Austin building competitive depth on the offensive line in new system

Blake Miller was one of Clemson's consistent contributors last year and started as a freshman.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Apr 08 07:00:15 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – This spring has been all about building competitive depth on Clemson’s offensive line.

Jordan McFadden played 989 snaps, Marcus Tate played 709 snaps, Will Putnam led the way with 996 snaps, Walker Parks added 916 snaps, and Blake Miller added 989. Mitchell Mayes was the lone backup that added a significant number of snaps with 405.

Offensive line coach Thomas Austin wants a deeper group in 2023 and he’s been pleased at how the offensive linemen have picked up the new offense.

"It's been good to see who can pick up on the new offense. In that sense, the midyear guys are kind of in the same place as the (vets) in terms of learning the offense because everyone is hearing it for the first time,” Austin said. “So that has been able to create a lot of competition at every spot along the line. We're feeling better about creating some more competitive depth. Last year we played five guys pretty much the entire season and had four guys get close to 1,000 reps. Our best years here, we've had eight to 10 guys that we feel like can go in there and play for us, so feel like we're trending in that direction."

Several players have gotten additional work because Parks and Tate have been out this spring recovering from surgery.

"There are pros and cons to it. Those guys have played a lot of football but still have a lot to work on, so they hate that they're missing,” Austin said of Parks and Tate. “It has been good to get other guys a lot of reps and mix and match groups more. Mitchell Mayes tweaked his knee in the first scrimmage, so he's missed some days. He'll be back next week. So we've mixed and matched like crazy."

"I joked with Walker that all I see him is do is lift, eat, and do treatment. He's huge. He's the strongest he's ever been. He's a guy that fights to keep it on. He's been killing it. I think he's like 90 percent running straight on the AlterG (treadmill), so no pain in the ankle, just a matter of stiffness. He'll be full-go in the summer. He's taken some reps on some walk-through stuff."

McFadden is the lone loss from last year’s offensive line, and former 5-star Tristan Leigh is in line to take McFadden’s place at left tackle.

"He's had an incredible offseason. He's a great kid. Very self-aware. Knows where he is and what he needs to do to get better,” Austin said. “Shoutout to coach (Paul) Hogan in the weight room, what coach Hogan has done in the weight room with those guys, especially Tristan. He's worked really hard to change his body composition. He's continuing to lean out and trusting his length and punch in pass protection, and has been pretty solid in the run game. Think it's more converting speed to power and stopping the bull rush that has been a big point of emphasis for him."

The Tigers are hoping that the new offense – which is supposed to be simpler – gives the offensive line a chance to improve.

"You can run inside zone out of every imaginable formation, but when you're carrying less formations, you can coach up some of the details and looks you're expecting the defense to give you with more precision and accuracy,” Austin said. “I think that's been a big difference. That allows you in game weeks to be more creative in the run game. If you're going to run a new little fold scheme or counter or something like that and you're only running it to a few formations, that really allows you to focus on the looks you're going to get, and those guys get confident and good at it, and you're also getting the competitive plays against your defense.

“If you're carrying 10 plays and you have to get all 10 of those repped, and you only have 10 snaps in practice, you're only getting it repped one time. If you have five plays, you're getting it repped twice. So I think as we get through the spring, we've gotten more and more reps at our base stuff and that increases precision and gives guys confidence and the ability to play fast and think less, and now you can work even more time with guys on the fundamentals and technique of the position."