It’s the third phase of football that no one considers priority until you need a field goal or a big punt to pin the opponent deep in their own territory. Special teams have played a big role for Clemson Football in recent years.
BT Potter exhausted his eligibility and will now be attempting to make the roster of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Tigers will have a new placekicker for the first time in many years.
Clemson’s incumbent punter does return, but there will likely be a competition to see if he can hang on to the job.
Perhaps the most intriguing special teams competition of fall camp: the long snapper starter. During their media day, Dabo Swinney explained that there is a scholarship reserved for the winner of the competition. Holden Capsersen had that job and that scholarship last year, but he will have to defend it against Philip Florenzo in camp.
Here are the roster expectations as we approach fall camp.
Kicker
- Starter: Robert Gunn III (RS Fr)
- Walk-ons: Quinn Castner (RS Jr), Hogan Morton (RS So)
Punter
- Starter: Aidan Swanson (RS Sr)
- Depth: Jack Smith (RS Fr)
- Walk-on: Brodey Conn (RS Fr)
Long Snapper
- Starting competition: Philip Florenzo (RS Jr), Holden Caspersen (RS So)
Return specialists: TBD
Here are three questions about the special teams.
Is Robert Gunn III ready to be the starting placekicker for Clemson Football?
Gunn was a member of the Class of 2022. Unfortunately, he was injured during his senior season in high school and was recovering for most of last season. That worked out fine because Potter was able to play one more season for the Tigers due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Gunn was allowed to fully recover with a target to be ready to kick in 2023. His videos that are available show he has a big leg. One thing most observers will tell you is that sometimes what you see in videos from high school and practice situations doesn’t always translate to the regular season.
There is a lot of pressure for a kicker to become a first-year starter. In this case, Gunn is taking over for Potter. Potter wasn’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he evolved into a very reliable kicker. Making a short to intermediate-length field goal was practically automatic. Will he be able to handle the pressure?
Clemson had a walk-on kicker competing with Gunn in spring practice, but that player (Liam Boyd) decided to transfer following spring practice. Swanson can kick as well, and there are two more walk-on kickers on the roster, but for the most part, Clemson needs Gunn to be ready for prime time.
More kicking help is coming eventually with Nolan Hauser, a member of the Class of 2024 who is setting records in North Carolina high school football. Until then, it’s RG3 or bust.
Will Jack Smith push Aidan Swanson for the Clemson Football starting punter job?
Swanson punted the ball 62 times last season and averaged 42.3 yards per punt. That’s not bad, but it only ranked 70th in the FCS in 2022. The best average per punt was 49.0 by Bryce Baringer of Michigan State.
2022 was Swanson’s first as the starting punter, so he would likely improve that average this season. The good news is that he isn’t the only scholarship punter on the roster.
Smith was a member of the 2022 class, and he measures in at 6’-5” and 230. If one didn’t know better, they might assume he was a linebacker prospect at that size.
A few observers noted that he had some huge kicks last fall that showed how big of a leg he had. While Swanson won the competition, it was generally assumed Smith just needed some time to become more consistent.
Swanson is the incumbent, and that gives him an advantage, but that doesn’t mean Smith won’t have a chance to compete with him in camp. If Smith can harness his power and becomes more consistent with his placement, he could have a chance to overtake Swanson.
As we have learned with some other positions in the last couple of years, having someone compete and push the starter in camp is usually a good thing. Regardless of who wins the starting punting job, we should see improvement.
We just might not see it for a while. The public was allowed to see the beginning of the punting competition last year and it was a little bit of a circus, so the competition this fall might be kept behind closed doors.
Will Clemson Football use Will Shipley and Antonio Williams in the return game?
Shipley averaged 21.3 yards per kickoff return in 2022. That’s decent and puts him tied for 40th in the FCS. Williams averaged 8.5 yards per punt return in 2022, which ranked him 29th in the FCS.
Both players were productive in those roles last year, but most would agree that the hope is that the bulk of the production from both players comes from their day jobs.
Some teams don’t like their star players to have a role on special teams. Returning can be a dangerous job. A star running back moonlighting as a kick returner isn’t just more energy expended; it increases the likelihood of injury. The same applies to a No. 1 receiver taking punts.
The staff must balance what the player provides on special teams with the importance of their role for the offense.
Another obvious variable is if they have anyone else who can do the job. Not necessarily someone who can do the job better, but someone who can be adequate to the task.
Shipley is important to the offense, but he has Phil Mafah with him at running back. They will be splitting reps, so there is less chance the extra wear and tear will be a significant impact. On the other hand, more players can be reasonably effective on kick returns, including Mafah. This gives the staff the freedom to use Shipley more liberally on kick returns, but they aren’t necessarily in a position where they must use him.
It’s the opposite on punt returns. Williams didn’t start the season as the punt returner. Clemson eventually put him there because the best anyone else could accomplish was to call for a fair catch. It is unknown if anyone could step up and be as productive as Williams receiving punts. On the other hand, there isn’t a 1 and 1A right now at receiver. Williams is the best receiver on the team, and to lose him to injury would be devastating.
If Garrett Riley’s offense is rolling, the Tigers might not have a problem calling for fair catches on every punt. Otherwise, they will probably have to run the risk of putting Williams in on punt returns.