CLEMSON – In a few weeks, head coach Dabo Swinney will attend his 18th ACC Kickoff Event, previewing the upcoming football season with 16 other conference leaders in Charlotte, N.C. on July 16.

Swinney, the longest-tenured coach in the conference, has been to the Kickoff in several different situations. The Tigers’ leader has been there as a defending national champion twice in 2017 and 2019. Additionally, he has attended the event as the reigning ACC Champion nine times. Nearly two decades ago, the Pelham, Ala., native was once there as a newly-minted rookie looking to make a good impression.

Last season, with Clemson the heavy favorite to win the ACC, Swinney was quick to draw on his experience with preseason conversations.

“We’ve been around a lot of good teams, and this team has the ingredients to be a really good team,” he said. “But we’ve got to go do the work. We can’t talk about it or predict our way into it. Y’all can’t predict our way into it.”

Though he concedes that “talking about it” is not as important as the product on the field, Swinney’s chosen player representatives to speak at the event have always had merit — a look into what the coach prioritizes and who he expects to make an impact in the coming season. 

He has attended the event with offensive linemen and quarterbacks, defensive ends and safeties in his near two-decade tenure. Some went on to NFL careers, like Sammy Watkins and Deshaun Watson. Others, like former Clemson offensive lineman Eric Mac Lain, now work for ACC Network. Others, like linebacker Ben Boulware are now back on Swinney’s staff.

Swinney has become a pillar of the ACC Kickoff and has been interviewed under the bright lights by hundreds of reporters about nearly as many topics. Some could say that the veteran leader has seen it all at the “talking season’s” crux.

Still, in his 17 appearances, he has never brought a tight end to represent the Tigers.

Until this year.

Clemson Athletics announced Wednesday that the Tigers would bring three players to speak alongside Swinney at the media event this year, which will be hosted at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown. Among them are senior defensive end Will Heldt, junior linebacker Sammy Brown, and tight end Olsen Patt-Henry, a senior.

Since 2021, the Tigers have brought a quarterback and at least one returner to the Kickoff event. However, with a quarterback competition brewing, a new offensive coordinator, and the worst odds to win the conference championship since 2014, Swinney and the Tigers are taking a different approach this year with Patt-Henry as the lone offensive representative.

While fans may have expected signal-caller Christopher Vizzina, who is in the “pole position” for the starting job, to take the third spot, or maybe one of the Tigers’ seasoned wide receivers, Patt-Henry’s inclusion may be a look into what Swinney and offensive coordinator Chad Morris are prioritizing this season.

“I think we have great talent in there,” Morris said of the tight ends room this spring. “I think that those guys just do not understand how important they are in what we do. I shouldn’t say…they understand it, but they just thought it was all talk.

“I think right now, they are understanding, like, ‘holy cow we are heavily involved.’”

As a junior, Patt-Henry started 10 games for Clemson, after making just one start in his two prior seasons behind Jake Briningstool. Before suffering a season-ending knee injury against Furman in November, the Naples, Fla., native reeled in 16 catches for 126 yards. Patt-Henry became known for his ability to hold on to tough catches in traffic, and became a prominent outlet for quarterback Cade Klubnik when utilized.

Patt-Henry missed all of spring practice recovering from his injury, but that did not stop Morris from immediately eyeing the veteran’s potential in his tight-end-heavy scheme.

“I firmly believe that Olsen has a chance to be very special in this offense,” Morris said. “I think he’s very versatile. He can put his hand on the ground, set a point, and obviously step off the ball and be able to do the motion around how people are going to play him. And so we just got to get him healthy and them understanding what we were asking of them.”

A two-time ACC honor roll selection, Patt-Henry is one of only a few true seniors that are slated to start this season, along with Heldt, center Harris Sewell, and potentially safety Ronan Hanafin. After a 7-6 finish last season, senior leadership will be key to improving under a new system with several newcomers.

And, with Morris’ new offense being brought back to Clemson, Patt-Henry is poised to become one of the main leaders on the field.

When Swinney takes the stage at the ACC Kickoff next month, he will most likely be asked questions about these new changes, about the new players that will be expected to take strides, and returners who will take on a bigger role.

It will not be new to Swinney, who has seen coaches and players go through the event and on to other jobs and careers, but it will be new for all three Tiger representatives, just as Clemson fans hope it will be an entirely different season in the Upstate.