Clemson Tigers – Page 119 – Syndication Server

ESPN deems UGA a better coaching job than Clemson

ESPN wrapped up its preseason college football coaching job comparison series this week with a look at whether Clemson or Georgia is the better job. In an ESPN+ article (subscription required), the four-letter network deemed UGA the better gig. ESPN …

ESPN wrapped up its preseason college football coaching job comparison series this week with a look at whether Clemson or Georgia is the better job.

In an ESPN+ article (subscription required), the four-letter network deemed UGA the better gig.

ESPN broke down the debate into four parts — history (past 10 years and past 50 years), resources/administrative support, recruiting/access to talent, and expectations/program environment.

ESPN gave Clemson the edge in the first two areas and gave UGA the edge in the other two before concluding that UGA is slightly the better job.

“As long as Swinney is at the helm, Clemson should be a force both on the field and in recruiting,” ESPN senior writer Adam Rittenberg wrote in his article. “But what about when he leaves? A dropoff is possible if not likely, and it could be a significant step backward.”

“[The better job] should be Georgia, but right now it’s Clemson,” an industry source told ESPN. “But if Dabo retires tomorrow, what’s the better job? It’s going to be hard to follow Dabo.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Swinney on running backs: ‘It’s baptism by fire’

As classes start and fall camp draws to a close, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney had a lot to say regarding the current state of his team. Although his team lost a talented running back in Travis Etienne to the NFL draft, Swinney isn’t worried. In …

“Our running back room is really good,” Swinney said. “I love those guys and I think we’ve got a great group. We’ve got a couple of true freshmen in [Will] Shipley and [Phil] Mafah that are going to be great players and every single day is a learning experience for them. Kobe [Pace], he’s a true sophomore, but he doesn’t really carry himself that way. He carries himself more as a seasoned veteran, that’s kind of how he goes about his business. Lyn-J’s [Dixon] got a ton of experience around here and we all know what he can do.”

With both rookie and sixth-year veteran experience in this year’s running back room, Swinney is excited to see the competition at running back heat up and to see the explosiveness of his backs come alive on the playing field.

“Mikey [Michel] Dukes just got a little later start to camp than the rest of the guys, so he was not in pads today [since] he’s still in the acclimatation period, but Mikey’s a guy that has kind of missed out on some early opportunity, but we’ll get him back rolling,” the 13-year head coach said. “[Darien] Rencher is a savvy veteran as well, so we’ve got a really good room. I’m confident in all those guys and think we’re going to have some explosiveness and some guys that can do some things in the passing game and so forth.”

While the talent at running back is there, Swinney knows the exposure and challenges that fall camp has brought will be the biggest difference makers come game time. For Swinney, helping his player’s encounter virtually every type of game situation, what the head coach call’s a ‘baptism by fire’, is truly what sets his team apart, year after year.

“It’s baptism by fire when you come on this practice field because you’re going to see every front, every coverage, every blitz,” Swinney said. “We don’t tip toe through the installation from a defensive standpoint, but in the end that’s really good when you start game planning, when you really start to pair things down. Every year, that’s one of the things I always see is that our guys, they’ve been exposed to so much on the practice field and it helps us on game day, for both sides.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Podcast: Should Clemson Football be included among the great programs in college football history?

Is it time for the national media to start including Clemson’s football program among the all-time greatest programs in college football history? The Tigers are on a historical run that can reach unprecedented heights this season. Levon Kirkland and …

Is it time for the national media to start including Clemson’s football program among the all-time greatest programs in college football history?

The Tigers are on a historical run that can reach unprecedented heights this season. Levon Kirkland and myself break that down and give you our opinions. We also discuss who is the best trash talker on the team and who we consider to be the best trash talkers in Clemson history.

Also, what are the best games between Clemson and Georgia and could this year’s season opener rival those great matchups of the past.

You can listen to today’s podcast here (LINK), or listen to it and download it where you listen to all of your podcasts at either Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify.

Henry hyping up Clemson O-Line

Clemson’s defensive line has received plenty of hype throughout the offseason and to this point in fall camp. But defensive end K.J. Henry feels more people need to pay attention to the Tigers’ offensive line because of their depth, talent and …

Clemson’s defensive line has received plenty of hype throughout the offseason and to this point in fall camp.

But defensive end K.J. Henry feels more people need to pay attention to the Tigers’ offensive line because of their depth, talent and tenacity.

“I think what’s not been spoken about is a lot of depth on the offensive line as well. They are still trying to figure some things out and get that cohesion which is a lot different from an offensive perspective than a defensive perspective,” Henry said. “But the depth is there with a lot of guys, talent and young talent and a lot of guys who are experienced and really leading the way.”

Clemson returns three starters on the offensive line after the departure of center Cade Stewart and left tackle Jackson Carman.

But the Tigers still return plenty of experience in veteran guard Matt Bockhort who has also repped at center during camp including a start in the first scrimmage on Saturday. Will Putman also returns at left guard with a start in each game last season and redshirt junior Jordan McFadden is moving from right guard to left guard in place of Carman. They also return Hunter Rayburn and Walker Parks who bring plenty of snaps to the table.

“I think that’s something we’ve learned a lot from camp a lot of guys have grown who have been here for a couple of years and a lot of guys have come in and made an impact early you mix that with what we have on the offensive line with depth it’s great to see and great to compete against,” Henry said.

The offensive line faces a formidable opponent in practice every week in practice but Henry fells the two groups have readied each other for the season over the course of fall camp.

“The toughness, grit and fight is there and has been there since day one,” Henry said. “And that’s why each day we really have to come out and give it our all to be productive and available because these guys are pushing it and will have us ready just like we will have them ready. From a camp perspective they’ve definitely been getting it done.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Together Tigers about to turn attention towards No. 5 Georgia

When preseason camp begins, a head coach does not know what he is going to discover about his team. The two weeks of camp every team goes through in the heat of August, tests a team’s character. It either brings them together or it eventually tears …

When preseason camp begins, a head coach does not know what he is going to discover about his team.

The two weeks of camp every team goes through in the heat of August, tests a team’s character. It either brings them together or it eventually tears them apart. For third-ranked Clemson, it appears, at least to head coach Dabo Swinney, its players are in the right frame of mind as the Tigers’ camp ended Tuesday at the Poe Indoor Practice Facility in Clemson.

“They are together. This is a team that likes each other, and they will compete,” Swinney said.

The Tigers’ head man says this year’s team has practiced hard and has not taken any days off. They are a focused football team. One he thinks will be ready for the 2021 football season when it kicks off on Sept. 4 against No. 5 Georgia in Charlotte.

Clemson will play the Bulldogs at Bank of America Stadium.

“They practice physical. They are a focused team and those are things that excite me,” Swinney said. “We are talented. I think we all know that, but having the right leadership, having the right focus, having the right commitment, those are the things that … You know? The right attitude and the right character.

“I think this team has all of those intangibles that we are going to need to have the type of season we want to have.”

The Tigers are hoping to make another run at the College Football Playoff. Clemson has made each of the last six playoffs, the only team in the CFP era that can make such a claim.

As for getting ready for Georgia, the Tigers will begin some preparation next Monday and Tuesday.

“We are still working some Clemson, as well, and then [next] Wednesday will be a staff day for us and then Thursday, Friday and Saturday will all be game prep. Then, obviously, you got game week,” Swinney said. “Obviously, we have done a lot of work all summer, so it is not like we just are waiting to start.

“We have done a lot of staff work, but from a team standpoint, you are going through camp. It is about getting ready for your season, and then we will start pairing it down and honing in, evaluating personnel and those types of things. Again, we are just trying to teach everything that we can teach.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Lee adds coach to his staff

Clemson head coach Monte Lee announced a new hire on Wednesday. Matt Heath was added to the Clemson baseball staff as special assistant to the head coach. Heath most recently served as associate head coach and pitching coach at UT Martin from …

Clemson head coach Monte Lee announced a new hire on Wednesday.

Matt Heath was added to the Clemson baseball staff as special assistant to the head coach.

Heath most recently served as associate head coach and pitching coach at UT Martin from 2019-21, and he was also pitching coach under Lee at College of Charleston from 2011-15.

Among Heath’s responsibilities are practice planning and assisting the coaching staff with the following…pitcher development, in-game management, including with the bullpen, on-campus recruiting and the transfer portal.

“We’re excited to have Matt join our staff as a special assistant,” said Lee. “He has a wealth of experience at programs all over the Southeast, both as an assistant coach and head coach, including working with me at College of Charleston. His knowledge of the game and experience will be a tremendous asset for all the coaches and players.”

In 2021, Heath helped the Skyhawks to their best ERA since joining Division I in 1993. In 2019, UT Martin tied for its most victories and Ohio Valley Conference wins in the Division I era in Heath’s first year as an assistant coach.

Heath was head coach at College of Charleston in 2016 and 2017, succeeding Lee as the leader of the Cougar program.

Heath served as an assistant coach at College of Charleston for a total of seven years (two as hitting coach and five as pitching coach), including under Lee from 2011-15. He was a part of four conference championships, three regional appearances and a super regional appearance.

In 2014 under Lee, the Cougars set school records for ERA (2.73), opponent batting average (.224) and walks per nine innings pitched (2.55) en route to the Lubbock Super Regional.

He has also spent time in professional baseball scouting and in the SEC, working with both pitchers and hitters over the years.

In 2009, Heath served as hitting coach at Auburn, helping the Tigers break into the national rankings in numerous categories and setting several school records. He oversaw an offense that belted a school-record 103 home runs and 218 extra-base hits, as Auburn’s .516 slugging percentage was the third-highest mark in school history.

Heath broke into the coaching ranks as an assistant coach at Tallahassee Community College, spending two seasons there prior to his first stint at College of Charleston in 2007 and 2008.

A Fernandina Beach, Fla. native, Heath was a highly touted prep star and was named North Florida Player-of-the-Year as a standout at Fernandina Beach High School. He played at Florida for two years before transferring to play at LSU.

Heath graduated from LSU with a degree in general studies in 2002 and later played in the Arizona Diamondbacks organization for two seasons.

He and his wife, Elizabeth, have a daughter, Everett, and son, Hagan. Heath was born March 21, 1979 in Jacksonville, Fla.

—Courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Clemson’s best trash talker? It might be this defensive tackle

Ruke Orhorhoro may very well be Clemson’s best trash talker. Andrew Booth, Jr. made that bold claim and K.J. Henry didn’t exactly deny it. “Ruke’s one of one, for sure,” Henry said of the redshirt sophomore defensive tackle during Tuesday’s media …

Ruke Orhorhoro may very well be Clemson’s best trash talker.

Andrew Booth, Jr. made that bold claim and K.J. Henry didn’t exactly deny it.

“Ruke’s one of one, for sure,” Henry said of the redshirt sophomore defensive tackle during Tuesday’s media availability. “He’s definitely one of the best trash talkers and is definitely in the top-5 funniest guys. We got a lot of characters, a lot of comedians, but he’s definitely in the conversation for everybody, one of the best we got. He’s a pretty good football player too.”

Henry couldn’t contain himself.

With Orhorhoro scheduled to speak to the media directly after him, Henry cracked a smile and was laughing just as he was talking about what makes his teammate so funny.

According to Henry, it’s not about what Orhorhoro says, it’s what he does. A lot of the time, he’ll get the coaches involved too.

“He keeps it lighthearted,” Henry added. “We love him.”

Orhorhoro likes cracking jokes with everybody.

He hopes his humor can be a sense of relief or a blessing to those around him, whether it be his teammates or coaches.

“That’s just who I’ve been,” Orhorhoro said regarding his sense of humor. “I’m just a bubbly person. I love making people smile, it brightens my day. You never know what someone’s going through and if you make them smile, you could change the course of their day.”

Whatever comes to mind at the time is usually what Orhorhoro will say. He doesn’t give it much thought, he just blurts it out.

Orhorhoro has certainly helped give the locker room a looser feel to it.

But when it’s time to get serious, you can expect Orhorhoro to be ready to go.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Podcast: We have a good idea who AP voters overrated this year

Levon Kirkland and myself breakdown the Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 Poll and give out our own top 25 as well. We also tell you what team we think will not be in the top 5 when the season is done and what teams may be ranked too high in the …

Levon Kirkland and myself breakdown the Associated Press’ Preseason Top 25 Poll and give out our own top 25 as well.

We also tell you what team we think will not be in the top 5 when the season is done and what teams may be ranked too high in the preseason poll.

We have an interview with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and give our thoughts as the Tigers close down preseason camp and start turning their attention to No. 5 Georgia.

You can listen to today’s podcast here (LINK), or listen to it and download it where you listen to all of your podcast at either Apple Podcasts, Stitcher or Spotify.

Here’s something you likely will not hear about Clemson on ESPN

On Monday, the Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 for the 2021 College Football Season. Clemson rolled in at No. 3 in the preseason poll, marking a sixth straight year the Tigers will start a season ranked inside the top 5. It also …

On Monday, the Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 for the 2021 College Football Season.

Clemson rolled in at No. 3 in the preseason poll, marking a sixth straight year the Tigers will start a season ranked inside the top 5. It also marked the 57^th straight week they have been ranked in the top 5, a remarkable streak.

In fact, here is something you probably have not seen mentioned on ESPN, or at least I have not seen it. Clemson’s streak of 57 consecutive weeks in the top 5 of the AP Poll is 39 weeks ahead of No. 2 Alabama, who has an active streak of 18 straight weeks.

And in case you are wondering, the Tigers’ streak in second all-time in the history of the AP Poll, which began in 1936. It is only bested by Alabama’s streak of 68 consecutive weeks from 2015-’19. In other words, Clemson has an opportunity this year to set an all-time record, something it could possibly do prior to its Week 13 showdown with archrival South Carolina on Nov. 27.

The Tigers’ current streak began on November 5, 2017, and to take it a step further, they have been ranked inside the Coaches Poll top five for 58 straight weeks, starting on October 29, 2017.

But the accolades do not stop in the top 5.

Clemson enters 2021 with a school-record streak of 103 consecutive AP top-25 rankings, including 94 polls in a row in the top 10, tied with Alabama for the nation’s longest active streak. The 94-poll streak in the top 10 is tied for the third-longest in poll history, behind Miami (137 from 1985-93) and Nebraska (96 from 1993-98).

But why stop there. To put even more perspective on what the Tigers have accomplished under head coach Dabo Swinney can break it down even further.

Clemson has finished in the top four of the AP Poll in each of the last six years, a program record. Swinney became the fourth coach to record at least six consecutive top-four finishes since the AP poll era, an exclusive list that includes Florida State’s Bobby Bowden (13), Southern California’s Pete Carroll (7) and Oklahoma’s Bud Wilkinson (6).

How is that for perspective?

Clemson’s streak represents the fifth time a program has had a run of at least six top four finishes in the AP Poll. Miami had a seven-year run from 1986-’92 with two different head coaches leading the program.

Swinney always likes to say, “It isn’t how you start the year that matters, it is how you finish.” He is right, and few have finished better than Clemson in the last decade.

The 2020 season marked the 34th year the Tigers were ranked in the final AP poll. It was the 13th time in the last 16 years – and 10th straight year – Clemson was ranked in the final poll.

What is the secret behind Clemson’s success?

It is simple. It is its culture.

It is a culture that is driven by its head coach and a staff that for the most part has stayed intact for a long period of time.

Swinney is now in his 19^th season at Clemson, and his 14^th as the head coach if you count his interim stint in 2008. From the start of his first season as a full-time head coach in 2009 through 2020, there have been nearly 400 head coaching tenures in the FBS, but only one such tenure at Clemson.

Among the 11 schools ever to qualify for the College Football Playoff, only Clemson and Alabama have had only one head coach since 2009.

As for Swinney’s staff, offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell are now in their 11^th season at Clemson. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables is in his 10^th overall.

Cornerbacks coach Mike Reed is his ninth season, while quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter is currently in his eighth season. Safeties Coach Mickey Conn and defensive tackles coach Todd Bates are now in their fifth year in Tigertown and defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall is in season four.

Wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham has started his second season, while C.J. Spiller is the Tigers’ new running backs coach. However, Grisham and Spiller both played for Swinney, and Grisham was a part of Swinney’s staff for six seasons prior to becoming his wide receivers’ coach. He spent those six seasons as a graduate assistant and then as an offensive analyst.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Where is Clemson in this national outlet’s preseason top 25?

With the start of the 2021 college football season less than two weeks away, another national outlet has released its preseason top 25 rankings. Pro Football Focus ranks Clemson as the No. 3 team in the country entering the 2021 season, behind …

With the start of the 2021 college football season less than two weeks away, another national outlet has released its preseason top 25 rankings.

Pro Football Focus ranks Clemson as the No. 3 team in the country entering the 2021 season, behind Oklahoma at No. 1 and Alabama at No. 2.

Ohio State, Georgia, North Carolina, Cincinnati, Texas A&M, Miami and LSU round out PFF’s preseason top 25, in that order.

Here is what PFF’s Anthony Treash wrote about the Tigers heading into the 2021 campaign:

“There isn’t much to be concerned about with the Tigers’ defensive unit. Defensive coordinator Brent Venables has a star-studded group that features 2020 No. 1 overall recruit Bryan Bresee and 2020 No. 7 overall recruit Myles Murphy, who were each standout performers along the defensive line as true freshmen. Clemson has ranked top three in EPA allowed in five of the seven years of the PFF College era. It’d be a surprise if they didn’t make it six of eight in 2021.

“There is a little bit of concern with the offense. Primarily with the ground game, as Clemson no longer has the home run-hitter, Travis Etienne, in the backfield. He led the Tigers to the Power Five’s most efficient run game over the last three years. Dabo Swinney and Co. got a glimpse of life without Trevor Lawrence in 2020 when the No. 1 overall pick was out for a couple of games due to COVID-19. True freshman D.J. Uiagalelei took over and showed plenty to get excited about, including a cannon of a right arm. The former five-star posted an 83.6 passing grade, five big-time throws and zero turnover-worthy plays. There was an issue with his accuracy on sideline throws because of his mechanics. That’ll be something to monitor this fall, but the overall early returns were promising. Uiagalelei will have a quality receiving unit at his disposal with comeback injury candidates Justyn Ross and Joe Ngata leading the way.”

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!