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Clemson Football UPDATE is NOT What I Was EXPECTING before LSU Tigers Game! · ACC Football Addiction (Atlantic Coast Conference)

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  Speaker 1: What's up, Tigers? Thank you guys for joining us today
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  Speaker 1: on ACC Football Addiction, presented by PrizePix, where all new
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  Speaker 1: users get $ 150 in lineups when they win a $ 5
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  Speaker 1: lineup using their code HMA. As fall camp rolls along,
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  Speaker 1: the pressure surrounding Clemson Tigers football is starting to reach
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  Speaker 1: a boiling point, both on and off the field. There's
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  Speaker 1: a massive season opener that's looming on the horizon, and
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  Speaker 1: this program is suddenly navigating a major shift across its roster.
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  Speaker 1: On one side of the ball, the picture is starting
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  Speaker 1: to become clear after weeks of intense competition. But on
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  Speaker 1: the other side, there's been a sudden setback, and there
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  Speaker 1: are depth concerns that are testing the foundation of this defense.
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  Speaker 1: If you've been following the team this offseason, you know
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  Speaker 1: the pressure surrounding Clemson Tigers football and Debo Sweeney. Everything
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  Speaker 1: is on the line before the opening kickoff even arrives.
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  Speaker 1: I do have a lot that I want to talk
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  Speaker 1: about today, so let's get into it all. Pete Nacos
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  Speaker 1: of On3 did something that came out just after we
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  Speaker 1: did our last Clemson video, and he did something that
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  Speaker 1: reporters a lot of times will avoid in August. He
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  Speaker 1: called it. Nacos reported that fourth-year quarterback Christopher Vizina will
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  Speaker 1: start Clemson's week one game at LSU. He didn't hedge
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  Speaker 1: behind any kind of a maybe. He said that he
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  Speaker 1: should start. His exact framing was that it would come
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  Speaker 1: as a surprise if the fourth-year quarterback did not earn
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  Speaker 1: the nod. It's a bold claim in fall camp where
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  Speaker 1: the head coach has said almost nothing. Nacos backed it
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  Speaker 1: up with intel from Saturday scrimmage where sources told on
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  Speaker 1: three that Vazina led the Tigers on multiple scoring drives.
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  Speaker 1: In a closed camp, that's the metric that matters the
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  Speaker 1: most because scoring drives are the real currency that coaches count. Still,
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  Speaker 1: Nacos did not shut the door behind him. In the
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  Speaker 1: same report, he noted that true freshman Tate Reynolds continues
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  Speaker 1: to push flashing an ability to create plays with his legs.
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  Speaker 1: That means the freshman will not simply fade away when
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  Speaker 1: the season kicks off. He will continue to keep chasing
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  Speaker 1: playing time well into September. Now, Dabo, of course, is
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  Speaker 1: not officially named a starter. And when asked after the
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  Speaker 1: scrimmage which quarterback threw a pick six to a linebacker,
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  Speaker 1: I told you the other day, Sweeney flatly refused to stay. Instead,
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  Speaker 1: he called the day the next step in the process,
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  Speaker 1: which certainly reveals nothing. It protects everyone in the room.
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  Speaker 1: If the head coach will not say it, who will?
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  Speaker 1: ESPN's Greg McIlroy, we talked about him on our last video,
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  Speaker 1: he reached the same conclusion and put it even more plainly.
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  Speaker 1: He said, it's Chris Vizina. I don't think it's particularly close.
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  Speaker 1: He pointed to the specific language that Sweeney had used earlier,
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  Speaker 1: noting that Sweeney does not say it's his to lose
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  Speaker 1: by accident. According to McIlroy, that phrasing is the dead
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  Speaker 1: giveaway because coaches choose those five words very carefully. McElroy
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  Speaker 1: also shared a camp detail that will be something that
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  Speaker 1: I think Clemson fans will love. On day one of camp,
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  Speaker 1: Vazina was out front and center, as I told you
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  Speaker 1: in our very last video, leading the team in warm-ups,
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  Speaker 1: both offense and defense. Like I told you, McElroy said
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  Speaker 1: that this is typically reserved for a leader, making it
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  Speaker 1: a small ritual with a very loud meaning inside of
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  Speaker 1: this specific program. There is a knock against Vazina, and
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  Speaker 1: it's one that I think we'll address here quickly. Evaluators
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  Speaker 1: have questioned his velocity on far hash throws, specifically the
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  Speaker 1: deep out and the deep comeback to the opposite sideline.
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  Speaker 1: McElroy's counter was that elite processing can compensate for pure
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  Speaker 1: arm strength. He said Vizina's understanding can manufacture the same
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  Speaker 1: arm strength with his brain by giving them a ball
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  Speaker 1: half a second quicker. That half a second is maybe
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  Speaker 1: the focal point of the entire argument. When you get
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  Speaker 1: the ball out earlier, it doesn't take a rocket scientist
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  Speaker 1: to know this. The throw simply doesn't have to be
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  Speaker 1: as fast. So what has Vazina actually produced on the
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  Speaker 1: field so far? Across 14 games and 238 snaps, he
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  Speaker 1: has completed 64 of his 105 passes. For just under
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  Speaker 1: 600 yards, he's had four TDs and one pick. He's
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  Speaker 1: carried the ball for 38 tries and had 109 yards
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  Speaker 1: and a touchdown on the ground, too. He arrived as
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  Speaker 1: a highly touted recruit for the 24-7 sports composite, so
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  Speaker 1: raw talent has never been a question with this kid.
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  Speaker 1: Live game experience is. Reynolds is no token challenger either.
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  Speaker 1: He enrolled early this past January out of Queen Creek,
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  Speaker 1: Arizona after a high school junior season where he ran
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  Speaker 1: for 1,426 yards and 19 TDs while also winning a
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  Speaker 1: state player of the year honor. The competition is real.
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  Speaker 1: Even if the top of the depth chart is not
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  Speaker 1: in serious doubt, all of that brings the immediate stakes
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  Speaker 1: into sharp focus. If McIlroy and Nacos are correct, Vazina
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  Speaker 1: will be making just his second career start in the
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  Speaker 1: other Death Valley for Lane Kiffin's LSU debut on September 5th.
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  Speaker 1: As McIlroy noted, that single game could define Clemson's season
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  Speaker 1: before anyone really even knows who they are. A quarterback
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  Speaker 1: making his second career start can only do so much
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  Speaker 1: if the defense is leaking. And just two weeks before
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  Speaker 1: that trip to Baton Rouge, Clemson lost the most experienced
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  Speaker 1: interior defender on its roster. Before I get to that,
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  Speaker 1: I want to give some love to our friends over
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  Speaker 1: at My Swaggy Merch. They set up a merch store
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  Speaker 1: for us. I know you guys are excited about this game. Listen,
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  Speaker 1: as a Florida State fan, there's nothing better than going
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  Speaker 1: to Louisiana and opening the season beating an SEC team.
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  Speaker 1: I know that we haven't had much to celebrate over
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  Speaker 1: on this side of the ACC here recently, but I'm
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  Speaker 1: telling you, it's a lot of fun. You're going to
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  Speaker 1: want to commemorate this game. Whether you want a T-shirt
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  Speaker 1: or you want a sticker, go to the link in
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  Speaker 1: the description and grab yours today. If you're going to
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  Speaker 1: the game, go grab this. There's a discount right now
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  Speaker 1: that's applied to everyone who goes and checks it out.
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  Speaker 1: The link is in the description. You guys will enjoy it.
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  Speaker 1: I like the stickers the most. I have one for myself.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, I don't have to tell you guys probably.
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  Speaker 1: This isn't part of the script. I've got mine right here.
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  Speaker 1: So I've got mine ready to go. Go check out
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  Speaker 1: my swaggy merch. We appreciate them for their support and
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  Speaker 1: for designing that for us. Hard news, but we're going
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  Speaker 1: to address it. Senior defensive tackle Vic Burley was arrested
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  Speaker 1: early Saturday morning by the Clemson University Police Department for
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  Speaker 1: disorderly conduct. That same afternoon, Sweeney suspended him from the
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  Speaker 1: team indefinitely. He said, earlier today, I was made aware
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  Speaker 1: of defensive tackle Vic Burley's arrest. I have made the
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  Speaker 1: decision to suspend Rick from our football team indefinitely. He
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  Speaker 1: went on to say we are extremely disappointed by his
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  Speaker 1: actions and decisions. The brutal timing of this news is
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  Speaker 1: what truly alters the season. The announcement landed exactly two
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  Speaker 1: weeks before that September 5th opener at LSU. Burley was
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  Speaker 1: one of the key returning pieces on the interior rotation
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  Speaker 1: on Clemson's roster. That number alone is why this loss
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  Speaker 1: hurts far more than just any typical suspension. Clemson had
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  Speaker 1: already lost its top couple of defensive tackles from the
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  Speaker 1: last season to the NFL draft in the transfer portal,
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  Speaker 1: leaving a very small cushion to begin with. Sweeney had
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  Speaker 1: even flagged the position as a concern before fall camp began.
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  Speaker 1: He said, it's a big unknown, huge unknown. Guys have
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  Speaker 1: a lot to prove, every one of them. Burley was
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  Speaker 1: supposed to be the safety answer to all of that unknown,
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  Speaker 1: anchoring the middle of the defensive front. The 6'4, 316-pound
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  Speaker 1: standout from Warner Robins, Georgia, missed his freshman season with
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  Speaker 1: knee injuries. He then appeared in 21 career games with
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  Speaker 1: 267 defensive snaps. Here is the detail that makes the
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  Speaker 1: situation sting even more. Burley had just returned to practice
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  Speaker 1: from an injury and made several disruptive plays during Thursday's session.
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  Speaker 1: He earned public praise from Sweeney only days before his arrest.
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  Speaker 1: In an instant, the defensive tackle room went from finally
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  Speaker 1: getting healthy to suddenly being Someone must absorb those valuable
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  Speaker 1: snaps immediately, swinging the door wide open for junior college
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  Speaker 1: transfer Andy Berberia. Berberia arrived from Iowa Western in June
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  Speaker 1: as a standout JUCO prospect per 24-7 sports, and he
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  Speaker 1: is now thrust into a significantly larger role right away.
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  Speaker 1: For a defense that's trying to rebound after a disappointing
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  Speaker 1: 2025 season, losing your most experienced interior anchor right before
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  Speaker 1: facing an explosive SEC offense in Baton Rouge is the
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  Speaker 1: last thing that coordinator Tom Allen needed. Yet the interior
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  Speaker 1: line is not even the thinnest room on defense. This
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  Speaker 1: secondary has also suffered a devastating blow of its own.
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  Speaker 1: Freshman safety Polo Anderson tore his ACL, wiping out a
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  Speaker 1: very promising contributor in a group that was already being
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  Speaker 1: handed over to incoming transfers Jerome Carter III and Corey Myrick.
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  Speaker 1: That setback is precisely why TigerNet, naming Ronan Hannafin as
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  Speaker 1: a fall camp stock riser, probably carries a good bit
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  Speaker 1: of weight. Sweeney has raved about the converted wide receiver
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  Speaker 1: all throughout August. He said, Ronan, man, he looks amazing.
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  Speaker 1: He's more confident, more experienced as a player. He's more comfortable.
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  Speaker 1: I think he was third on the team last year
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  Speaker 1: in tackles, and we only started him like five games.
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  Speaker 1: Following the first scrimmage, Sweeney praised him even further. He said, man,
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  Speaker 1: he had a heck of a day today. Ronan has
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  Speaker 1: shown up every single day. He's kind of like Will Helt, man.
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  Speaker 1: You're just going to get every ounce of everything he's
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  Speaker 1: got every day. The proven production is already on film.
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  Speaker 1: The 6'3, 215-pound Burlington, Massachusetts native, he's Clemson's first Massachusetts
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  Speaker 1: signee since Christian Wilkins, he piled up 72 tackles, four
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  Speaker 1: pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and a pick across 13
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  Speaker 1: games with five starts in 2025. That breakout campaign included
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  Speaker 1: a team-high 12 tackles in his first career start against LSU,
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  Speaker 1: along with a 10-tackle game at Georgia Tech and eight
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  Speaker 1: against Penn State. However, the main reason Hannafin matters so
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  Speaker 1: much goes far beyond the box score. He's the only
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  Speaker 1: real returning veteran experience in Tom Allen's secondary. Tom Allen
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  Speaker 1: enters his second full season inside of this scheme, and
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  Speaker 1: some of it is just muscle memory at this point,
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  Speaker 1: Hannafin said. He noted that he now handles pre-snap checks
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  Speaker 1: and motion adjustments without overthinking them. That continuity to me
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  Speaker 1: is vital because almost nobody else around him really has it.
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  Speaker 1: At the same time, key contributors like Khalil Barnes and
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  Speaker 1: Ricardo Jones transferred to Georgia and Vandy, respectively. To compound
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  Speaker 1: the turnover, Sweeney replaced longtime safeties coach Mickey Kahn with
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  Speaker 1: former Tiger Nolan Turner. The urgency in the secondary is
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  Speaker 1: not an exaggeration. It is pure math. Clemson finished 119th
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  Speaker 1: nationally in past defense by allowing 251.2 yards per game
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  Speaker 1: last year, prompting Sweeney to state pretty bluntly after the
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  Speaker 1: loss to Duke last year, horrible, horrible pass defense. It's
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  Speaker 1: not acceptable. Hannafin's offensive background allows him to read route
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  Speaker 1: concepts before they develop fully, while his size lets him
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  Speaker 1: match up with larger tight ends and support the run
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  Speaker 1: near the line of scrimmage. It gives Allen a versatile
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  Speaker 1: chess piece in three safety packages. Unfortunately for Clemson, their
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  Speaker 1: opening test is the Toughest one you could imagine. It
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  Speaker 1: comes against Lane Kiffin in his LSU debut on September
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  Speaker 1: 5th on the road. Lane Kiffin will be leading an
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  Speaker 1: offense whose final Ole Miss unit ranked third nationally with
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  Speaker 1: 313 passing yards per game. A quarterback making his second
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  Speaker 1: career start, a depleted defensive tackle room, and a solitary
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  Speaker 1: experience safety must all march into that hostile environment on
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  Speaker 1: the very same night. That reality raises the defining question
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  Speaker 1: nobody at Clemson has managed to answer just yet. but
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  Speaker 1: the Tigers will try to in less than two weeks
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  Speaker 1: from now in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Can't wait to see
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  Speaker 1: what Clemson looks like this year. Can't wait to hear
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  Speaker 1: your thoughts down in the comments. We hope the very
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  Speaker 1: best for the Vic Burley situation. I'm encouraged by the
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  Speaker 1: other updates, and I'm ready to see Clemson respond. Appreciate
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: our friends over at PrizePix. We're all new users. Get
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: $ 150 instantly when they win their first $ 5 lineup using
• 12:07
  Speaker 1: code HMA. We'll see you guys on the next one
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: here on ACC Football Addiction.