Clemson’s O-line sees sudden wealth of talent and potential

Offensive line depth has been a nagging issue for at least a decade at Clemson, certainly as far back as 2004 when senior walk-on Jessie Pickens, a converted tight end with zero experience in the trenches, began the season as the starting left tackle.

Attrition and injuries took a toll last season. The offensive line was in “total disarray,” coach Dabo Swinney said.

Practice often was a challenge with barely enough healthy players for drills. On many weeks, Clemson entered games with no more than six linemen, some seemingly patched with duct tape.

Reid Webster, a seldom-used senior, might have been the team’s most valuable player after starting at four positions during the season and playing all five spots in one game.

“We could never seem to keep the same five guys in there,” Swinney said. “We played the hand we were dealt about as well as we could.”

The circumstances were similar two years earlier when center Ryan Norton and roommate Eric Mac Lain, an aspiring tight end, were combing the roster for help after two teammates went down.

“We were trying to think of (whom) if not me,” said Mac Lain. “No one’s name came up.

“I knew I was that next bigger body, so I approached Coach Swinney and I was like, ‘Do you think that this could be a smooth transition and something we should try and do?’”

Swinney agreed, knowing it was a huge concession for a player who had been adamant about his role when he entered Clemson as one of the nation’s top prospects at tight end.

“Of course, you always want to catch passes and score touchdowns,” Mac Lain said. “But I’m a team guy. I want to help out any way I can, and that just happens to be the offensive line.

“I just took it on for the greater good of the team.”

Mac Lain’s choice was fortuitous. He virtually doubled his playing time from his sophomore year, including a start against Syracuse, and proved himself versatile enough to where now he’s one of line coach Robbie Caldwell’s hybrids, capable of playing anywhere on the line.

Mac Lain would like to lock down left guard, but the competition should be brisk, even after the loss of starting left tackle Isaiah Battle to the NFL. Swinney sees Mac Lain and senior Joe Gore as potentially filling roles similar to Webster’s a year ago.

Slated to return when practice begins Tuesday with seniors Mac Lain, Gore and Norton are three others with experience – junior Jay Guillermo, sophomores Tyrone Crowder and Maverick Morris – redshirts Justin Falcinelli and Taylor Hearn, and four highly regarded freshmen who enrolled in January, including one penciled in as Battle’s replacement at blindside tackle.

Swinney said Caldwell has been ecstatic with the sudden wealth of talent and potential.

“He’s got a room of guys that love football, guys that love to be offensive linemen. That love to lift weights, want to go to class and want to study film. They wake up thinking how they can get better as an offensive line,” Swinney said.

Perhaps the best might be freshman Mitch Hyatt, the heir to Battle’s job. Swinney puts him slightly behind in development.

“Is there a concern that you might have to count on a freshman at left tackle? Certainly, he’s a freshman,” Swinney said. “But, boy, he’s not just a freshman. He’s a really talented guy that’s been here since January. So he’s almost like a redshirt freshman.”

Jake Fruhmorgen, Zack Giella and Noah Green are like Hyatt in that they’re long, strong and athletic and have been preparing for this job for a while. There shouldn’t be any need soon for converts.

“I really think are going to pay big dividends for us. Not just this year but for years to come,” Swinney said.

“We’ve got a bunch of big athletes out there,” Mac Lain said. “Everybody can play guard and tackle, and we have a bunch of guys out there that can snap the ball.”

Mac Lain credited the cross-training program, which began under predecessor Brad Scott, the coach who accelerated the development of Pickens and Barry Richardson, his subsequent replacement .

“He’s developed a bunch of hybrids playing a lot of different positions,” Mac Lain said of Caldwell. “If Ty (Crowder) or somebody goes down, there’s no stress. We plug and play. I really think we’ve reached this level.”

Typically, a coach wants continuity in his line, which a number of moving pieces might undermine. Mac Lain believes that Clemson learned to overcome a fractured existence by bonding off the field.

“The camaraderie is amazing,” he said, crediting tutelage from SMU line coach Dustin Fry and current graduate assistant Thomas Austin, both former Clemson centers.

“We’ve really learned from them,” he said, “developing that ‘rip them apart’ mentality. I think has been a big thing for us this summer. We look forward to getting after it.”