Wednesday August 11, 2010

Bonus Contributions

Bonus Contributions
One of the best aspects of fall camp can be watching the emergence of players many have written off. I often think these bonus contributions have been a big part of some good teams.

At Clemson this seems to happen every year. For some it comes fairly early in a career. For example it may be from a un heralded recruit. Sometimes it comes from a guy entering his senior year who had never contributed before.

When Clemson recruited Terry Allen out of Banks County High School in Commerce, GA many scratched their heads. In fact, Allen was one of the last scholarships given out and most thought he would end up as a defensive back. It was Allen’s red-shirt freshman camp that caught the staff’s eyes and Allen surprised when he went on to become one of the greatest running backs in school history.

I remember hearing a statewide sports talk show host talk about quarterback Will Proctor when he said the Orlando product would never play quarterback at a Division I school. Proctor even moved to wide receiver for a short time before starting as a senior because of a solid fall camp the previous year. As a senior Proctor helped the Tigers to some of the best wins of the past decade.

The defensive staff was questioned as to why they would offer a defensive lineman out of Gaffney, SC named Trey Tate in the first couple of years of the Bowden tenure and for some of his freshman season the critics looked like they knew what they were talking about. But a strong fall camp the nest season clearly changed the minds of many and Tate emerged as a major surprise fairly early in his career.

Sometimes players don’t physically look like players but turn out to be more productive. One of these major surprises was linebacker Norman Haynes from 1985-87. Haynes was not a highly rated guy mainly because of his height but he showed a toughness that the staff fell in love with in the fall camp of his sophomore year.

Sometimes injuries keep players from being productive and when they finally do it is a major surprise. Maybe the best example of this was Howard Bartley, an outside linebacker who had knee issues until his senior season in 1998 when he was the star in a 28-19 win over South Carolina.

Offensive linemen often take longer to develop so we should probably be less surprised when one unexpectedly emerges but I can think of two great example recently of starters who the staff had no idea would ever contribute.

Cedric Johnson arrived in Clemson is awful condition. In fact he could not make it through any normal conditioning runs as a freshman. However he worked hard every year and made himself into a football player and a three year starter.

But perhaps the best example I can remember of a guy that had contributed nothing and then the light came on was Christian Capote. The offensive lineman entered his senior season in 2007. It looked as if Capote was never going to contribute but he had a sense of urgency come over him and was a very productive in his senior season.

This year there are several players who have drawn praises from the staff that I thought would not have been big news to this point. I do think it is fair to point out that we should always be a little cautious about coaches comments. Remember sometimes coaches praise players as a way to motivate others at their position. But I was still surprised by a few players this fall camp.

Maybe the one scholarship player who has had the least impressive career so far on this team has been Drew Traylor. The tight end red-shirted in 2007 and did not play a snap in 2008. Last season he played seven snaps in three games. But the tight end position has little depth and Traylor has surprised.

Many thought the Clemson staff made a mistake in offering Xavier Brewer and some said he was taken only because he was a high school teammate of Kyle Parker. Brewer played 119 plays last season and had 15 tackles. He played mostly on special teams and in some nickel and dime packages. However Brewer has drawn high praises from Dabo and his staff this fall camp.

I remember South Carolina coaches talking about Clemson’s staff evaluations Tig Willard’s senior season in high school. They thought he looked awful as a high school senior and told some that Clemson offered Willard too soon. Last season the reserve linebacker played 32 snaps and had 10 tackles. But this camp Willard is competing for more snaps and was the leading tackler in the first scrimmage of the camp.

Spencer Adams came out of high school as one of the top rated safeties in America but a knee injury set him back. After red-shirting in 2008, Adams played on defense in only two games last season. The track star was moved to cornerback and seems to have found a knew home.

These guys will not be the stars of this team but at this point some appear that they will contribute more than maybe we expected coming into this camp. And these guys might be what this team is all about. I have mentioned a few times that this is the kind of team that will need contributions from all kinds of players this season. A football season is long and injuries occur, so you never know who will have to stand up and make some contributions. Bonus contributions are welcomed and necessary.

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Prayer List
We have started a prayer list on the blog. Here are the guidelines:
*If you are offended by prayer or prayer lists then I apologize in advance. The blog is free and the prayer list will be on the bottom of the page so you don’t have to read it.
*If you would like to add someone to the list please e-mail me at mickeyplyler@hotmail.com
*If you want the reason for the prayer to be added to the name please specify in your e-mails.
*Please let me know when it is appropriate to take the person off of the prayer list

Those who need our prayers include:
Finn Brookover, RTG-Pawsitive Tiger, Mary-Louise Pawlowski (John's daughter), Jo Ann Bachman, Kenneth Bryant, Pruitt Martin, Got igers and his family, David Rowland, Leonard, Gillespie and his family, Jim S, Christine Hepfer, Daniel Rosborough, Amy Murphey, The Huffman family, Nancy Winkler, John Reeve, Ethel Southard, Vinnie Brock, Kaitlyn L, Susan Miller, Joyce Harley, Steve Proveaux, Jeffrey Greene, the Hutto family, Sherl Drawdy, Caleb Kennedy, Teresa O'Connor, Matt Jacobs,Perrin Seigler, Carole White Begley, Candee Massee, Lindsey Jordan, Sam Catoe, Tyler Felch, Steve Cato, the Nicolopulos family, Cason Palmer, Scott Jackson, "the Jacksonville, FL guys", Kim Sims, the Coyle familty, Ryleigh Tedder, Steve Lee, Richard Crawford, Kelly Trakas, Jimmy Moore, Steve Williams Jr, Steve Williams III, Kim Thomas, Reid Thomas, Sam Thomas, Linda Wiggs, Emily Claire Young, Dr. Wallace Honeycutt, Stacy Fowler, Kitty Bowers,
Nick Corontzes.