New Clemson assistant to shore up special teams

By Bob Wilson  |   Monday, February 12, 2007  |  Comments( 4 )

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Clemson's special teams should receive a boost next year with the hiring of new running backs coach Andre' Powell, who was North Carolina's ST coordinator the past two seasons.

Clemson's special teams coverage units were horrible last year, giving up huge plays at inopportune times. The team ended up resorting to squib kicks and routinely gave its opponents the ball near midfield. Because Clemson didn't have a special teams coach, head coach Tommy Bowden ultimately took responsibility for the group.

Help should be on the way for the coverage team, though, with the addition of Powell. North Carolina's kick coverage unit was second in the ACC last year. The Tar Heels also ranked seventh in the nation in kickoff returns in 2005 and are the only ACC team that has returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in each of he last two seasons.

Although the punt team improved last year in not allowing a single block, the field goal unit regressed. Place-kicker Jad Dean entered the season as a Lou Groza candidate. However, the senior quickly became a liability. His troubles started with blocked kicks and continued with poor kickoffs, eventually bottoming out with Dean simply missing chip shot field goal attempts.

Bowden said the field goal and extra point attempts were being blocked because Dean was slow getting the kicks off. However, once the coaches made changes in the line at halftime of the Florida State game, the blocks stopped. Former Tiger great and NFL veteran Chris Gardocki also suggested that the kicker's timing was not the problem. Whatever the issue was, the poor kicking cost Dean his confidence. And ultimately, it crippled the Tigers in the South Carolina game when they missed a very makeable attempt at the end of a game that turned out to be a three-point loss.

Clemson's return game, meanwhile, was a mixed bag. Freshman Jacoby Ford had 90-plus-yarders for touchdowns as a punt and kick returner. However, the team ranked 81st in the country (ninth in the conference) in punt return average. Ford also made several poor decisions early in the year when he failed to catch multiple punts that were then downed after rolling several more yards. The Tigers were ranked sixth in the nation (second in the ACC) in kickoff returns, however.

The addition of Powell to the coaching staff should prove to be a valuable hire. The fact that the special teams unit will now have an experienced coach can only improve the unit's level of play.

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CommentsComments: 4  |  Sign Up  View all comments
No.1
Marc H.		12:03 PM
02/12/2007
The ST was indeed horrible last year. I don't know what happened with Dean, but it was like night and day between 05 and 06....
No.2
Jon		03:44 PM
02/12/2007
I felt so sorry for Dean... He wanted to be remembered for being a great Clemson field goal kicker, however everyone will...
No.3
Marc H.		06:34 PM
02/12/2007
I felt bad for him as well. He's a great kid. Anyone's confidence would be crushed by that. And you're right; his legacy is very...
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