Upperclassman, Doug Middleton, listed as "or" at the Safety position??? Is this a motivation tactic by the coaching staff or has AG upped his game?

I'm more than a little edgy about Zack Matics' return to place-kicking prominence. Is he getting some specialized coaching from someone--somewhere? Has he regained his confidence? I thought we brought in the kid from Apex--Rubino--to take over those duties.

moonshine wrote:Upperclassman, Doug Middleton, listed as "or" at the Safety position??? Is this a motivation tactic by the coaching staff or has AG upped his game?

According to many of the practice reports posted on the recruiting sites Middleton was cross training himself at both positions. While reports were that AG had added weight and was playing well they also said DM was working hard and could play either spot.

asu66 wrote:I'm more than a little edgy about Zack Matics' return to place-kicking prominence. Is he getting some specialized coaching from someone--somewhere? Has he regained his confidence? I thought we brought in the kid from Apex--Rubino--to take over those duties.

As for Matics, the same reports said that, due to a lot of indoor work, that they weren't able to work as much on FG's and that Matics had really upped his level on KO's, which they did spend time on outside. They also stated that Matics had done well last season in practice on FG's but his problems were in game, as you noted above. We all know Rubino is a freshman and it takes a little time to adjust but with his early enrollment he has that time. Give him the offseason program under Iron Mike plus PLP's and we'll see where we stand come fall camp. The biggest difference this year is we have someone capable behind Matics even if he does start the season as the PK and it's not our punter. Lots to shake out before the real fall depth chart takes shape.

moonshine wrote:Upperclassman, Doug Middleton, listed as "or" at the Safety position??? Is this a motivation tactic by the coaching staff or has AG upped his game?

My interpretation, in addition to Moose's comments about Middleton playing both spots, is that the three "starting" safeties will be on the field together at times. I don't think it's a negative about DM at all, but more that Gray is making it hard to keep him off the field.

firemoose wrote:

moonshine wrote:Upperclassman, Doug Middleton, listed as "or" at the Safety position??? Is this a motivation tactic by the coaching staff or has AG upped his game?

According to many of the practice reports posted on the recruiting sites Middleton was cross training himself at both positions. While reports were that AG had added weight and was playing well they also said DM was working hard and could play either spot.

asu66 wrote:I'm more than a little edgy about Zack Matics' return to place-kicking prominence. Is he getting some specialized coaching from someone--somewhere? Has he regained his confidence? I thought we brought in the kid from Apex--Rubino--to take over those duties.

As for Matics, the same reports said that, due to a lot of indoor work, that they weren't able to work as much on FG's and that Matics had really upped his level on KO's, which they did spend time on outside. They also stated that Matics had done well last season in practice on FG's but his problems were in game, as you noted above. We all know Rubino is a freshman and it takes a little time to adjust but with his early enrollment he has that time. Give him the offseason program under Iron Mike plus PLP's and we'll see where we stand come fall camp. The biggest difference this year is we have someone capable behind Matics even if he does start the season as the PK and it's not our punter. Lots to shake out before the real fall depth chart takes shape.

On a nice day they should have as many students as possible come stand on the sidelines, line up the kicking teams, have all of the students scream at the top of their lungs and have each kicker attempt various kicks. I know this is a joke but lots of kickers look great in practice. The test comes when 80,000 crazy Clemson fans are making a deafening roar in the first game and we are lining up for that first FG (or in our case that first XP).

Best part of that list is seeing a defense that can return possibly 11 starters in 2016. Awesome!

bigdaddyg wrote:Best part of that list is seeing a defense that can return possibly 11 starters in 2016. Awesome!

Well, we'll at least have to replace Blair. And Middleton will be a big loss, even if one considers the three safeties to be "co-starters."

But yes, that's a lot of experience to return. Especially considering that nine of those players started last year (or in Gray's case, two years ago). In other words, we're actually looking at returning nine defenders who will be at least three-year starters.

As far as D goes we also need to keep in mind that we still have two more JUCO's to arrive (and a lot of true Freshmen). Sims and Reed will have some catching up to do but you don't sign JUCO's to sit them. You expect them to play. That adds one more DE and OLB to the mix. We'll see how quickly they pick up all the D calls but we still have a long way to go on both sides before we see the first Gameday Central 2 deep for Sept 5th.

EastHallApp wrote:

bigdaddyg wrote:Best part of that list is seeing a defense that can return possibly 11 starters in 2016. Awesome!

Well, we'll at least have to replace Blair. And Middleton will be a big loss, even if one considers the three safeties to be "co-starters."

But yes, that's a lot of experience to return. Especially considering that nine of those players started last year (or in Gray's case, two years ago). In other words, we're actually looking at returning nine defenders who will be at least three-year starters.

I think I mentioned this in another thread but the one glaring hole we are going to have after 2016 is NT/DT. This position is so critical to the 3-4 defense scheme and that has to be priority #1 over the next 2 recruiting classes to add depth and talent accordingly. We are going to be able to get plenty of OLB/DE talent and depth for a 3-4 scheme. The key is that NT clogging the middle and taking on double teams to free up our linebackers.

ASUGoose wrote:

EastHallApp wrote:

bigdaddyg wrote:Best part of that list is seeing a defense that can return possibly 11 starters in 2016. Awesome!

Well, we'll at least have to replace Blair. And Middleton will be a big loss, even if one considers the three safeties to be "co-starters."

But yes, that's a lot of experience to return. Especially considering that nine of those players started last year (or in Gray's case, two years ago). In other words, we're actually looking at returning nine defenders who will be at least three-year starters.

I think I mentioned this in another thread but the one glaring hole we are going to have after 2016 is NT/DT. This position is so critical to the 3-4 defense scheme and that has to be priority #1 over the next 2 recruiting classes to add depth and talent accordingly. We are going to be able to get plenty of OLB/DE talent and depth for a 3-4 scheme. The key is that NT clogging the middle and taking on double teams to free up our linebackers.

Certainly we'll need to keep adding talent there (and everywhere), but I suspect the staff considers Barrett + Stout to be a pretty good start.