There is a reason why Clemson has become one of the elite programs in college football – competition. The Tigers have competition at every position on the team. In other words, no one’s job is safe.
One position where Dabo Swinney’s staff has recruited and developed competition is at defensive end, where they will return every player that played last season as well as bring up redshirt freshmen Xavier Kelly and Lasamuel Davis.
The Tigers return Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant and Fiesta Bowl hero Clelin Ferrell, as well as Richard Yeargin and Chris Register. Wilkins and Ferrell teamed up to give Clemson two of the best bookends in the ACC, while Bryant returned halfway through the season from a foot injury suffered in camp and was productive when he played. Yeargin and Register played a good bit this season as well.
“I would tell these guys that I’m not responsible for your playing time,” former Clemson defensive ends coach Marion Hobby told The Clemson Insider prior to the Fiesta Bowl win over Ohio State last month.
Hobby, who left the Clemson program on Wednesday to coach the defensive line for the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, said a perfect example of that was the Kevin Dodd situation.
“He was ready to come in and play, then this guy named Shaq Lawson walked in,” Hobby said. “Austin Bryant is ready to start and Richard Yeargin is in that position, then this guy named Clelin Ferrell takes off through the spring and through the fall. It’s about how guys mature. Everybody matures at different levels.”
Though he will not be there to coach him this year, Hobby pointed out a guy like Xavier Kelly could be this year’s Lawson or Ferrell and could take someone’s playing time away because he might have been better than they were before he redshirted.
“Sometimes I tell guys ‘Don’t think you are not the best player because you redshirted because that does not mean anything.’ It might mean that you redshirt the best player sometimes because one fits what you are trying to get done,” Hobby said. “It is going to be good competition going into winter workouts. Guys want to play. I want them to play. We’re going to let them get after it.”
Hobby said Kelly did well during his redshirt season, as did Davis. He said when both were not training or helping with the scout team, they were with him, being coached up. They sat in position meetings. They worked with him during individual drills and they were back with him at the end of each practice.
“I always tell them, even if they do have to go to that scout team, I don’t want the same player back that I sent down there,” Hobby said. “I want to see a bigger, stronger and more developed player, mentally and physically. I want a different game.
“How are they going to handle it down the stretch? No pressure, no diamonds. That is one of the things I coach them hard that way. I put them in stressful situations. I coach them when they are tired and see how they act when they are tired. When things are not going well, and if they lose, go again. Don’t drop you head. Go again. I just want to see what their temperament is and sometimes that is the reason on why their development slows them down some.”
Hobby said the hardest thing for a young player to adjust to from high school to college is being beat by the guy in front of them, especially someone like Kelly (6-5, 255), who might think he is physically ready to compete day in and day out.
“Some of these guys have never lost. They have been the big puppy their whole life,” Hobby said. “They would just stand up and knock people out of the way and make the tackle. Then they get in on this side and that other guy on the other side, his talent level is just the same. Now they have to develop a little bit more energy and sometimes it takes guys a little bit longer to develop in that way.”
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