5 biggest position battles for Clemson Football in fall camp
By John Chancey
Kicker
Robert Gunn III had the job coming out of spring last year. His primary competition felt it wasn’t close and decided to transfer.
When the season started, Gunn couldn’t find the goalposts with consistency, even from short range. The team brought in Jonathan Weitz to handle kickoff duties, which is a great story you can read about here.
Weitz has moved on to his career after sports, and now the competition for kicking duties comes down to Gunn and true freshman Nolan Hauser. Hauser set records at Hough High School in Cornelius, North Carolina.
Hauser looks like he has all the tools, but the transition from high school to college impacts different players in different ways. We won’t know how well he will handle the new environment.
Gunn continued his inconsistency in the spring game, while Hauser hit both attempts, one from long distance and another from short range.
Like center, any lead Hauser might have on the starting job could easily disappear during fall camp.
It isn’t a guarantee that placekicking duties and kickoff duties will go to the same person. Even if Hauser gets the nod with placekicking, Gunn can kick the ball a country mile. Realistically, both players could see action this year.