With Dorian O’Daniel in Indianapolis today participating in his on-field drills at the NFL Scouting Combine, his old coaches are back in Clemson trying to figure out who will replace the All-American linebacker on the Tigers’ defense.

O’Daniel was a jack of all trades for Clemson the last two seasons at the strongside linebacker position. He is a guy that could stay on the field for virtually every play. He was good at stopping the run and reading option plays. He was solid as a blitzer off the edge and he was athletic enough to drop into coverage and cover some of the best wide receivers and running backs in the ACC.

This past season, O’Daniel was a finalist for the Dick Butkus Award as the nation’s best linebacker after leading the Tigers in tackles with 104, including 11.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and three passes broken up.

He also became the first linebacker in Clemson history to return two interceptions for touchdowns in the same season.

“Dorian was an every-down guy, which is very unique at that position,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

The Tigers do have one guy who could possibly fill O’Daniel’s shoes. That guy is rising redshirt sophomore Isaiah Simmons.

“He is a guy with unbelievable athleticism and speed,” Swinney said. “He’s got the physicality.”

As a freshman last year, Simmons played in 12 games, mostly at safety. He had 49 tackles, three tackles for loss and one sack and broke up five passes.

“He can cover. That’s something he needs to work on in the spring, but he can cover,” Swinney said. “He made some great plays on the ball in the latter part of the season.”

However, the strongside linebacker position is not Simmons’ just yet. If he is to earn the starting job, he is going to have to take it away from senior Jalen Williams, who has backed up O’Daniel the last two seasons.

“Jalen Williams, he is not about to hear that,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “So I don’t assume anything. If you have to choose one guy today, Jalen has gone out an executed better than Isaiah has.”

Venables says Simmons, who is also working at safety this spring, has a long way to go before he will claim he can be a starter at strongside backer.

“He is big and strong. He can run. He can blitz. He has pretty good coverage ability and he can play multiple positions,” Venables said.  “That is what we like about Isaiah is his flexibility.”

Baylon Spector, who was redshirted last fall, is also working at the strongside position after turning some heads in the coaching staff. Freshman Mike Jones, who enrolled in school in January, is playing some at strongside as well.

Swinney says if they need to, they also could move K’Von Wallace back to the nickel spot, but they ultimately would like to leave him at safety where he started the last half of the 2017 season.