CLEMSON — On the first day of full pads, Ian Schieffelin made his presence known during Clemson’s fall camp.

Though the former Clemson basketball standout has not put on all the pads in over seven years, he made it look easy yesterday, as he went up and over a defender and made a “big” catch.

“A guy was hanging all over him and he made a great play,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said. “It was fun to see that, and the team got all excited.”

Plays like that have Swinney and the rest of the offensive coaches excited about what Schieffelin might be able to bring to them as the 2025 season draws closer.

“We are just getting going with him. We are just trying to force the issue now that we are in pads,” Swinney said. “We really need to force the issue with him because we really could not take another step until we got the physical part.

“So, now that we are in pads, we are trying to force more reps his way so we can just bring him as far along as we can.”

Schieffelin, who checked in at 6-foot-7 when camp started, can be used in lots of ways in the Tigers’ offense. He can also be used on special teams, such as kick block, as well as in other situations, where his height can really give Clemson an advantage near the goal line.

“He is definitely a guy you could see in a role like that,” Swinney said. “We also talked about end of game type stuff. We have certain packages that we have always done, and we have not always gotten in those situations, but last play type stuff, your feet are on the goal line. He will be a guy we probably talk about for that situation as well.”

The goal is to feed Schieffelin as much as possible in order to get him ready for the season.

“We start school in a few weeks and when you start school, you really only rep two groups, so we got a lot to get done these next two weeks. He needs all the reps he can get,” Swinney said.

Swinney said they are chasing him all over the field right now because Schieffelin has a lot to learn and so little time to do it.

“It’s fast,” Swinney said. “He knows what to do, but it happens really, really fast when you get on the field.”

The thing the coaches like the most about Schieffelin is how hard he is working to learn as much as he can.

“I am proud of him, he is doing the work, and he will learn that we have to get him low and playing with leverage and things like that… We are trying to find out what his role could be and how far we can get him before we start game plan,” Swinney said. “Once you get into the season, you start to package stuff. So, so far so good.”