Friday Practice Insider: Eason's passions turns up the heat on veterans, freshmen alike |
CLEMSON – The honeymoon phase of August camp is over, and it didn’t last long.
Thursday’s practice was spirited, and head coach Dabo Swinney was in the middle of everything, but things looked even more intense Friday, from Swinney to special teams coaches to position coaches. The message was clear – either move fast or get left behind. The consistent talking points of the Clemson roster have been centered on playoff readiness and sticking to the details. If they can do that, this group believes they can find success. If those words ring true for anyone, it has been defensive tackles coach Nick Eason. Eason came out swinging to start the first practice period, with the defense doing a quick field goal-blocking drill to warm up the defense. The temperature was hot, but Eason’s passion lit the field on fire. Clemson’s defensive personnel jogged out to the barrels on the field resembling a line and took their time to get ready. Eason was not a fan of it. He immediately sent back the starters to the sideline and decided to turn the players’ words of hunger back at them. “Not good enough,” Eason shouted. “Every time you step onto this field, you better bring a damn sense of urgency with you!” He gave the defense one more chance to have the message click but still had every member of his side of the ball do up-downs. Barrett Carter and Peter Woods took Eason’s message to heart, and it became a very vocal practice from then on. *Eason wasn’t the only coach to bring the heat today; Chris Rumph followed closely in his footsteps. During the individual period, Darien Mayo didn’t run the drill to Rumph’s liking, so the defensive line coach had Mayo do it again. To Mayo’s credit, he bounced back from the one rep and made the corrections needed to earn plenty of praise from Rumph. As I looped back to the indoor facility before the end of availability, Mayo continued to get praise from players and coaches alike. Another player who had a good practice was Hevin Brown-Shuler. For Shuler’s massive frame, the defensive tackle moves very quickly. He followed a similar practice arc to his freshman counterpart in Mayo. Shuler started with some corrections thrown his way but bounced back for an overall solid outing. He got some heavy praise from Eason and Woods. Moving to the linebackers, there’s not much to report on the Sammy Brown front. One linebacker who impressed me with his athleticism was C.J. Kubah-Taylor. Taylor’s side-to-side burst was the thing that struck out the most in a mostly mellowed-out drill. Sticking with the theme of ramping up one’s intensity, Ben Boulware was much more involved today. On day one, Boulware was soaking up as much information as possible to immerse himself in his new role. Today, however, he was engaged. Boulware watched Joseph Roberto go through the same side-to-side movement drill and pulled the freshman aside. Boulware gave the young linebacker some pointers, and Roberto went out with improved technique and came down with the interception. It is a small example but displays Boulware’s prowess and eagerness to be involved. He will be a valuable asset to the staff. Stackin' days. 🐅📈 pic.twitter.com/B0zLMK0Ehr *Moving to the cornerbacks, Mike Reed set the bar high when he told the media that Corian Gipson was much faster than Nate Wiggins. To be compared immediately to a first-round draft pick is a tall standard to match up to, but so far, Gipson’s impressed. Gipson displayed impressive footwork and the trademark speed that Reed has begun advertising. Reed watched a few corners go through a footwork and backpedaling drill and was relatively silent. Gipson did his thing, and Reed burst with enthusiasm. Tavoy Feagin also caught Reed’s eye, who had the freshman do the footwork drill again, stating, “This isn’t high school anymore.” Feagin took the comment in stride and put together a solid period before the media was ushered out. *Freshman kicker Nolan Hauser recovered from a mixed bag in Thursday’s practice viewing session to hit all five kicks in attempts ranging from 27 to 43 yards out. Redshirt sophomore Robert Gunn III rebounded from a worse outing Thursday as well by hitting 4-of-5 in the same range. *Over with the O-line group and with Swinney watching on, Matt Luke encourages communication rep by rep – pointing out good and bad drill attempts – from his first fall camp group at Clemson. Luke rolled out the same starting five in drills available to the media with (l-r) Tristan Leigh, Marcus Tate, Ryan Linthicum, Walker Parks, Blake Miller. One second group viewed (l-r) was Ian Reed, Trent Howard, Harris Sewell, Dietrick Pennington and Collin Sadler. *The running backs featured the same 1-2 starting drills with Phil Mafah and Keith Adams Jr. CJ Spiller’s key point being drilled there was sinking hips before bending at the waist, which freshman David Eziomume found out the hard way in knocking over the equipment aimed at getting running backs to get lower running. Spiller got some extra time to get his point across there. *Clemson rolled out a number of potential punt returners with Antonio Williams, Tyler Brown, Misun Kelley, Troy Stellato, Jackson Crosby, Clay Swinney, Peyton Streko, Chase Byrd and Parker Fulghum all getting reps. Wesco was on the wrong end of one muffed attempt, which had a flag on the punt team anyway. Streko was another that tried a sliding catch that turned into a fumble. *New special teams coordinator Will Gilchrist is a ball of energy when special teams are worked on at the start of practice. Gilchrist sprints from spot to spot and is constantly pushing players to get to the next drill. Lorenzo Ward, known as Whammy (and former DC at several schools, including South Carolina and Louisville), is working with Gilchrist on special teams. You can hear his raspy voice all over the field, and he spares no one in his verbal darts (especially the younger coaches). *Punter Jack Smith had a good day, booming several punts high into the blue sky during early work. Swinney says Smith only needs to gain consistency, and he blasted four or five consecutive kicks. *There were reps from the Green Bay Packers, Detroit Lions, New York Giants, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Baltimore Ravens spotted from a scouting perspective. One scout paid special attention to tight end Jake Briningstool, who figures to get a long look from NFL types this season. Speaking of the tight ends – it’s been just two days, and there hasn’t been an extended viewing window, but freshman Christian Bentancur jumps out at you during reps. He already has the size at 243 pounds, but you can see the basketball player he is in his footwork. I keep saying that the Tigers are four-deep at that spot, and I wonder how much he will play, if at all. But that opinion is changing to, “I think he’s gonna play.” *Freshman wide receiver TJ Moore was impressive during Thursday’s session, and he didn’t do anything to change that opinion Friday. On one deep route, he made a twisting catch, going from full speed to a dead stop, a jump, and a twist to high point the ball. His feet had to be at least three feet off the ground when he made the catch. Fellow freshman Bryant Wesco also had a nice catch over his shoulder.
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