an offseason of change for both the Tigers’ roster and Dabo Swinney’s coaching staff. Here are five storylines to follow for the Tigers this spring:
Coordinator influence
For the first time in a long time, Clemson will be going through a spring without Brent Venables and Tony Elliott, who are now running their own programs at Oklahoma and Virginia, respectively.
So the Tigers have two new coordinators. Kind of.
Brandon Streeter was promoted to take over for Elliott as the offensive coordinator while Swinney promoted Wesley Goodwin to coordinate the Tigers’ defense. Both are first-time playcallers at Clemson but have been on the Tigers’ staff for years.
The good thing for Clemson is players are already familiar with both coaches and generally know what they like to do, which brings a sense of comfort that’s rare with this kind of change. With Streeter and Goodwin having been promoted before Clemson’s bowl game in December, players have already gotten a feel for their new coordinators in their new roles.
But both have had a couple of months now to further evaluate their personnel and tinker. Streeter and Goodwin said in December they envision keeping things largely the same with systems already in place that have been highly successful in recent years, but, like any coach, they will also add their own flavor to how the Tigers operate on both sides of the ball.
What exactly is that going to look like? The spring figures to give everyone a better idea.
Middle men
Specifically, we’re talking the middle of the offensive line and the middle of the defense.
James Skalski was not only a two-year captain but also an ironman at middle linebacker for the Tigers, playing 1,920 snaps over 69 games during his six-year collegiate career before exhausting his eligibility this past season. Meanwhile, is Clemson’s starting center even on the roster at this point with the Tigers experiencing more attrition than expected up front?
Veteran center/guard Matt Bockhorst also played his final season at Clemson last fall after five years with the program. Earlier this month, Hunter Rayburn, who ended the season as the starting center, moved into an off-field role after a medical disqualification abruptly ended his playing career, leaving Clemson short on experience at the position. Mason Trotter, redshirt freshman Ryan Linthicum and walk-on Trent Howard – a trio that’s combined for just five starts at center – are left to duke it out for the starting job if the Tigers don’t dip into the transfer portal for another option.
As for who Clemson turns to at middle linebacker, that’s also up in the air considering it’s not just Skalski it has to replace. The Tigers lost their entire three-deep at the position with Kane Patterson (transfer) and Jake Venables (giving up football) no longer around either. Juniors Lavonta Bentley and Keith Maguire and sophomore Jeremiah Trotter Jr. may battle it out, though Bentley is an option to take over for the departed Baylon Spector on the weak side after filling in there at times last season. Or Barrett Carter, a former five-star signee who played in every game with one start as a true freshman, could become a permanent starter on the outside, allowing the Tigers to keep Bentley in the middle.
There’s a lot for Goodwin, who will also coach the linebackers, to figure out at the second level of the defense starting Wednesday.
Receiver rotation
Clemson’s receiving corps went from one of the deepest on the roster to a true freshman (Beaux Collins) finishing as the team’s second-leading pass catcher last season. Now the Tigers are beginning life without their No. 1 target.
Star wideout Justyn Ross is off to the NFL after bouncing back from his spinal fusion surgery in 2020 to lead Clemson in receptions (46) and receiving yards (514), though the bar wasn’t exactly high for a passing offense that ranked 103rd nationally. No one had more than three touchdown grabs.
Joseph Ngata, E.J. Williams and Collins, who caught 31 passes primarily in the slot last season, enter the spring as the presumed starters, but nothing is set in stone. Ngata continued to be snakebitten with injuries last season, missing the last four games with a bum foot, while Williams also dealt with thumb and leg injuries that limited him to just nine catches in eight games.
Frank Ladson Jr. transferred to Miami, creating another opening on the depth chart out wide. It’s an opportunity for Dacari Collins, Troy Stellato, true freshman Adam Randall (who will go through spring ball) and Brannon Spector, who’s expected back after missing all of last season because of injuries and COVID-19 complications.
Secondary competition
Skalski and Spector aren’t the only significant personnel losses for the defense. Clemson is also losing three starters in the secondary, including the ACC’s top cornerback tandem in Andrew Booth Jr. and Mario Goodrich.
Booth and Goodrich will hear their names called during this year’s NFL Draft, and veteran safety Nolan Turner hopes to join them at the next level. The Tigers still have some experience at the free safety spot Turner has vacated in seniors Jalyn Phillips, R.J. Mickens and Tyler Venables, who combined for 117 tackles and three interceptions as part of the safety rotation this past season. Phillips may be entering the spring as the favorite after starting four games last season, including the bowl game, but the competition to run out first alongside Andrew Mukuba will be fierce.
The same could be said at corner, where senior Sheridan Jones has the inside track on taking over as a starter after serving as Clemson’s No. 3 corner a season ago. Jones is the only corner still on the roster that’s started a game for the Tigers.
Depth could be a concern with Fred Davis, Nate Wiggins and Malcolm Greene, primarily a nickel, the only other scholarship players back at the position from last season, but true freshmen Jeadyn Lukus and Toriano Pride Jr. will help with that as early enrollees.
Quarterback situation
There likely won’t be a player with more attention on him this spring than D.J. Uiagalelei, who returns for his second year as the starting quarterback. That’s with the understanding that the strong-armed sophomore has to be better than he was last fall.
Clemson’s offense took a major step back in explosiveness and overall production in part because of Uiagalelei’s inconsistencies. The low completion rate and turnover issues (more interceptions than touchdown passes a season ago) have been well-documented.
Swinney has said Uiagalelei’s supporting cast needs to also be better with injuries and ineffectiveness plaguing the offense at times as a whole this past season. Uiagalelei was one of those ailing after spraining his knee late in the year.
Uiagalelei was recently spotted at a camp in Texas still wearing a brace on his right knee, so how healthy he is going into the spring is still a question mark. But Uiagalelei has worked to shed some weight after playing last season around 250 pounds.
Clemson has added another former five-star recruit to the quarterback room this offseason in Cade Klubnik, who will go through the spring as a mid-year enrollee. It’s hard to gauge exactly how much Klubnik might be able to push Uiagalelei for the starting job in a spring setting, but Uiagalelei’s performance over the next five weeks will either help him take tighter hold of the starting job exiting the spring or open up a real competition heading into fall camp.
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