Thursday A.M. Clemson Football Nuggets
By: Larry Williams & Paul Strelow
With the quarterbacks coach now serving as offensive coordinator and a coach with a passing pedigree now taking over as tight ends coach, our belief is that logic dictates the tight end position to carry growing significance within Clemson's aerial attack.
The Tigers' tight ends have combined statistically to equal if not surpass many of their peers in receptions and catches over the last several years. But the eye test suggests room for expansion and growth as far as incorporating the player as a weapon.
New tight ends coach Kyle Richardson said his biggest task is mixing and matching the skill sets of his four returning scholarship players -- established starter Davis Allen and reserves Jake Briningstool, Sage Ennis and Luke Price -- to make Clemson's offense go.
Allen is a proven commodity as a jack-of-most trades.
Promising tight end and former four-star recruit Jake Briningstool is shown here in Clemson's Jervey practice facility last month. (Tigerillustrated.com)
The contention from this corner, as subscribers have known, is that Briningstool stands to offer assets Clemson hasn't had in a few years as a vertical threat via his catch radius and agile running ability.
We asked Richardson at Tuesday's staff media gathering for the next step he wanted Briningstool to take developmentally, and Richardson cited being more consistent in what he delivers on a per-snap basis.
"He's a young guy who got thrown into the fire because of injuries and probably wasn't ready at times (as a freshman)," Richardson said. "But his potential is through the roof. His athleticism and what he brings to us in the tight end room and what he brings as a match-up problem is through the roof.
"He got banged up a little bit in the spring but he's come back from that well. All the reports from the weight room, I'm just pleased with what he's doing right now. He's got the chance to be special."
Briningstool still looks relatively thin from head to toe. But he demonstrated a willingness to block as a rookie, and Richardson thinks that Briningstool's pound-for-pound toughness will help mitigate strength issues as he builds more bulk.
"He's more of the receiver type tight end, but don't sleep on Brinny's physicality and meanness," Richardson said. "He played defense in high school, and he's got that mentality that I love at tight end. So don't think he's going to line up, go run routes and just be pretty in grass. He gets in the box and he mixes it up.
"His specialty is, he's more athletic than most tight ends. But most athletic tight ends can't do what he does inside the box." -- PAUL STRELOW
Paul has already noted the palpable sense of energy coming from the head coach's office and trickling down through everyone else as the team reconvenes and gets started on 2022.
Maybe it's from the resounding recruiting answer Clemson has provided this summer in the face of skepticism that the Tigers had lost their fizz. Maybe it's from the confidence Dabo Swinney and the staff have in the wealth of talent and star power on this roster. Probably a combination of both.
Calling it saltiness, or a chip on the shoulder, might be a bit strong or imprecise. But there's definitely a perceptible strain of assuredness from this staff, and we picked it up from Richardson earlier this week.
Richardson, in his first year coaching tight ends, seems tired of the criticism that Clemson doesn't sufficiently utilize his tight ends.
Where most analysis on the topic zeroes in on the low number of receptions from tight ends over the last five years since Jordan Leggett departed, Richardson said he conducted his own study examining another data set.
"I hear that a lot, especially on the road recruiting that we don't incorporate the tight end or maybe they're not used as much at Clemson as they would be somewhere else, or their touches and bla, bla bla. At the end of the day, you've got to separate facts from fiction. So I did a little research on Clemson tight-end usage since 2015."
Richardson said his research was of how many snaps at least one tight end has been on the field through all the offensive snaps since 2015. He said that percentage is 96 percent, which shouldn't be all that surprising given that Clemson's DNA over the last decade is rooted in 11 personnel (one tight end, one running back, three receivers).
"Kind of the narrative is really false that we don't use our tight end," he said.
But the narrative that Clemson tight ends haven't been very productive is accurate. In 2015 and 2016, Leggett combined for 86 catches for 1,261 yards and 15 touchdowns.
In the five seasons since, Clemson's leading pass catchers at tight end have totaled 92 catches for 897 yards and seven touchdowns. The most receptions by a tight end over that stretch were Allen's 28 last season.
Clemson appears in good position to make the tight ends a more dynamic piece of the offense with the return of Allen and the others Paul mentioned. -- LARRY WILLIAMS
SHOP for officially-licensed Clemson gear at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
By: Larry Williams & Paul Strelow
With the quarterbacks coach now serving as offensive coordinator and a coach with a passing pedigree now taking over as tight ends coach, our belief is that logic dictates the tight end position to carry growing significance within Clemson's aerial attack.
The Tigers' tight ends have combined statistically to equal if not surpass many of their peers in receptions and catches over the last several years. But the eye test suggests room for expansion and growth as far as incorporating the player as a weapon.
New tight ends coach Kyle Richardson said his biggest task is mixing and matching the skill sets of his four returning scholarship players -- established starter Davis Allen and reserves Jake Briningstool, Sage Ennis and Luke Price -- to make Clemson's offense go.
Allen is a proven commodity as a jack-of-most trades.
Promising tight end and former four-star recruit Jake Briningstool is shown here in Clemson's Jervey practice facility last month. (Tigerillustrated.com)
The contention from this corner, as subscribers have known, is that Briningstool stands to offer assets Clemson hasn't had in a few years as a vertical threat via his catch radius and agile running ability.
We asked Richardson at Tuesday's staff media gathering for the next step he wanted Briningstool to take developmentally, and Richardson cited being more consistent in what he delivers on a per-snap basis.
"He's a young guy who got thrown into the fire because of injuries and probably wasn't ready at times (as a freshman)," Richardson said. "But his potential is through the roof. His athleticism and what he brings to us in the tight end room and what he brings as a match-up problem is through the roof.
"He got banged up a little bit in the spring but he's come back from that well. All the reports from the weight room, I'm just pleased with what he's doing right now. He's got the chance to be special."
Briningstool still looks relatively thin from head to toe. But he demonstrated a willingness to block as a rookie, and Richardson thinks that Briningstool's pound-for-pound toughness will help mitigate strength issues as he builds more bulk.
"He's more of the receiver type tight end, but don't sleep on Brinny's physicality and meanness," Richardson said. "He played defense in high school, and he's got that mentality that I love at tight end. So don't think he's going to line up, go run routes and just be pretty in grass. He gets in the box and he mixes it up.
"His specialty is, he's more athletic than most tight ends. But most athletic tight ends can't do what he does inside the box." -- PAUL STRELOW
Paul has already noted the palpable sense of energy coming from the head coach's office and trickling down through everyone else as the team reconvenes and gets started on 2022.
Maybe it's from the resounding recruiting answer Clemson has provided this summer in the face of skepticism that the Tigers had lost their fizz. Maybe it's from the confidence Dabo Swinney and the staff have in the wealth of talent and star power on this roster. Probably a combination of both.
Calling it saltiness, or a chip on the shoulder, might be a bit strong or imprecise. But there's definitely a perceptible strain of assuredness from this staff, and we picked it up from Richardson earlier this week.
Richardson, in his first year coaching tight ends, seems tired of the criticism that Clemson doesn't sufficiently utilize his tight ends.
Where most analysis on the topic zeroes in on the low number of receptions from tight ends over the last five years since Jordan Leggett departed, Richardson said he conducted his own study examining another data set.
"I hear that a lot, especially on the road recruiting that we don't incorporate the tight end or maybe they're not used as much at Clemson as they would be somewhere else, or their touches and bla, bla bla. At the end of the day, you've got to separate facts from fiction. So I did a little research on Clemson tight-end usage since 2015."
Richardson said his research was of how many snaps at least one tight end has been on the field through all the offensive snaps since 2015. He said that percentage is 96 percent, which shouldn't be all that surprising given that Clemson's DNA over the last decade is rooted in 11 personnel (one tight end, one running back, three receivers).
"Kind of the narrative is really false that we don't use our tight end," he said.
But the narrative that Clemson tight ends haven't been very productive is accurate. In 2015 and 2016, Leggett combined for 86 catches for 1,261 yards and 15 touchdowns.
In the five seasons since, Clemson's leading pass catchers at tight end have totaled 92 catches for 897 yards and seven touchdowns. The most receptions by a tight end over that stretch were Allen's 28 last season.
Clemson appears in good position to make the tight ends a more dynamic piece of the offense with the return of Allen and the others Paul mentioned. -- LARRY WILLIAMS
SHOP for officially-licensed Clemson gear at The Tiger Fan Shop HERE!
