Dabo Swinney raves about kicking ability of Robert Gunn III

After Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s recent comments, the Tigers appear to have the strongest kicking legs in all of football in their special teams room.

Recently, Swinney caught up with the media to recap how practice is coming along, and one question came through about the special teams unit, particularly how the kickers had performed. Starting with sophomore place kicker Robert Gunn, Swinney raved about his kickers.

“Robert was awesome. He’s been great all week,” reviewed the Clemson coach, bragging of some monster kicks he was able to hit in practice.

“I mean, he hit one yesterday that was to win the national championship that was — we didn’t even have a goal post, so I said we got to kick it over the camera guy in the tower, and the camera guy in the tower couldn’t touch it. It went over his head right over the middle of the tower, it was unbelievable, good from the 70.”

Swinney even joked that the Tigers may line up for some outlandishly long field goal tries this year if this sort of performance from the kicking staff keeps up.

“So we’re starting to gain some confidence. Don’t be surprised if we line up from 70 at some point. I mean, it’s just amazing. (Gunn) hit one from 60 today and really kind of sparked it, so he’s had a really good camp, he’s in a really good spot, really pleased with just our whole battery and operation right there. We’re starting to really settle in.”

Next, Dabo Swinney addressed the punters, a spot where he’s gotten to rotate some backups during recent practice since starter Aidan Swanson had to sit out.

“Then, Aidan’s leg is a little sore the last day, so we actually held him today, which is also good. He’s had a good camp and really gave Jackson more work.”

Fellow punters Jack Smith and Brodey Conn have stepped in without Swanson and both have kicked well, per Swinney.

“I’m pleased with Jack and Brodey, both those guys. You know, Brody’s starting to come on and we got a little competition there, so it’s good to see a third guy kind of emerge.

“And man, I’m pleased with Jack. I mean, I think he’s going to be a really good one, so he got a chance to get most of the work today and kind of Aiden had that day as well.”

Stellar reviews for the Clemson kickers from head coach Dabo Swinney.