Clemson Football: Dorian O’Daniel filling the void left by Ben Boulware
Coming into his fifth season with the Clemson football program, the switch has flipped for linebacker, Dorian O’Daniel. Not only has he elevated his level of play, but, he is filling the void left by Ben Boulware as a leader on this defense.
Coming into the offseason, there were questions concerning Clemson’s leadership on the defensive side of the ball. Quietly, Dorian O’Daniel has been answering those questions for the coaching staff and players alike.
In a recent interview with Tigernet.com following practice, O’Daniel gave the following response when asked about the changes he made this offseason.
"Just making my mind up you know, after being here for four years, going on my fifth year. I’ve just got to make up my mind, it’s go big or go home at this point. It’s my last season, I want to capitalize, I want to finish strong."
O’Daniel didn’t necessarily change up his entire offseason program, rather, he put in the extra work behind the scenes. He noted that he spent majority of his offseason working on cleaning up his technique as a linebacker and in coverage.
This extra work has stood out to everyone in the Clemson football program.
That same day, Dabo Swinney also spoke with Tigernet.com about O’Daniel stating the following, “Dorian O’Daniel’s a guy, to me right now, that I think is just about as good as any player we’ve got on the team.”
Swinney then went on to say, “He’s really learned the scheme and that wasn’t always easy for him early, but he didn’t really work at it. He didn’t have the football work ethic, he just thought it wasn’t going to come easy to him. Now he does.”
Swinney wasn’t the only person who commented on O’Daniel’s improvement. Fellow linebacker, Tre’ Lamar also spoke with Tigernet.com saying, “This is his fifth year now, so everybody looks to him as the veteran on the crew.” Lamar then added, “He sets the standard in terms of how we need to be working, how we need to be studying each and every day.”
Early on in O’Daniel’s career he was buried on the depth chart behind guys like Travis Blanks and TJ Burrell. As such he didn’t see much playing time. It wasn’t until 2015 that O’Daniel got his first real taste of collegiate football and he held his own, recording 36 total tackles (22 solo), 5.5 tackles for loss and one deflected pass.
Following the 2015 season, Travis Blanks shocked everyone by declaring early for the 2016 NFL draft. O’Daniel was then thrust into a starting role for the Tigers in 2016.
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The Maryland native was an integral part of Clemson’s National Championship season a year ago, recording 54 total tackles (37 solo), 10 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, three quarterback hurries, one forced fumble and one interception.
It’s important that O’Daniel takes that next step as a player, but, his role as a leader on this defense can’t be over stated. Ben Boulware galvanized this defense and played with an unhinged passion. In turn, the Tigers played loose and fast as a whole. O’Daniel must uphold that level of intensity with this season’s group.
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It’s clear that O’Daniel has improved incrementally each season. Judging from the talk coming out of fall camp, he is going to play on an entirely different level as a senior. And so continues the trend of late bloomers at Clemson. It seems like every year, the Tigers have at least one upperclassman who elevates his level of play, i.e. Carlos Watkins, Kevin Dodd, BJ Goodson.