Tight ends says the middle of the field is wide open and being used in new offense

Jake Briningstool is the leader in the tight end group now.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Mar 30 13:40:22 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The middle of the field is wide open.

That statement is good news for Clemson fans who have watched the Tiger offense throw repeatedly to the sidelines in recent seasons, a one-dimensional aspect that left fans muttering to themselves drive after drive after drive.

Enter new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who is making tight ends and the middle of the field a priority.

Tight end Jake Briningstool, who has grown since last season and now stands at 6-foot-7 and 233 pounds (he wants to be at 240 by the start of the season), loves the way Riley’s offense finds the best matchup against the defense.

"I think this offense definitely allows for a lot of matchup problems,” Briningstool said. “Coach Riley has done a good job of identifying playmakers and working to get them the ball. I think that's a big change from last year is more opportunity for everybody."

Briningstool said the offense will attack the middle, and that comes from receivers having freedom to find the holes in the defense.

"Middle of the field is wide open so we're going to attack there,” he said. “We're going to attack down the numbers, big guys on the outside. Nobody can stop that. This spring we've just been getting the basics of the offense down, but I would say really just guys having freedom... freedom in their routes to find grass, freedom to read man or zone, and then adjusting routes based off the coverage you see really allows guys to get open, find the grass, and you're running away from a guy in man so you can create separate and get open.

"I would just say the freedom of the route-running is the biggest difference from last year and the main reason why we would get more open."

Tight end Sage Ennis says the offense has the right players in place to make the offense work.

“We have the best group in the country,” Ennis said of the tight ends. “We are going to be dominant. We are going to be explosive. We are going to be physical. We are going to be fast. We are more knowledgeable and we are going to make this offense work. We are going to make it run. We are going to be the catalyst.”

Everyone wants to put last year in the past and push each other play in and play out.

“Last year we didn't finish how we wanted to as a team, so I think everybody just came in this spring with a different mindset that we're all we got, so we're all together, like offense, defense, it's really competitive,” Briningstool said. “Guys are going at it play in and play out."