By Will Vandervort.

Just imagine for a second if you will.

It’s your senior year. You have worked hard in the spring and in the summer to put yourself and your team in position to have a great year. You survived fall camp and you are expected to start the opening game at Georgia.

You lead your teammates on to the field for warm ups as 90,000 people are screaming and yelling at you. This is what you worked for. This moment is what all that hard work is all about. Then like that, it’s over before even starts. You break your foot, while catching a routine pass in warm ups, nonetheless.

Now you know what it feels like to be Sam Cooper. That’s what happened to Clemson’s tight end less than an hour before his senior season was to begin. The result was a broken fibula in his foot that kept him out of the first four games of the season.

It was the second year in a row Cooper’s season began on the sidelines.

“That’s obviously not how you want it to go and sure it is frustrating, but that is the game of football. Unfortunately, I have been in that position before,” he said.

Last year, Cooper missed the first game of the season thanks to tearing his ACL in the 2013 Spring Game. He battled back, though, and was back in a uniform by Week 2 against S.C. State. He played in every game after that, including starts against Maryland, South Carolina and Ohio State.

The 6-foot-6, 250-pound tight end was supposed to start the Georgia game, but instead he instantly became a coach on the sideline for Jay Jay McCullough, Jordan Leggett and Stanton Seckinger.

“I knew what role to assume. It was not about me,” Cooper said. “It was about keeping the guys up and trying to give them the knowledge I had in order for them to be successful and try to put my best foot forward.”

Cooper’s knowledge of the game really paid off for McCullough who is starting to blossom into a quality tight end that has the athletic ability of a Dwayne Allen, but now is developing the physical tools to make him more of a viable asset in the running game as well.

At 6-foot-3, 245-pounds, McCullough is beginning to become the more complete tight end that offensive coordinator Chad Morris has been looking for since Allen moved on to the NFL two years ago.

McCullough says Cooper is the reason why he is getting there.

“I’m more athletic than Sam and people might say I’m more talented, but the thing about Sam is that he is really smart. He is technically sound. The way he blocks, he does it so well,” McCullough said. “His steps are almost perfect. He steps the way he was coached to do it. He runs the routes the way he is supposed to do it. I run my routes faster, but he hits the right landmark and he plays smart.”

Cooper is also physical. It’s no coincidence the Tigers (3-2, 2-1 ACC) had their best day running the football the first week he came back. Though he will not take credit for helping Clemson run for 226 yards on 50 carries against NC State last Saturday, it was no accident either.

Cooper gives Clemson, who will host Louisville on Saturday (3:30 p.m.) in Death Valley, another physical tight end that can help set the edge on running plays and on screens to the receivers or the running backs.

“I don’t know if I had a lot of help. The game plan was great if you break it down. Coach Morris had an unbelievable game plan,” Cooper said. “Blocking is something I pride myself in – the physical play of it. Anytime I can help the team like that then I’m going to help.”

When the Tigers were struggling to run the football this year, Morris put part of the blame on the tight ends, saying McCullough was the only one playing with any real physicality and that the offense really missed Cooper’s physicality and leadership on the field.

“It is kind of a double-edged sword,” Cooper said. “It is a huge compliment that I kind of got that reputation with the coaches and that means a lot to me. But it is also kind of tough to hear because you are doing everything you can to be out on the field and it is not going your way.

“But I kept at it and I’m back on the field now.”

Cooper’s role should only increase in the weeks to come, especially this week with Tigers down two offensive linemen and playing a Louisville defense that ranks first nationally against the run and has 21 sacks already this season.

“They are full of great players and it is a great defense, but it really comes down to our game plan and our execution,” the senior said.

As for his future and what comes after his Clemson career is over, Cooper says he can’t focus on that right now. His only focus is Louisville (5-1, 3-1) and what he needs to do to help beat the Cardinals.

“If I do my job, I think all that stuff will take care of itself,” he said. “This is my senior year. It was kind of emotional to get back on the field. The first few games did not pan out like I wanted it to, but to be back on the field means so much to me.”

It means a lot to Clemson too.