Thursday, Aug. 13, 2009

Jackson seeks to regain trust

Tigers kicker has much to prove to teammates, coaches

CLEMSON — The attention might have been rewarding affirmation for Clemson kicker Richard Jackson had he not been down this road before.

Jackson surfaced as one of the standouts in Tuesday's scrimmage, nailing 4 of 5 field goals, including a 50-yarder. As one reporter after another made the procession toward him for interviews, the junior from Greenville remarked what a long time it had been since he had attracted so much interest.

Which explained why Jackson refused to allow himself to relish the scene. Too many times in his career he has shown glimpses of potential, only to fade back into oblivion by his own undoing.

Jackson said skepticism — especially by Clemson coaches — is merited until proven otherwise.

"And there still is (suspicion), I'd say," Jackson said. "You know, I've made a lot of mistakes here. I wasn't eligible for the bowl, and any way you look at it, that's ridiculous. It's warranted that they could lose trust and not be completely sure about sending me out there.

"I've tried to make big strides in the spring and throughout the summer to try to regain trust and make kicks. That's all I can do."

Jackson also has turned heads with his improved punting — just not enough to unseat sophomore Dawson Zimmerman, who has matched him toe-to-toe in launching long, hanging punts since camp began.

Jackson followed his scrimmage showing by nailing all three of his field goal attempts at Wednesday's morning practice — each between 30 and 40 yards.

Redshirt freshman Spencer Benton has appeared to take a step backward since staking claim to the starting place-kicking job in the spring.

Benton went 0-for-4 in Tuesday's scrimmage and has been more erratic in general.

Coach Dabo Swinney said Wednesday that Benton has a slight groin strain.

Swinney said everything he has seen this month has reinforced place-kicking as his No. 1 preseason concern.

"It has been up and down with our kickers," Swinney said. "I'm just looking for someone to be consistent day in and day out. Right now we're not there yet."

Jackson concurred, fingering his missed extra point off the upright in the scrimmage as evidence.

But the former Parade All-American feels he is in a much better place than the past few years, both in terms of performance and mental health.

Jackson failed to immediately live up to the hype that accompanied his state-record 64-yard field goal in high school, and after redshirting was beaten out in 2007 for Clemson's kicking job by Mark Buchholz, a walk-on from the soccer team.

He hit rock bottom last fall and eventually was ruled academically ineligible for the Gator Bowl.

Instead of quitting, though, Jackson decided he needed to use the embarrassment of his suspension as a wake-up call.

He changed his major from finance to economics and was determined to conquer his difficulties dealing with pressure.

Each miss had tended to wreck his confidence and incite a tentativeness with subsequent kicks because he was questioning every facet of his technique.

"Coach Swinney always says football doesn't define us, and football doesn't define me," Jackson said. "It's something we do and something we should enjoy doing. So instead of putting all the weight of the world on my shoulders when I go out there, take it for what it's worth and be loose and swing away.”

The more he trusts himself, the more reason Clemson coaches will have to trust him.

"I couldn't be happier with the way I'm striking it," he said. "Now it just has to carry over."

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