Special delivery
Clemson reaps benefits from Dabo Swinney’s commitment to improve the Tigers’ specialteams play,
CLEMSON, S. C. Though last year’s College Football Playoff championship is largely remembered for its whirring momentum shifts, breathtaking offensive plays and star-making performances for the likes of Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson and Alabama tight end O.J. Howard, the game largely turned on two specialteams plays.
The first has become part of Nick Saban’s head coaching lore: An onside kick that Alabama recovered with the score tied 24-24, allowing the Crimson Tide to regain control of a game on which Watson had begun to impose his will.
But the second might have been an even bigger play in Alabama’s 45-40 victory: After Clemson had pulled within 31-27 on a field goal with 7:47 remaining, Kenyan Drake took the ensuing kickoff from the 5-yard line, angled to his left at the 20 and shuffled away from a tackle as he sped toward the far sideline, then escaped the grasp of kicker Greg Huegel near midfield as he broke free for a touchdown.
Those two plays illustrated the fragile margin for error the Tigers faced against a more pedigreed championship program, and Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was not interested in leaving those often-overlooked areas vulnerable ever again.
So Swinney ordered an analysis of Clemson’s special teams from every angle after the Alabama game, scrubbing everything from its personnel to its coverage schemes. The results this season suggest a significant improvement for the Tigers, who vow not to let special-teams mishaps sink their chances again when they get their rematch Monday in Tampa.
“They found a little weakness in our special teams, and they exposed it. That’s what great teams will do to you,” said receiver Artavis Scott, who also returns kickoffs. “That’s not going to be the reason they beat us this year, I can tell you that.”
Though Alabama’s trouble converting field goal attempts over the years receives a disproportionate amount of attention, the Crimson Tide are largely excellent on special teams because the depth of talent allows for Saban to employ several former five-star recruits — some of whom are a year away from being frontline players — on coverage teams. The Crimson Tide haven’t yielded a kickoff-return score since the 2014 season opener and have allowed only two punt-return TDs in the last four seasons. Meanwhile, over the same span, Alabama has scored 12 special-teams touchdowns.
The Crimson Tide were able to exploit that advantage last year against Clemson, which ranked 115th in kickoff coverage defense and gave up three touchdowns, revealing the overall immaturity of Clemson’s roster as a national contender.
“We played a lot of freshmen (on special teams) last year,” Swinney said. “We have the right people doing the right things (now) and have done a better job as a staff, and that’s been part of it. I’ve measured it from week to week. We’re much, much, much improved. That was a major goal for us.”
To reach that goal, Swinney brought in outside analysts during the offseason to evaluate Clemson’s approach and every aspect of its special teams. Punter Andy Teasdall and kicker Huegel also spent part of the offseason working privately with former college kicker Dan Orner, who also tutored ex-Clemson kicker Chandler Catanzaro of the Arizona Cardinals.
“Coach Swinney wanted to go back and rebuild everything,” Huegel said. “We went back (to the basics) whether it’s kickoff coverage or holding somebody up for punt returns, small things and breaking it down to be able to better the team and every single part individually.”
The biggest change, though, might be the seriousness with which Clemson’s players have tak- en their duty on the coverage teams. Huegel and Scott hinted that some players last year saw it as a pay-your-dues burden rather than a place to significantly impact the game, a lack of enthusiasm that led to some of the breakdowns.
Instead, they pointed to players such as James Skalski, Chad Smith and Denzel Johnson as embracing the dirty work and cornerback Trayvon Mullen and running back Tavien Feaster, two blue-chip recruits from Clemson’s 2016 recruiting class, also having found roles.
“Coach Swinney has done a good job of saying if you’re going to be a starter on offense or defense, you’re going to be a starter on special teams,” Teasdall said. “They brought in some analysts and tweaked some stuff, but honestly it just comes down to mentality of getting everyone on board and having everyone wanting to make a difference, because we realize it can be the difference.”
It certainly was against Alabama last season, as Clemson basically played to a draw or better in every other area. In fact, at the time Saban called for the onside kick, it seemed like a rather desperate play to keep the ball out of Watson’s hands — and it worked.
“We felt like we had good control of the game right there,” said Swinney, who also noted that Clemson’s defense could have salvaged the situation by keeping Alabama out of the end zone. “It was a big swing in momentum for sure, and it was disappointing.”
But just like with so many other things that emerged from the championship game loss, Clemson used it to raise the bar for 2016. And now it’s back with another opportunity to beat Alabama and show just how much it learned.
“I think we just put a lot of emphasis on (special teams),” Scott said. “Last year it wasn’t as much. The biggest thing was we want people on there who actually want to be on there and make plays. That was the biggest thing to figure out who wants to be on there and make an impact. It’s about want-to, wanting to do your job.”