Looking ahead to the 2021 season, Clemson’s safeties are shaping up to be one of the team’s most-experienced positions come kickoff this fall. Safeties coach and special teams coordinator Mickey Conn is excited to see what this veteran group can do on the field against some of the best offenses in the country.
Nolan Turner, a fifth year at the safety position has come in clutch for the Tigers when they needed it most and Conn has no doubt the veteran will be able to do that once again in his final season.
“Nolan was good when he got here,” Conn said. “He was a really good player but has worked and learned the defense and his footwork, he is just so instinctive as a player and his footwork is incomparable to really any other defensive back that we’ve got back there.”
“His footwork is incredible, just the way he keeps his feet underneath him and the way that he can not only play the run, but he can play the pass and he’s especially good in zone. We saw that against Ohio State a couple of years ago when he intercepted that pass to seal the deal. He’s just got great vision, great instincts, covers a lot of ground, quicker than most people think, but man, he’s really just bought in.”
With what Conn considers to be some of the best footwork within the Clemson program, Turner has become “that guy” for the Tigers’ backfield, but it has taken Turner a lot of opportunities and work to get here.
“As a young guy, he took advantage of every opportunity and every chance he got, so that when he got in the game, you’re like, ‘man, this guy is unbelievable,’” Conn said. Even his freshman year you watch him against Louisville make a huge tackle on their quarterback who is now making all kinds of plays in the NFL, but Nolan comes in and tackles him in the open field to keep him out of the endzone and you’re like, ‘Wow, there’s something to this kid.’”
Now with four seasons and experience at all safety positions under his belt, Turner has the opportunity to be one of the best safeties Clemson has ever seen, something head coach Dabo Swinney predicted last season.=
With Turner being compared to the likes of former Clemson safety greats like K’Von Wallace, Isaiah Simmons, and Tanner Muse, who all have since moved onto the NFL, Conn is confident that he will sit atop that list once his career at Clemson comes to a close.
“He can definitely be the best safety since I’ve been here, and he can do a lot of things,” Conn said. Now that’s not to take anything away from the ones I’ve had because they’ve done pretty good too. You’ve got some good ones that have moved on, but Nolan has been here longer than all of those guys too and he’s taken full advantage of this opportunity.”