Wednesday Observations: Eason setting the expectations, Riley is hands on

Garrett Riley watches the quarterbacks during the first part of practice (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Mar 08 17:28:06 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The first day in shells brought a renewed attitude to practice.

Clemson held its third practice of the spring Wednesday afternoon, but it was the first day in shells – shoulder pads and helmets – and the early part of the practice was spent on ball security. With each new drill we witness – and there are a lot of new drills – there is always a layer of ball security.

Visitors today included Jordan McFadden, Bryan Bresee, KJ Henry, Davis Allen, and Patrick Sapp. Sapp is of course there to watch his son, tight end Josh Sapp. I’ve spent time over the last few days watching that tight ends group, and there is a lot to like. Jake Briningstool looks like he’s poised to take that next step, and Sage Ennis is always right beside Briningstool. But the younger Sapp has shown good hands in the drills we’ve seen, and in even better news shows a willingness to use his hands and get in there and block.

*Tyler Grisham ran a drill working on focus for receivers through traffic with Artavis Scott as his defender. Most of the drill went fine, but he had a few 'Got him!' exclamations, including on tight end Jake Briningstool.

*Over with the defensive tackles, Nick Eason worked on power steps out of a stance from his defenders. They worked on a variety of motions out off the snap to stay stable against combination blocks. "You have to earn the right to rush the passer," Eason said.

Eason also said they're going to "Blitz the sh** out of teams" prefacing all that.

*We knew that kicker Robert Gunn has a strong leg, and he’s shown it off during the early part of camp. But he’s also showing accuracy and is sending his kicks right down the middle of the pipes.

*Freshman defensive end Jahiem Lawson is continuing to rep at both end and linebacker.

*New offensive coordinator Garrett Riley is very hands on. Yes, all coaches are, but it’s obvious he wants his fingerprint on all phases of the offense. He had the running backs and quarterbacks running through mesh drills (the mesh is where the quarterback holds the ball and reads the defense, deciding whether to pull or keep), and Riley and CJ Spiller were playing the part of defensive players. He doesn’t hesitate to coach any player, regardless of position, and we’ve observed him coaching the other coaches at times as he works to get his offense installed.

*During one of those drills with the quarterbacks and running backs, Spiller was playing the part of either a linebacker or safety in the middle of the field, and Will Shipley made the right read (Riley was playing the part of a DE) and ran full-speed at Spiller, shouting at the top of his lungs. Spiller turned his back as Shipley made contact, and Shipley picked up his coach, laughing like what he is, a young man playing the game he loves.

*Quarterback Paul Tyson is doing exactly what he came here to do – be a leader in the quarterbacks room. He is in the middle of every huddle, and he’s extremely vocal and always takes time to help coach the younger quarterbacks.

*Everybody is watching Christopher Vizzina and Cade Klubnik, and there is a reason for that. Both are talented (more on Vizzina in another story), and it will be interesting to see what Vizzina looks like during the scrimmages. But Hunter Helms just keeps plugging along, and I look out there and see a nice short throw over the middle or a nice deep throw, and Helms is the trigger man on a lot of those. I heard he’s had chances to go elsewhere and really compete for a starting spot, but he’s here and also playing the part of mentor and leader. There is a reason he’s second on the depth chart.

*Defensive tackle DeMonte Capehart was back at practice after missing the first two due to personal reasons.

*I wanted to throw a quick thank you to Andrew and Julie Smart for the gift that made our new "Smart Family Media Center" possible. We've needed a facility like this for a long time, and now we have an actual work area with Wi-Fi, plug-ins, great seats, and video capability. In the past we simply sat outside or went to our cars while waiting on practice to end. So thank you to the Smart family for this much-needed gift.