Jake Briningstool was nervous, but he had no reason to be.
Clemson’s true freshman tight end had just caught his first career pass in front of 80,000 fans at Memorial Stadium on Saturday and yet Tuesday’s session with reporters was a little nerve-racking for him.
He sat down, settled in and grew comfortable, just like he has in Clemson’s tight end room.
Briningstool, of course, was asked about his first career catch right off the bat.
“It was definitely good to get the first one under my belt,” he said. “I thought there was no better place to do it than in Death Valley in front of the home crowd. I thought that was really cool and I’m glad I got the opportunity to do it.”
If Briningstool would’ve set his feet, he would’ve likely scored, or at least he thinks so. When he got up after making the sliding catch, there was nobody in front of him. He’ll obviously get many opportunities in the future to redeem himself.
Briningstool is by nature a receiving tight end, but he’s really honed in on his blocking since arriving in Tiger Town.
“I think when I came in, they first put me in opportunities to help out in the passing game and stuff throughout the spring,” Briningstool said. And then, as I’ve developed and as I’ve come along. Coach [Elliott] has been really helpful in helping me with my technique. From when I got here until now, I’ve become a lot better blocker than some people think.”
Dabo Swinney announced prior to Clemson’s 30-20 win over Florida State that Clemson would be removing the redshirt from Briningstool.
His reaction?
“I was excited,” he said. “I think I have the opportunity to help the team out from a dynamic part at the tight end position, so I was happy that I got the opportunity to play and then more opportunities to come, hopefully.”
As Briningstool has come further along, he’s had the luxury of learning from veteran tight ends like Braden Galloway and Davis Allen.
“They’ve helped a lot, to be honest,” Briningstool said. “Braden and Davis, especially, they’ve kind of been taking me in as a little brother and really just taught me everything they know and just rubbed off on me and really helped me out a lot.”
Briningstool believes that each of them brings a unique and different dynamic to the table in the tight end room, so he thinks they can all complement one another.
“For me personally, I think I’m more of a dynamic receiving type tight end…I think just learning from Davis and specific blocking techniques can help me better my game and become an all-around tight end,” he added.
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