Marcus Tate credits Thomas Austin for his confidence being 'through the roof'

Clemson OC Brandon Streeter says Marcus Tate has "taken another step" going into the season.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Aug 30 13:20:05 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – If Clemson’s offensive line is to take a step forward this season and become a dominant unit, Marcus Tate will have to play a big role. He’s up for the challenge, he says, and gives a lot of the credit to new offensive line coach Thomas Austin.

Tate was thrust into a starting role out of the gate last season and played 627 snaps over 13 games with eight starts as a true freshman. He became only the third Clemson true freshman offensive lineman since 1972 to start a season opener when he started Clemson’s 2021 opener against Georgia.

There were rough patches, however, and he played just 14 combined snaps against Wake Forest and South Carolina late in the season. He was moved out of the starting lineup after three games in favor of Paul Tchio – who is now at Georgia Tech – and the coaches moved Matt Bockhorst to left guard for a few games. It was all a learning process, and Tate rebounded with a solid effort and 72 snaps in the bowl win over Iowa St. and has taken that momentum into both spring and fall camps.

“My confidence level is through the roof right now,” Tate said after a recent practice. “All the hard work I put in the offseason and all the experience that I gained from last season with all the struggles and stuff, I just think it really took me to the next level. I just feel so confident. I’m in better shape. I feel good.”

Tate’s progress has been noticed by the coaches, including offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter.

“I really, really believe that Marcus is doing a great job,” Streeter said. “He’s taken another step. You can see the maturity. You can see the understanding of the big picture and being in the right spot.”

Tate says one thing stands out over last season.

“Confidence,” he said. “That was my biggest thing last year. It’s all mental. The physical part takes care of itself when you’re repping every time, but when you have the confidence to do on the field what you work on during the offseason and after practice, you have the confidence to know that you’re the best player you can be right now. That’s where you become the best player that you can be and that’s where I am right now.”

Austin, who played offensive line at Clemson, has played a big part of Tate’s resurgence.

"It's been actually really great," Tate said. "He's come in and brought something different than we had last year. Very technical guy, he's like a scientist, as he likes to call himself, and I believe it because what he does, is he explains it all. There's a theory and he has everything proven. And it works. I'm just such a better player since he's been here.

"I've only had a spring and a couple of practices with him and I've seen a difference in my game, and the game speed of the game and also my knowledge of the game," Tate said. "He's very knowledgeable. He knows the game better than anybody I know. He just does. He teaches us so well and it's easy to understand and keep it simple for you guys that might not understand off the rip. So that's one thing I love about Coach Austin, he's really a players' coach."