By Will Vandervort.
With Dallas Cowboys special teams coordinator Rich Biaccia watching a spring practice, Dabo Swinney stopped practice and told Ammon Lakip to come on to the field and attempt a 52-yard field goal.
Swinney made sure Biaccia was where Lakip could see him. To add to the pressure, Swinney made it a game-winning situation and asked the players that were standing on the sidelines to surround Lakip and try to distract the Clemson kicker.
But the junior did not blink.
“We did everything we possibly could to create some tough moments for him,” Swinney said.
Lakip nailed the 52-yard field goal and many others like that all spring.
“He just responded great all spring,” Swinney said from The Reserve on Tuesday as part of his annual media golf outing in Sunset, S.C. “I’m excited from what I have seen on the practice field, but will it transfer to game day? It is hard to really simulate that. You have to experience that. That is an unknown until you see it.”
[postvideo][/postvideo]
Lakip has only made one field goal in his first two seasons at Clemson – a 41-yard kick at Virginia last November. He also missed from 31 yards in that game, and he is 8-for-8 in points after touchdowns.
“How is he going to handle the big stage? That is a huge unknown,” Swinney said.
Lakip spent his first two years at Clemson as the backup to one of the best kickers the Tigers have ever had. Chandler Catanzaro closed his storied career by making 39 of his last 41 kicks over the last three seasons, including 13 of 14 last year.
Catanzaro set Clemson records for points scored in a career (405), field goals made from at least 40 yards in a career (24) and the record for consecutive field goals made (20) to name a few. In all, he set 10 Clemson records.
“(Lakip’s) biggest attribute is confidence,” special teams coordinator Danny Pearman said. “He had a great mentor in Chandler. He saw Chandler’s work ethic. He saw Chandler prepare mentally before games. He saw Chandler at his highest of highs when he made kicks and he saw Chandler at his lowest when he missed his kicks.
“Now he has to be his own self and develop his own demeanor, I mean it is not a robot out there. But as long as he plays within himself and strikes the ball well he will be fine.”
To get Lakip ready for what he might experience this season, and what the Tigers have to prepare for in road trips to Georgia and Florida State in the first three weeks of the season, the coaches created just about every situation they could possibly think of this spring.
“That’s the only litmus test we have so far,” Pearman said. “He showed this spring that he can take on this challenge and kind of run with it. Hopefully, he will continue that.”
Freshman Alex Spence, who signed with the Tigers in February, will provide a little competition for Lakip in fall camp. The West Florence High School standout made 14 of 17 field goals last year to earn a spot on the Shrine Bowl team. He also made 11 of 13 kicks as a junior.
“We have another kid in here, Alex Spence, who will be in there to compete with him and competition will be the best for our football team,” Pearman said. “Hopefully, (Lakip) can get on line with Chandler and if he can be anywhere close to what Catman was for us then that will be an added bonus.”