Goal for Clemson’s O-Line is to Get Healthy

Looking Ahead to Spring Practice: Offensive line

Clemson’s offensive line will return six players who saw significant time as starters in 2021. So, when Spring Practices begins in a few weeks, most of the faces on the offensive line will look familiar.

However, there will be a couple of new faces, with one of them being the coach. Though, he is not entirely new.

Thomas Austin, who spent last year as an offensive analyst on Dabo Swinney’s staff, is now the Tigers’ new offensive line coach. He replaces Robbie Caldwell, who retired from coaching and is now working in an administration role in the football offices.

Caldwell has spent the last 11 years as Clemson’s offensive line coach.

“He is an unbelievable person and coach. Huge shoes to fill,” Austin said back on national signing day. “I got to go on the road these last two weeks and feel like every high school I went into I had to say, ‘Listen, I am not Robbie Caldwell. I do not have the stories that he has. I did not work at a turkey farm when I was three-years old.’ But the amount of respect that he has, especially from high school coaches in the Southeast and what he has done in creating some inroads in Ohio, especially with offensive linemen, has been awesome.

“So, yeah, I am excited about it, and he has done a tremendous job of signing some really great players, great people and good families.”

Austin will not be the only new face on the practice fields in the spring. Freshmen offensive linemen Collin Sadler and Blake Miller are two of the nine early enrollees from the 2022 signing class that will participate in spring drills.

Miller (6-6, 315) comes from Ohio, where he was ranked as the state’s ninth best recruit. Sadler (6-6, 300) is a local product from nearby Greenville High School. He was rated as one the top recruits in the state of South Carolina coming out of high school.

“They are what you want when you sign offensive linemen. They check every box,” Austin said. “They are big, they are powerful, they are explosive, they are long, athletic and can run. I was watching them workout today. If you just walked in there and did not know who they were, you would not know that those were two high school kids in the mix.

“Both come from great programs, great strength programs. So, their base is really good. They have jumped in there and they have simulated well. I checked in with the guys all throughout the recruiting process, when I was on the road, and heard great feedback from them. So, they fit in well and they are going to be dynamic players for us, there is no doubt.”

Austin feels getting freshmen to enroll early is important from a development standpoint, especially offensive linemen.

“Guys that want to come in and compete, early, it benefits them tremendously,” he said. “From a strength program standpoint, they are treading water when they get here in July. It is hard for a kid to come in and really make an impact when they get here in July.

“So, from a physical standpoint, it certainly benefits them and mentally, learning the offense, having those fifteen practices where it slows down. You know, you are not getting ready for an opponent, you are working on yourself. That will be really helpful. Then academically and socially, kind of adapting to college and getting twelve to fifteen college credits under your belt is really beneficial.”

What benefits Clemson this year is the fact it returns guys like Jordan McFadden at left tackle, Walker Parks at right tackle, Will Putnam at right guard, Hunter Rayburn at center and left guard, Mason Trotter at center and Marcus Tate at left guard.

They all played a lot of snaps in 2021, especially McFadden, Putnam and Parks.

“We got to get healthy,” Thomas said. “I talked to all the players one-on-one. For a guy like Walker Parks or Will Putnam or Jordan McFadden, who played a thousand snaps, they have to get their bodies healthy and recover in January and February. They do not need to be going out there on their own and going through fundamental work in January.

“Now, some of these younger guys, they do need some more of that work… The biggest thing is getting healthy as we get back into spring practice and feeling good about where we are coming out of it.”

The Tigers, who went 10-3 in 2021 and finished 14th in the final Associated Press Poll, are the fourth team on FanDuel Sportsbook's list to win it all in 2022. Only reigning national champ Georgia (+200), runner-up Alabama (+200) and Ohio State (+800) are ahead of Clemson at +1000.