Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said he learned of the D.J. Reader situation this past weekend when he had a chance to visit with his mother.
Reader announced early on Tuesday he was going to leave the team for an indefinite amount of time due to what Swinney described as personal reasons. The senior defensive tackle was expected to start for the 12th-ranked Tigers when they open the season on Sept. 5 against Wofford.
“It is what it is,” Swinney said following practice. “There really isn’t much to add to the statement that I put out today so there isn’t really anything else to say other than who will take his place.”
Scott Pagano might seem to be the likely guy to move up to replace Reader. Pagano played in four games last season. The redshirt sophomore registered 10 tackles and one quarterback pressure in 54 snaps.
Next in line will be freshman Christian Wilkins, who has been impressive in camp and in practice the last three weeks. According to left guard Eric Mac Lain, Wilkins has a good as or even a better shot at starting than Pagano.
“Christian Wilkins probably has had the most work with the ones,” Mac Lain said. “That kid is just amazing. The body type he has, the work drive, all the intangibles that this kid has is phenomenal. He is going to be a great asset to our team.”
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound tackle was the No. 21 player and No. 4 defensive tackle in the nation according to Rivals.
“The speed and the quickness that he has already, a guy coming from Connecticut you probably would think he did not see too much,” Mac Lain said. “I think he came from a boarding school or prep school up there. I think we were thinking he was playing against younger guys that were not big enough to block him and stuff like that.
“But then when you get him here and you see what he is able to do, the kid is just phenomenal.”
Swinney agreed and said the defensive line will be okay. He even compared the situation to the 2011 season when the Tigers played 42 true and redshirt freshmen on their way to winning the ACC Championship.
“We are fortunate we have a bunch of good players. We have a lot of opportunities for some guys and we will be just fine,” Swinney said.
The Clemson coach says he has no idea when Reader will be able to return. He says that is up to him.
“The timing of things are never good when you are a football player, football coach or whatever, especially in a season, but at the end of the day these are still people,” he said. “They are real people with real problems in life, and they don’t always make good decisions and things like that and sometimes they have problems.
“This is a decision he has made to kind of step away for a little bit, like I said, and see if he can get himself better with the issues he is dealing with. We are moving forward. It is just like an injury. It is next man up and let’s move forward.”
The Tigers started moving forward on Tuesday with Pagano and Wilkins both battling it out for the open spot. With Reader gone for the time being, junior Carlos Watkins becomes the new leader up front. In his three years at Clemson he has played in 23 games and started one. He has 40 career tackles and 4.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
“Carlos knew before the D.J. situation that he had to step up,” defensive end Kevin Dodd said. “He was filling in some shoes of guys that left from last year and pretty much has been giving all he has.”
Dodd isn’t sure what the situation with Reader is, but he is hopeful he will return to Clemson later this season. For right now, he said he will reach out to Reader and will let him know he and the rest of the team are here for him.
Dodd believes in all the guys who will be vying to replace Reader up front. He worked out with Pagano a lot this summer, and says senior Roderick Byers is the older guy, who has been in the system the longest and deserves a shot.
“He has been in this system for five years so he understands it. Now he is going to get his chance,” Dodd said.