Tigerillustrated.com's Mail Call

Jesse H. ? Simpsonville, SC: Hey Cris, you and your team have always done a great job but you have really been outdoing yourselves lately. I especially love the recent point-counterpoint article between Ryan and Larry and hope they will make that a recurring feature.

How is the tight end going to be used in the Napier/Swinney offense and how much of what they will do is driven by offensive design versus the need to get C.J. the ball as much as possible?

ARD: Hey bro, thanks for the kudos. I thought the piece Ryan and Larry did was outstanding, and extremely thorough. Ryan has a lot of passion for college basketball, and that comes out a lot when you read his evaluations. And Larry always does a great job of acknowledging every aspect of a situation, good and bad.

I hesitate on your first question regarding how the tight end will be used. It seems as though over the last ten years every time we start to talk about commitment to tight ends and how they're going to be used or used more, we don't see it. It's a point of frustration for a lot of Clemson fans, and even prompted one subscriber, our friend HiltonHeadTiger, to launch a multi-year "Free Ben Hall" campaign. Lol!

In short, I don't think they'll ask Michael Palmer to catch 25 balls this fall. Michael is a player who actually has come through for them in key situations, in their pass game, but you take away so much from your pass game when you lean on him or a Durrell Barry in that role. You essentially take away opportunities for wideouts who are clearly more skilled, they're faster and can give you a homerun threat. Palmer isn't that guy obviously, and Barry, in three years, hasn't been a player they could lean on in their passing attack. Dwayne Allen, in time, as he builds his knowledge of their offense, can be a player at the position that can work in a more expanded role in their pass game. I don't know that you'll see it this year. And he's got to improve his hands.

As for Spiller, his presence affects their package this year, not necessarily their philosophy. There was always a misconception about Phil Fulmer in that he loved to run the football on every play, but while he was a head coach at Tennessee, there were years where they led the SEC in passing and in rushing. It varies from year to year. For this fall, they'll build a lot of what they do around C.J. Any time you talk about giving a kid 20+ touches a game, that's a lot. That's a ton, actually.

Think about this for a moment. James Davis had 214 carries in 2007, the most of his career in a season. He played in 13 games that season. That's just over 16 carries a game. Spiller tallied 145 carries that year, the most of his career in a single season. C.J. isn't going to carry the football 22-25 times a game this fall. He'll work at wideout some, he'll work in the return game again, and quite frankly they're committed to getting Jamie Harper and Andre Ellington the football as well. But I do think C.J. can be in that 15-18 carry per game average range. Carries and touches per game shouldn't be confused here. He'll top 20 touches a game, but I don't think he'll average over 20 carries a game. He's clearly the most explosive player on their roster, and they'll do everything possible to make him the focal point of their offense, particularly earlier in the season, given the growing pains they'll endure at quarterback and with a young receiving corps.

Michael M. ? Fort Payne, AL: Thanks for the best Clemson site on the web. My question is about preparation for the Georgia Tech game. With only a couple of days to prepare after the Middle Tennessee game, what approach will the staff take? Will a good bit of preparation be done this summer and in fall camp along with preparation for the first game? Preparing for the option game is difficult even with a week's time. What do you think?

ARD: Thanks for the compliments. Great question. In short, they'll prepare for both. As for your on-the-record responses from coaches, don't expect to hear a whole lot about Georgia Tech until the Middle Tennessee game is done.

Here's the deal. If a coach faces a Division I-A opponent in week one, yet he's talking about preparing for a conference game, which doesn't begin until week two, then it's a sign of disrespect to Middle Tennessee, and it's plastered all over their locker room? "Clemson isn't respecting us" or "Clemson is overlooking us," or "Clemson has its mind already on Ga. Tech, so it's letdown city. Let's go in there and get the upset." It's a motivational point for Middle Tennessee.

Secondly, Middle Tennessee has really upgraded their personnel and overall team speed over the last several years. And they got everyone's attention by beating Maryland last year, and then coming from within a second of beating Kentucky in Lexington. You can't really sleep on them. In other words, their personnel is good enough, and they're coached good enough to where you're forced to give them a lot of attention in August Camp.

Third, if we had to forecast the outcome of Clemson ? Georgia Tech today, of course we'd pick Tech. It's the most difficult offense Clemson will have to prepare for all season, and will get them on a short week, on the road. So to answer your question, yes, there will be time spent on Georgia Tech, absolutely, in August, but more so in spurts, because once game week arrives for Middle Tennessee, virtually all of their focus will be on the Blue Raiders.

But again, just as a heads-up, when we hit coaches with the question come August, "So are you spending some time on Georgia Tech this month?" ...Just be prepared to get a coach-speak response, "We're full steam ahead getting ready for Middle Tennessee. We've studied some tape of Ga. Tech and we've got some things we're working on, but our focus is on our first game, winning our first game. We're trying to go 1-0." It'll go something like that.

Kevin S. ? Lyman, SC: Can you give us some insight on what happens at summer camp? I know we have had recruits commit at camp in the past. What kind of time is spent on skills, recruiting, etc? I have no idea what goes on at these events and to what extent.

ARD: In the eyes of the NCAA, camps are intended to be instructional-based, not recruiting platforms. In the eyes of college coaches, naturally, any time you can get a prospect on campus, it's a plus. And any time that happens, of course, you can and will take advantage of it. It's odd in a way, because if a kid is a prospect and is participating in your camp, you can't really give him a full-blown unofficial visit with the bells, whistles and tour of the campus. Yet if he leaves your campus, drives past five miles away, then comes back, then you can treat him to an unofficial visit. Also, kids aren't often offered in camp, but it's made known by coaches that the offer is en route. Often, many kids call the coach or coaches when they've left camp and are on the road, then when the prospect initiates that call, boom, the coach tells him he's got the offer.

Of course the coach or coaches will take time to introduce themselves to prospects, tell prospects about themselves and of course the university and its football program. That's part of the routine. But of course you're still essentially selling your program.

Clemson, for example, will have hundreds of campers in next month, though the majority of those players will not be Division I-A prospects. There will be dozens of prospects in town, but by and large most of the attendees won't ever play on the Division I-A level. That's the case with most Division I-A programs' summer camps. Coaches are in charge of specific workstations, and of course there are standard skills and drills sessions, just as you'd see at summer workouts or a Nike Camp. Fundamentals, passing, catching, tackling, blocking, it's all a part of the overall routine.

A trend you're seeing more and more over the last several years is that prospects want to visit multiple camps in the summer but don't have the time or the money to stay three days at four or five places, so you're seeing a lot of one-day stops.

You mention commitments. Certainly if a kid wants to render a decision on his college destination while on campus, he's allowed to do so.

Brian W. ? Atlanta, Ga: Cris, great job with the Web site. I don't post a lot but I always enjoy the insight about recruiting and in general everything related to Clemson sports.

I've asked several people this question and I haven't received any response or anything definitive on the subject. Does the Clemson University Athletics Department have a sports psychologist on staff or retainer? If so, what is their role? Is this a common practice at the larger Division I-A schools?

With so much money dedicated towards recruiting the best athletes and getting them in the best possible physical condition and with nutrition, it would be foolish not to employ someone to address the mental side of competition in order to give us the best possible mental edge, especially in postseason play. Many have talked about the lack of ACC or national titles in recent years and I wonder how much could be attributed to the lack of the mental side. I suppose if we don't have that person on staff, it's up to each coach to address that aspect through their own motivational techniques. I'm curious to hear your answer and your ideas about this aspect of our sports programs.

ARD: Thanks for the compliments and let me encourage you to post more. I posed your question to Dr. Loreto Jackson this week, while preparing to release this segment of Mail Call.

When Terry Don Phillips conceived the Performance Program and hired Dr. Jackson as the Director of Performance in 2005, he encouraged her to hire a sports psychologist to work with the teams.

Dr. Milt Lowder, a licensed psychologist, has worked with Dr. Jackson in this capacity since 2005. He consults to teams, student-athletes, coaches, and other support staff (such as the sports medicine and athletic academic support staffs) on issues pertaining to the performance of the student-athlete.

These issues are varied and can range from performance anxiety, to visualization, coping with a serious injury or illness, leadership development and crisis intervention.

The Performance model utilized at Clemson is one that involves a team and holistic approach to assist student-athletes to support them in attaining their best, to prevent drop-out, and ensuring that they do not "fall through the cracks". Dr. Lowder is a vital part of this team. (The men's basketball program, while employing this same model, have their own sports psychologist - Dr. Joel Fish - a long-time consultant to Purnell teams.)

Noah P. ? Summerville, SC: How do the new assistant coaches at Clemson handle recruiting when it comes to prospects that they were recruiting at other schools? For example, I'm sure Kevin Steele is probably pursuing some of the same kids he was on while at Alabama. Does he just say, "Oh yeah, I take back everything I said about Alabama; Clemson is a much better place." Any insight?

ARD: You mentioned coach Steele. During his first conference call with the media, I asked him about being familiar with Clemson's personnel through recruiting and recruiting overall as you recruit against programs and so forth. He reminded me that he doesn't look at it as recruiting against another school, but simply recruiting for the school he's employed with.

A lot of times coaches don't go back in and recruit those same kids because they've been assigned different recruiting territory or they're out of region in a new job. But there are a lot of times where coaches will move on to another school and still assume duties in the same area. The coach is usually respectful of the place he has just coached. If he's not, it looks bad on him, given that he just spent years selling that program to high school coaches and prospects. But prospects aren't naïve to the point where they don't understand the business and the amount of turnover and change there is in coaching.

David Blackwell, for example, Ron West, for example, are with different programs now, but both have come back in the Palmetto State this spring to recruit. It's not like either are trashing Clemson. Both are Clemson guys, but both are also loyal to the schools they work for now. Loyalty ? in the business world ? last only as long as a paycheck. So they're selling the positives of the programs they work for.

I will say this. When a coach has a kid committed at one school, then he leaves for another school and he goes after that commit, it does ruffle some feathers. That doesn't happen a lot, but it has gone on from time to time. If the prospect contacts the coach, that's one thing, but rarely will coaches ? as a courtesy ? try to initiate contact with a committed kid once they've left.

Bob R. ? Rock Hill, SC: Do you see a switch in recruiting philosophy towards bigger more physical linebacker prospects? Does this fit with the long-term philosophy Clemson seems to have had of recruiting to match Florida State's speed and match other spread offenses?

ARD: Not necessarily. I think most college coaches would love to have a kid who's 6-foot-2, 230 pounds who runs a 4.5. But if a 6-foot, 200-pound backer is a war daddy and he's a player they can't lay off of, then they'll take him every time. Anthony Simmons was roughly 6-foot, and weighed 195 pounds at his first start for Clemson in 1995. He was a 6.0 in high school, and obviously quickly proved that billing was accurate. He's a kid who'd be offered by college coaches time after time.

If coaches can find a bigger body with athletic ability and speed, he's a guy who will take precedent on the recruiting board more often than not. But to answer your question, I don't think Clemson's staff goes into a recruiting cycle and sinks 80-percent of the 6-foot or 5-11 backers on their board, while pushing up everyone with good film who's 6-1 or 6-2. I don't think it works that way. It's still case by case in evaluation and depends on the prospect.

For the record, merely as an opinion, I do think too many 6-foot QBs and LBs have been taken at Clemson in the 16 years I've covered the program.

Bryon C. ? Easley, SC: If you were Dabo, what would be your opinion of how the talent matches up with the competition? What would keep you up at night knowing it has to be fixed to win big?

ARD: I think Florida State still has the best personnel in the Atlantic Division. If you're tallying up high school All-Americans, NFL prospects, I think they're at the top. I'd put Clemson at #2 in terms of talent. But in the same breath I will tell you don't be surprised to see Clemson and N.C. State playing for second place in the division this November in Raleigh. I could see it coming down to that.

If I were the head coach at Clemson, my biggest concern would be developing a backup left tackle. There isn't a developed, backup left tackle on the roster. Cory Lambert ? as you saw last fall ? cannot play left tackle at the level they need him to perform. In other words, he won't give you a winning performance at that position time after time whereas Chris Hairston is a potential all-conference player. If Hairston goes down, they've got some problems. I think people saw just how important he was last year.

When you look at the fact that Xavier Dye, Marquan Jones, Brandon Clear and Terrance Ashe have combined for just 25 career catches, I'd say that puts Jacoby Ford's health at a premium. After Jacoby, there's not anyone proven at this level who gives you security right now. I do think Marquan, Jaron Brown, Brandon Ford and Bryce McNeal are going to be very good football players, perhaps great, but Marquan is a rising sophomore, and Brown, Ford and McNeal haven't seen the field yet.

They need for Ricky Sapp to get healthy and stay healthy this fall. They're very average at his position from a pass-rush standpoint when he's out of the lineup.

At backer, there's not a lot of depth. Their front-line corps will be better when you look at Kavell Conner, Brandon Maye and Scotty Cooper returning, but Buster Hunter, because of his medical condition, is a lingering question mark at SAM, and Daniel Andrews is not a two-deep player there in a perfect world, which means if Cooper went down, they'd end up possibly moving Jeremy Campbell to the starting spot. And Jeremy is a role player. Tig Willard can be a special player in time, but obviously the fall-off is notable if he's got to be a front-line player at this early stage of his career. It's why I still think one of the incoming backers has a chance to play early. It's also a reason why I believe they'll over-sign at the position this winter. There's good personnel there, but they've got to keep people healthy, and they've got to develop other players - Willard/Christian/Hawkins.

And lastly kicker. Spencer Benton hasn't played in a game on this level, and Richard Jackson hasn't had the consistency to be a significant contributor since he arrived three years ago, so that's a major question mark for them.

Outside of kicker, I don't know that Clemson's staff has any major concerns with its front-line talent or starting lineups. It's developing a rotation and depth at key positions.