Clemson Football: 2017 will be Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott’s biggest test yet

Clemson football co-offensive coordinators, Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott’s coaching ability will be put to the test in 2017 as they will be running the offense without Deshaun Watson for the first time.

There is no doubt that both Scott and Elliott are deserving of their co-offensive coordinator duties. Under the two, Clemson’s offense has soared averaging 38.85 points and 509.1 yards per game in 2015 and 2016 combined. While those numbers are downright impressive, the pair of young coordinators was aided by the best safety blanket in Clemson football history.

Deshaun Watson’s first season as the full-time starter for the Tigers coincided with Scott and Elliott’s joint promotion to offensive coordinator. So yes, Scott and Elliott have orchestrated one of the top offenses in the country over the past two seasons, but, they’ve certainly had help along the way.

This fall presents the two with the biggest challenge in their young careers. Finding a capable starter at quarterback is vital, however, tailoring the offense to best suit his strengths is of the most importance.

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Clemson’s quarterback room is oozing with talent and, unfortunately, inexperience. Of the quarterbacks competing for the starting job, just one is older than a sophomore in junior-to-be, Kelly Bryant. There is a real possibility that a freshman will be running Scott and Elliott’s offense in 2017.

Luckily the pair of young offensive coordinators will have a host of weapons at their dispense. Clemson returns three of the best recievers in the ACC in Deon Cain, Ray-Ray McCloud and Hunter Renfrow. If sophomore running back, Tavien Feaster can return to his high school form, than the Tigers’ offense shouldn’t skip a beat this season.

I believe Scott and Elliott will rise to the occasion in 2017. They’ve shown their ability to game-plan in the past. As good as Watson was, he didn’t put up 30+ points on Nick Saban’s vaunted Alabama defense two years in a row by himself. Clemson’s offensive coordinators, did an impressive job of breaking tendency and scheming around the strengths of the Tide defense. Not to be outdone by their masterful gameplan vs. Ohio State.

Film Review

Here’s two examples of Scott and Elliott’s use of tendency breakers.

This is an example of a simple toss play that Scott and Elliott routinely ran towards the boundary. Tight end, Jordan Leggett is lined up in the slot and his primary responsibility is to seal the nearest defender. Deshaun Watson shuffles towards the line of scrimmage to hold the play-side defensive end, who is left unblocked. The backside guard (Taylor Hearn in this case) pulls, however, he has no one to block on this play.

Here against, Ohio State, the Tigers run a fake Toss. Watson takes the same steps, but fakes the toss and follows his lead blockers backside. Rather than set the edge for Gallman, Leggett serves as a lead blocker for Watson.

This jet sweep is a staple of the Clemson offense under Scott and Elliott. Here, Artavis Scott lines up off of the line of scrimmage to the short side of the field. Watson calls him in motion and hands the ball off. Nothing too complex.

This play is an example of Scott and Elliott’s masterful self-scouting. They realized that their jet sweep would be fairly predictable to the Tide so they used it as smoke and mirrors. Here in the redzone, the motion man (Ray-Ray McCloud) is being used as a decoy, to get Alabama’s lightning fast defense flowing towards the wide side of the field. That split-second hesitation by the defense allows Watson to scamper into the endzone off of a simple quarterback power.

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Clemson has enough talent to be good once again in 2017, however, Scott and Elliott have a chance to make this team great. If the Tigers offense maintains it’s level of excellence, a third straight College Football Playoff appearance is within reach.