Monday July 24, 2006

Clemson Special Teams Analysis

This week I will look at the special team units in Clemson, the ACC, SEC and the nation.

I think Clemson special teams will be a strength this season especially if the Tigers can shore up their punting game. Placekicking should continue to among the best in America. The return game improved as the season went along last season and should continue to improve with increased athletic ability from a personnel standpoint.

Placekicking
Jad Dean set a Clemson record for field goals in a season with 24 last year and was one of three finalist for the Lou Groza Award. He also recorded 106 points, which was two shy of another single season Clemson record.

The season began with a bang for dean when he went six for six in field goal attempts against Texas A&M in the opener including a 42-yarder on the last play from scrimmage. He ranked third in the nation in field goals per game with 2.0 mark. The Greenwood, SC native was also sixth in the nation in scoring among kickers with 8.8 points per contest. He has been a model of consistency by going 36 of 46 in the field goal department for his career. He is 36 of 43 inside of 50 yards including 27 of 29 inside of 40 yards.

Kickoff Coverage
The Tigers kickoff coverage has been excellent in recent years. Dean handled the kick off duties the last three years. Last season 43 of his 62 kickoffs the opponent failed to start outside of the 20-yard line. The average starting position for the opponent last year was the 24-yard line. For his career he has 78 touchbacks.

Punting
The punting game was a disaster last season. It started with the snaps as Clemson had a hard time getting ball back to the punter on time. The protection scheme did not work and the punt got off very slow. The Tigers allowed five blocked punts last season. When the snap did get to the punter and the punter got the ball off it did not go very far. Clemson’s starting punter averaged 36 yards per punt last season. That figure was an average of 11 yards less than the conference’s leading punter last season. The Tigers were the only team in the conference to not have a 50-yard punt last season. Clemson’s longest punt was 33 yards shorter than the league’s longest punt last season. Last season, Temple was the only team that out punted during the game. Clemson averaged 36.3 that game and Temple averaged 33.6 yards per punt.

Clemson is hoping that the snaps will be better this season. Eddie Adams is true freshman from Greenwood, SC that is a preferred walk-on that will get a chance to compete for a starting spot this year.

The Tigers signed Richard Jackson to help improve the punting competition. Jackson is the first Parade All-American kicker to sign with Clemson since Chris Gardocki in 1988. He averaged 46 yards per punt past season and 44 yards per punt as a junior. Jackson doubles as a place-kicker as well as hit a state record 64-yard field goal last season.

The coverage has been good on kick offs and punts. The punts are not that hard to cover because the Tigers have not out kicked the coverage in recent years.

Punt Returns
Clemson’s punt return game was about average last season. The Tigers were sixth in the ACC with a 6.4 punt return average. Chansi Stuckey had one of the eight punt returns that went for a touchdown in the ACC last season when he took it to the house against Texas A&M. Stuckey is the league’s leading punt returner this season.

Kick off Returns
The kick off return team led the nation when Justin Miller was a Tiger. To begin the year last season Clemson had the wrong personnel on the field and the Tigers struggled. The staff inserted freshmen Aaron Kelly and Tyler Grisham and the numbers improved drastically. Clemson ended the season fifth in the league in kick off returns with a 21.9 mark. It was Kelly’s return against Georgia tech last season that gave the Tigers a chance to pull out the victory in Atlanta. A penalty later cost the Tigers the winning touchdown.

Summary
This season Clemson could have one of the best special team units in the country. The staff has changed the punt protection back to a conventional scheme. The biggest difference in the rest of the special teams will be personnel. The schemes in the coverages are sound. The staff has proven the schemes work in the return game with some great results in recent years.

The reason the return game will be better this season is C.J. Spiller, Jacoby Ford, Ray Ray McElrathbey and maybe a couple of more freshmen. The trio of freshmen has had a lot of success in the return game in their past and their speed and open-field ability give the Tigers an instant upgrade in talent. Also consider that last week one of the top kick returners in the country, Marcus Gilchrist, committed to sign with the Tigers in February.

Bear with us this week as we get through special teams coverage and some other notes. Special teams are a little on the boring side, especially ranking kickers. Later this week we will mix in more exciting notes. Next week we will rank coaching staffs across the ACC.

Mickey's Blog also brought to you by:

864-834-6060

The Brad Hughes All-State Insurance Agency