From Michael Palmer to Dwayne Allen and Brandon Ford, tight end has been one of the most productive positions at Clemson under Dabo Swinney’s watch.

When Swinney was named full-time head coach in December of 2008, he brought former Clemson tight end Danny Pearman back to coach the position.

Pearman and Swinney first crossed paths at Alabama, where they served under Gene Stallings. After Pearman left Alabama, he’s made stops at Virginia Tech, UNC, Duke and Maryland.

Last month, Pearman broke down what he looks for in a tight end for Clemson’s hurry-up, no-huddle offense.

“I want a guy that really likes to play to win,” he said. “Then, obviously, he’s got to have some measurables. And those measurables are different, provided on what you do. “Are you going to play a tight end on which you’re going to attach (to the line of scrimmage) and be a thumper?

“Are you going to want to detach him, flex him out and make him a route runner?

“Those things all come into play. Once you get past the measurables, today, the tight end that’s an athlete and can run can always help us. I think those things are all important to you when you look at a tight end.”

The tight end position in 2015 looks a lot different than it did when Pearman began coaching at Alabama in the early 90’s.

“Today, these kids are — a lot of these kids are ex-basketball players, post-players. They can do a lot of different jobs, if you look at the tight end position on its whole,” Pearman said. “There are very few (teams) that have tackles out there that are playing tight end.”

The success of former basketball players like Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates has helped attract a type of player that used to be rare on the gridiron.

“These kids are leaner. Most of these kids are tall, long, rangy, can run,” Pearman said. “In the past, you had a definite fullback, a squaty leverage player that can get under a guy and knock a dent into the defense a little bit as a lead blocker.

“A lot of these tight ends can’t do that, because they can’t get low enough to get under a linebacker, get under a Ben Boulware-type body, so a definite fullback and h-back type guy is a different body style or structure than, say, a guy like (Jordan) Leggett or (Stanton) Seckinger or Cannon Smith.

The position has evolved greatly over the last 25 years, in part because there’s been a shift in the style of play.