Tag: Nick Eason

Returning to Clemson a ‘blessing’ for Eason

Nearly two decades after leaving Clemson, Nick Eason is returning to what he considers family. After his addition to the Tigers’ staff as defensive tackles coach and run-game coordinator became official Friday, Eason released his first public …

Nearly two decades after leaving Clemson, Nick Eason is returning to what he considers family.

After his addition to the Tigers’ staff as defensive tackles coach and run-game coordinator became official Friday, Eason released his first public comments on his return through the athletic department. Eason played for Clemson from 1999-2002, earning all-ACC honors as a senior before being selected in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos.

“To have this opportunity to come back to Clemson is a blessing from God,” Eason said in a statement. “It is a dream for most coaches to have the opportunity to coach at your alma mater, and that is the case for me.

“Clemson is a special place. It has been family to me since I first took a visit as a recruit in 1997. I have continued the relationships I started almost 25 years ago with the fans, the administration and the coaching staff.”

Eason expressed gratitude to Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who brought him back after all this time. Eason spent 10 seasons in the NFL as a player with four different teams and got his coaching career started with the Cleveland Browns in 2013. He spent this season coaching Auburn’s defensive line.

“I want to thank Coach Swinney for the opportunity to be a part of a program with such a rich tradition, one that has become one of the best in the nation,” Eason said. “I also can’t wait to work with Chief of Staff Woody McCorvey, who I have known and respected for many years.”

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports.

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Swinney reacts to Eason’s hiring

Following the university’s approval of Nick Eason’s contract at Clemson on Friday, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney chimed in on adding the former Clemson standout to his coaching staff. “I am super, super excited to welcome Nick Eason back to Clemson,” …

Following the university’s approval of Nick Eason’s contract at Clemson on Friday, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney chimed in on adding the former Clemson standout to his coaching staff.

“I am super, super excited to welcome Nick Eason back to Clemson,” Swinney said in a statement. “Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to know him when he was a player here. He was before me, but I vividly remember meeting him when I first got here in the spring of 2003. He was training for the NFL Draft. He had just finished his last season (at Clemson). I remember meeting him, and I was struck immediately with his presence, how he carried himself and how he was respected by all.

“And then obviously being here now 19 years, I’ve had many opportunities to be around him and get to know him and follow him. He’s a guy that I’ve followed for many years and a guy that I’ve had my eye on for our staff for many years. I just hadn’t had the right opportunity with the right timing to hire him, but, man, as we always say, everything is always on God’s timing. This was the right time for us at Clemson and also for Nick.”

Swinney continued with his exact reasoning for targeting Eason, who has 17 years of NFL experience as a player and coach and spent this season as the defensive line coach at Auburn.

“Nick is the epitome of what I look for in a coach,” Swinney said. “He has an incredible passion for the game, he has got a great background, and he truly loves the player. In this hire, I really wanted a guy who had great experience at the NFL level. I wanted somebody who has coached the best of the best at the highest level, and that’s exactly what he’s done. He was a great player at Clemson, and he’s a great Clemson man.

“Not only was he a great player at Clemson, but he was a great pro. He was incredibly respected all throughout his career as a player and coach. He’s coached the best of the best, he’s a Super Bowl champion, but I love his passion for coaching and teaching young people. He’s been drawn to the college level by the impact he can have on a young person’s life, and he just really fits and aligns with our values here at Clemson. It’s just an added bonus that he happened to be a great player here at Clemson.”

Swinney also thanked Todd Bates, whom Eason is replacing. Bates spent five seasons coaching Clemson’s defensive tackles and was recently promoted to assistant head coach before leaving to join Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma earlier this week.

“I am excited for his new opportunity with Brent at Oklahoma,” Swinney said.

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Clemson makes Eason’s hire official

Nick Eason’s addition to Clemson’s coaching staff is official. The former Clemson standout is returning to his alma mater on a three-year contract, which was approved by the Clemson University Board of Trustees’ compensation committee Friday …

Nick Eason’s addition to Clemson’s coaching staff is official.

The former Clemson standout is returning to his alma mater on a three-year contract, which was approved by the Clemson University Board of Trustees’ compensation committee Friday morning. Eason’s contract will pay him $750,000 annually.

Eason, who will coach the Tigers’ defensive tackles, is replacing Todd Bates, who spent the last five seasons in the same role before recently leaving to join Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma. Eason will also serve as defensive run-game coordinator.

Eason is the first outside hire Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has made since the end of the regular season to fill a vacancy on his staff. When Tony Elliott (Virginia) and Venables finally took their shot to be head coaches last month, Swinney promoted quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter to offensive coordinator and longtime off-field defensive assistant Wesley Goodwin to defensive coordinator.

Swinney also recently promoted analyst Thomas Austin to offensive line coach following Robbie Caldwell’s retirement from on-field coaching. Kyle Richardson, another former off-field staffer, has taken over as tight ends coach.

A defensive end at Clemson from 1999-2002, Eason spent this season as the defensive line coach at Auburn. But most of his coaching experience has come at the professional level after a 10-year playing career in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.

Since his retirement as a player in 2012, Eason has coached the defensive line in an assistant or primary role for the Browns, Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals. Next season will be Eason’s third coaching at the collegiate level after he spent the 2018 season at Austin Peay.

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Eason’s hire adds to coaching staff’s next-level experience

The latest addition to Clemson’s football coaching staff is expected to become official Friday morning. And when it does, Dabo Swinney will have another assistant that’s experienced the level of the sport that many of the Tigers’ current and …

The latest addition to Clemson’s football coaching staff is expected to become official Friday morning.

And when it does, Dabo Swinney will have another assistant that’s experienced the level of the sport that many of the Tigers’ current and prospective players aspire to reach.

Nick Eason is set to join the Tigers’ staff as the replacement for Todd Bates, who coached Clemson’s defensive tackles for half a decade before recently leaving to join Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma. Eason will be the fifth former Tiger on staff, but perhaps more importantly from a recruiting perspective, he will be the seventh assistant coach that’s either played or coached in the NFL.

In Eason’s case, he’s done both.

After finishing an all-ACC senior season at Clemson in 2002, Eason was taken in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos. He’ll be the fourth assistant that was drafted into the NFL, joining running backs coach and former Clemson standout C.J. Spiller (2010, first round), cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Mike Reed (1995, seventh round out of Boston College) and defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall (1994, seventh round out of Alabama).

Receivers coach Tyler Grisham and newly promoted offensive line coach Thomas Austin had brief stints in the NFL after signing as undrafted free agents in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Eason had a longer playing career than any of them, spending a decade with four NFL teams. The last nine were spent with the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals. As part of the Steelers’ defensive line rotation from 2007-10, he played in two Super Bowls and was a member of Pittsburgh’s most recent Super Bowl-winning team in 2008.

After calling it quits as a player in 2012, Eason began his coaching career as an intern with the Browns and quickly worked his way up the ladder. He was hired as an assistant defensive line coach by the Tennessee Titans in 2014 before becoming the team’s primary defensive line coach two years later.

In 2019, the Cincinnati Bengals hired him as their defensive line coach. Eason has had pit stops in the college ranks at Austin Peay (2018) and Auburn (2021) before now, but seven of his nine seasons coaching have been spent in the NFL.

Throw in Reed (Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive backs and special teams coach from 2002-06), Hall (internship with the Titans) and Goodwin (Cardinals’ assistant to the head coach from 2015-17), and Clemson’s staff boasts more than five decades of combined experience playing and coaching at the next level. Between Eason and Hall, who played nine NFL seasons with the Houston/Tennessee Oilers, Chicago Bears, Dallas Cowboys and Minnesota Vikings, Clemson’s defensive line will have 26 years worth of NFL experience coaching it up.

Eason isn’t exactly inheriting a bare cupboard at his position. Clemson is in line to return every significant contributor on the interior of the defensive line, including starters Tyler Davis and Bryan Bresee, who could be a first-round draft pick next year.

But the credentials also figure to be a major selling point on the recruiting trail for Eason, who, in less than a calendar year on Auburn’s staff, helped the Tigers land three impact transfers along the defensive line. He was also a factor in Auburn signing the nation’s top overall junior college prospect in the current recruiting cycle, defensive tackle Jeffrey M’ba.

Now Eason will be selling his alma mater. And he knows as well as anybody on Swinney’s staff how to forge path from Clemson to the sport’s highest level.

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Eason sees dream that he shared with TCI come true

A former Clemson standout is coming back home. Nick Eason, a defensive end for the Tigers from 1999-2002, is joining Dabo Swinney’s staff to help coach the defensive line as the replacement for Todd Bates, who spent five seasons coaching the Tigers’ …

A former Clemson standout is coming back home.

Nick Eason, a defensive end for the Tigers from 1999-2002, is joining Dabo Swinney’s staff to help coach the defensive line as the replacement for Todd Bates, who spent five seasons coaching the Tigers’ defensive tackles before recently joining Brent Venables’ staff at Oklahoma.

The opportunity to return to Clemson is a dream come true for Eason, who spent this past season as the defensive line coach at Auburn, his first job back in college after a lengthy career playing and coaching in the NFL.

Eason told The Clemson Insider back in April 2018 — when he was an assistant with the linebackers and defensive line at Austin Peay — that if Swinney ever gave him the chance to coach at Clemson, he wouldn’t hesitate to accept the job.

“I’m there. That’s a no-brainer,” Eason said. “Having an opportunity to come back, that would be a dream come true. I would be more than happy to come back to Clemson, when given an opportunity. But Coach Swinney’s done a really good job since he’s been there, tremendously. The coaching staff is awesome, and had an opportunity to spend some time with them a couple weeks ago. The facilities are immaculate, they’re the best in the nation. But yeah, that’s home for me. Given an opportunity, absolutely.”

After his career at Clemson, Eason played 10 seasons with four different NFL teams before starting his coaching career as an assistant defensive line coach with the Cleveland Browns in 2013.

He also coached with the Tennessee Titans and Cincinnati Bengals before being hired at Auburn, where he helped coach second-team all-SEC lineman Derick Hall this season.

After an all-ACC senior season at Clemson, Eason was selected in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and played for the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals until his retirement following the 2012 season. He went to two Super Bowls with Pittsburgh and was a member of the Steelers’ Super Bowl XLIII title team.

Eason has experienced a lot in his career, both as a player and a coach. But in 2018, before Clemson won another national championship that season, Eason told TCI that seeing the Tigers win the national title at the conclusion of the 2016 season was like winning it all himself.

“It was amazing for me,” he said. “I watched the game. I didn’t have an opportunity to be there. But I watched the game at a restaurant/bar in Nashville, and there were probably 80 Alabama fans and about five people that were rooting for Clemson, and I think the other four were rooting for Clemson because I was rooting for Clemson. And I really showed my butt. I was celebrating as if I was there.

“It was the most amazing moment for me. Them winning it all, it was winning it all for me as well. If you would have been there and saw me, you would have thought that I won it all myself. But just very proud of what the program has done, and looking forward to big things coming up this upcoming season.”

You can watch Eason’s exclusive interview with TCI prior to the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame enshrinement ceremony in Greenville, S.C., in April 2018:

–Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images 

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What is Clemson getting in Nick Eason?

Nick Eason is on the verge of joining Clemson’s coaching staff, which will bring the former Tiger back to his alma mater. Eason, a defensive end at Clemson from 1999-2002, will replace Todd Bates, who coached Clemson’s defensive tackles for the last …

Nick Eason is on the verge of joining Clemson’s coaching staff, which will bring the former Tiger back to his alma mater.

Eason, a defensive end at Clemson from 1999-2002, will replace Todd Bates, who coached Clemson’s defensive tackles for the last five seasons before leaving to be the co-defensive coordinator at Oklahoma earlier this week. Eason spent this season coaching Auburn’s defensive line.

But Clemson will be getting more than just an alum back in the fold.

After an all-ACC senior season at Clemson, Eason was selected in the fourth round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the Denver Broncos and played for the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers and Arizona Cardinals until his retirement following the 2012 season. He went to two Super Bowls with Pittsburgh and was a member of the Steelers’ Super Bowl XLIII title team.

Since his retirement as a player, he’s spent most of his coaching career in the professional ranks, getting his start as an assistant defensive line coach with the Browns in 2013. He moved on in the same role to the Tennessee Titans a year later before being promoted to the Titans’ primary defensive line coach in 2016.

During his final year in Tennessee, the Titans owned a top-5 rush defense in the NFL, allowing just 88.8 yards per game during the ‘17 season.

After a pit stop at Austin Peay in 2018, Eason was hired as the Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive line coach, a role he served in for two seasons. During his time in Cincinnati, Eason helped mentor Pro Bowl defensive linemen Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap before being let go by Bengals coach Zac Taylor.

Counting his time as a player and a coach, Eason has 18 years of NFL experience. Throw in defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall, who played nine seasons in the NFL, and Clemson has nearly three decades worth of experience at the professional level coaching its defensive line, which can’t hurt on the recruiting trail.

Speaking of, despite just two seasons coaching at the collegiate level so far, Eason has quickly made waves as a recruiter.

Eason was hired to Bryan Harsin’s staff at Auburn last January. While the bulk of Auburn’s recruiting class was already finalized by that point, Eason later helped lure a trio of defensive line transfers to the Plains in Eku Leota (Northwestern), Tony Fair (UAB) and Marcus Harris (Kansas). All three were part of an Auburn defense that finished 30th nationally against the run while Leota and fellow defensive end Derick Hall, a second-team all-SEC selection under Eason’s tutelage, combined for 16 sacks.

Eason has helped Auburn pull in one of the SEC’s top defensive line hauls during the current cycle. The Tigers have four defensive line signees and commits in their 2022 recruiting class, including the nation’s top overall junior college prospect, Jeffrey M’ba, and Oregon transfer Jayson Jones.

Clemson doesn’t have any defensive linemen signed or committed this year, though part of that is the position Eason is inheriting is one of the deepest on the Tigers’ roster for the time being. Barring any transfers, Clemson will return its top six interior defensive linemen from this season, including a pair of all-ACC caliber tackles in Bryan Bresee and Tyler Davis, who’s returning for his senior season. 

A former five-star recruit, Bresee is arguably the best of the bunch, though a torn ACL back in September forced him to miss most of his sophomore season. But Bresee is expected to be back in some capacity this spring, so Eason should get his first chance to work with Bresee then.

Even without Bresee (and Davis for four games), Clemson finished in the top 10 nationally in points allowed, yards allowed and rush defense this season. The development of backup-turned-starter Ruke Orhorhoro as well as other backups such as Tre Williams and Etinose Reuben under Bates’ guidance had a lot to do with that.

Now Eason will get his chance to coach the group and add to it in the years to come, bringing plenty of seasoning with him back to a place with which he’s all too familiar.

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Clemson coach fired up about new hire

A Clemson coach is fired up about the team’s reported new hire. While it hasn’t been announced just yet, Clemson is expected to hire former Tiger and current Alabama defensive line coach Nick Eason to replace Todd Bates, who departed for Oklahoma on …

A Clemson coach is fired up about the team’s reported new hire.

While it hasn’t been announced just yet, Clemson is expected to hire former Tiger and current Alabama defensive line coach Nick Eason to replace Todd Bates, who departed for Oklahoma on Monday.

DeAndre McDaniel, a former Clemson cornerback and a current defensive analyst on Clemson’s staff, seems pretty fired up about the Tigers’ recent staff changes and he has good reason to be.

McDaniel took to Twitter Wednesday to express his view on the recent moves, in which he touted all the NFL experience that the staff will now have.

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3-star defensive lineman puts Auburn in top five

Auburn makes the top five for three-star defensive lineman Maxie Baudoin IV after his official visit to the Plains.

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Auburn is in the final five for one of the top defensive linemen in the state of Louisiana.

Three-star Maxie Baudoin IV from Ascension Episcopal in Youngsville, Louisiana has listed the Tigers among his top five along with Georgia, Florida, Texas A&M and Southern California.

At 6-foot-3 and 290 pounds, Baudoin is ranked the No. 65 player at his position and No. 21 player in the Pelican State for the 2022 signing class. He took an official visit the Plains on June 4th. He seemed to take a special liking to Nick Eason, Auburn’s new defensive line coach.

“I like Coach Eason a lot,” Baudoin told Auburn Undercover. “I like his personality. He’s a great coach and coached a lot of great NFL guys too. He told me they could use me in multiple different positions if I come over here and do different things. I think I could be very successful here if I out in the hard work.”

When asked when he plans to make a decision, Baudoin responded, “Sometime before next season. Early fall.”

Auburn Spring Practice: Can the Tigers find a dominant defensive line?

Here are the Tigers projected to fill the positions on the defensive line.

The last few months have been chaotic for every aspect of Auburn football, especially the Tigers’ defensive line. New defensive line coach Nick Eason comes to Auburn after spending a season coaching the Cincinnati Bengals’ d-line. Eason steps in to replace Tracy Rocker who left after just 11 days for the Philadelphia Eagles.

The hardest task that lies ahead for Eason and DC Derek Mason is replacing two of the line’s biggest contributors from last season in defensive end Big Kat Bryant and defensive tackle Daquan Newkirk.

Bryant left Auburn to originally follow Kevin Steele to Tennessee but finally ended up at UCF with former Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. He finished last season with 15 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 interception. Newkirk transferred to Florida and finished last season with 28 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Mason typically runs a hybrid defense that alternates between three and four man fronts. Here are the Tigers projected to fill the positions on the defensive line:

Defensive tackle:

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Dre Butler 6’5, 304 lb junior

  • 2020 stats: 14 tackles, 1 sack
  • Butler transferred to Auburn from Independence Community College in Kansas where he recorded 66 tackles, 22.0 TFL, and 11.5 sacks

Lee Hunter 6’4, 300 lb freshman

  • Senior statistics at Blount High School (Mobile, AL): 54 tackles, 20 TFL, 4.5 sacks
  • 4-star recruit with high praise for his strength and athleticism along all aspects of the line

Jay Hardy 6’4, 300 lb redshirt freshman

  • 2020 stats: early season leg injury sidelined Hardy throughout season, saw action in one game against Northwestern
  • Instinctually a very solid player with quick hands and big upside but will need to step up athletically this spring to fill the role

Zykeivous Walker 6’4, 266 lb sophomore

  • 2020 stats: solid option for Auburn at DE, finished season with 14 tackles and 1 sack
  • Powerful and quick for his size, has the versatility and skillset to play on the edge and the interior

Marquis Burks 6’3, 312 lb senior

  • 2020 stats: 4 tackles, 1 sack
  • Two years of experience at Iowa City Community College

Defensive end:

Todd Van Emst/AU Athletics

Colby Wooden 6’4 268 lb sophomore

  • 2020 stats: 42 tackles, 3 sacks, 9.5 TFL
  • His 9.5 TFL ranked third best in the SEC and he finished the season on the SEC All-Freshman team

Zykeivous Walker 6’4 266 lb sophomore

  • 2020 stats: 14 tackles, 1 sack
  • As mentioned before, his versatility is great and he’s a proven pass rusher

Jaren Handy 6’5 252 lb junior

  • 2020 stats: 3 tackles, 1 sack
  • Reserve DE for the Tigers in 2020, plays aggressively and runs well in pursuit

Former Bengals coach Nick Eason lands job with Auburn Tigers

Another former Cincinnati Bengals coach has found a new job.

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Former Cincinnati Bengals defensive line coach Nick Eason has landed with the Auburn Tigers and will hold the same position in 2021.

Auburn announced the move this week, meaning Eason will play a key role for the Tigers under new head coach Bryan Harsin.

Eason joined the Bengals in 2019 and stayed in the role for two seasons. His unit suffered multiple setbacks in 2020, including the training camp injury to Geno Atkins, opt-out of Josh Tupou and season-ending injuries to Renell Wren and D.J. Reader — all before the trade of Carlos Dunlap.

The Bengals chose not to bring back Eason and a handful of other coaches after the season. Eason is the latest former Bengals coach to land another gig at the college level. Elsewhere in the SEC, Daronte Jones just landed the gig as LSU Tigers offensive coordinator.

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