Coach Speak: David Clement

CBA's head coach breaks down Clement's commitment to Syracuse.

Class of 2023 Albany (NY) CBA tight end David Clement committed to Syracuse on Friday. All Syracuse caught up with CBA head coach Bob Burns to get background on Clement, his recruitment, his skill set, fit with the Orange and more. 

From basketball to football to Syracuse

Bob Burns: "I've only been at CBA for less than a year. I live in Troy. I coached at Troy for 19 years and was the head coach for the last seven. Won two state championships in 2015 and 2017. When I got to CBA in June, I met the team and obviously David's size and appearance is something you're intrigued by. I kind of met everybody at the same time so it wasn't like I talked to him intensely. But once we started our summer workouts, I knew he was a basketball player. He was a basketball first kid at that time because he told me he was going to miss some days with traveling to AAU tournaments. I had watched his film and he had potential, but he wasn't really at the level I thought he could be at. After about a month in the summer, I pulled him aside after one of our workouts and said, 'I'm just going to let you know, your future's in this sport.' I said I know he loves basketball and he really takes pride in, but six foot seven as a football player is something you can't really coach that into somebody. Plus he's very athletic for his size too. 

"I think him building that confidence in football progressed over the next six months. He had a great season. Really bought into all the things me and the coaching staff I brought with me instilled in him. We had conversations during the fall about what I thought his potential was going to be. I thought there was going to be serious division one interest once the season ended. Syracuse obviously came in. He had talked to a bunch of coaches as did I. I felt as if he was going to get a lot of interest. But Syracuse reached out to him first as far as the bigger schools, invited him for a visit. Gino Gigliotti, he's from Rensselear New York, which is literally five minutes from Troy. He's a section two product too. His mother works in state taxation and literally works two desks over from one of my assistant coaches. So that kind of connection helped too. He made me and David feel real comfortable. They were really up front with him and honest. I thought it was a great experience for him. 

"David's mother was blown away by the first visit. I still think he was going to get interest from some other schools even though they he visited Boston College last weekend and they didn't offer. I think the offer would've came. I discussed this with him, that I thought he'd still have more interest. He felt, even after the first visit, I know his mom wanted him to commit right then and there. I wanted to pump the breaks just a little bit and give it a little bit of time. I told him that I understand that Syracuse is awesome and it's great, but you have to visit some other places too to see what it's like. Coach Babers and his staff did a great job because they got him back out there. He wasn't able to tour the entire campus and facility (on the first visit) and they made him feel super comfortable. He texted me about 1:30 (p.m.) Friday and felt like he needed to give me an explanation. I told him whatever he decides, I'm going to back him 100%. I'm going to try to give him the best advice I possibly can, but at the end of the day it's about him and his family. I know his mom is happy and I'm sure he is too. I'm sure it's something he'd like to get out of the way for lack of a better term. The recruiting process can be wearing on a kid." 

More than a football player

Bob Burns: "I don't know that I've ever had a kid with the ability and the size and the character like him. I told coach Babers on the phone, 'coach I'm not trying to blow smoke or anything here but he checks off every box.' He's 6-7, 265 pounds and can move and has a 4.0 gpa. He's one of the highest ranking students when it comes to the military side in our school. He's probably going to be the highest ranking kid his senior year. It'll probably come down to him and one other kid. I told my team that nobody is allowed to not play a spring sport. I told him, 'David, you're running track, I don't know if you're aware of that but you're doing it.' He was like, 'OK coach.' I told him he's going to throw the shot and disc too and he's been great." 

Potential

"I think playing both ways with d-line, I think that's helped him from an offensive standpoint. From the blocking and his aggressiveness to physicality. He plays defensive end, but he plays the 4-i technique which is the inside shade of the tackle, more like a defensive tackle. I think that's helped him. I didn't get a feel for what he's capable of until later in the year. He busts my chops all the time that he didn't get enough targets last year. It was a whole feeling it out process to see what we were going to be capable of doing and who were our best guys on offense to see who needs to get touches consistently. I honestly think that the sky's the limit, I really do. I don't he's done growing, first of all. His father was 6-9 and he's got an older brother who is two years older than him and is also 6-9. I find it hard to believe that he's done growing, plus his mom is 6-1. 

"The funny thing about the whole scenario is I was interest in Virginia's offense from last year. My quarterback is a good player too. He's a little bit more of a runner than he is a thrower. I heard that Virginia had some unique things they were doing with empty formations, two tight ends and running the ball with the quarterback. So I used some resources to get some Virginia film and I started breaking it down. Coach Anae called me on the phone and I was like, this is kind of coincidental that he was the offensive coordinator at Virginia last year and now he's recruiting my tight end. Based upon the stuff that he did last year at Virginia, David can fit into that very well. He's extremely athletic for a kid that's his size. The crazy thing is he catches the basketball so well, but there's a few scenarios where he's a little uncomfortable, in certain positions, catching the football. But we're working on that. 

"Plus they do things like flex the tight end out, put him out in space, which I didn't do as much with him last year as I probably should have. I'm going to this year. I've already told him he's going to get touches every game. You're going to get targets. Because I think he's developed himself into someone with a better understanding of how to run routes, how defenses are covering him. I'm hoping that the things we do this upcoming fall will prepare him for what he's going to experience at Syracuse. Hopefully he can come in and make an immediate impact. That would be great." 

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