Dabo Swinney discusses kicking situation between BT Potter and signee

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke with the media about his 2022 recruiting class for the first time after signing day festivities, expressing confidence in the future of the program behind the new wave of talent. Among those who perhaps went overlooked in the headlines is three-star kicker Robert Gunn, who signed his letter of intent.

Gunn comes to Clemson from Largo, Florida and is ranked the No. 5 kicker in the country by On3’s consensus rankings. One of two special teams additions in the 2022 class, Gunn provides the Tigers with their future beyond senior kicker BT Potter.

Despite excitement about a potential kicking competition, there will be none as Gunn recovers from an ACL injury over the next year. Instead, Potter is expected to stay with Clemson for another season and mentor his eventual replacement.

“It’s great,” Dabo Swinney said on the addition of the kicker. “And Robert (Gunn)’s gonna be fine. I saw him, had lunch with him whenever – a couple weeks ago. He looks great, he’s doing very well and we went through this with Greg Huegel and he came back stronger than ever so we’ve got some experience with that unfortunately.”

Huegel, who Swinney mentions in the same breath as Gunn, played four seasons at Clemson and scored 380 points from 2015-18. The Tigers also won two national championships during his time.

“He’s gonna do great, but this is awesome for him because it’s not just the going out there and being the guy, it’s how you handle yourself through the week,” Swinney explained. “Because it’s a different routine and all those things, so I think BT (Potter) will be a great mentor for him as he starts his career. So it’s exciting and that’ll start in January because Robert will be here in January.”

More on Robert Gunn

After Greg Huegel’s tenure at Clemson, BT Potter arrived. With one year of overlap, the growing tradition will continue in 2022. As Potter returns for his fifth season, Robert Gunn will sit back and learn.

With time to develop mentally and physically, Dabo Swinney is excited by the potential the young kicker brings. The coach spoke highly of the power created in his kicks during the press conference.

“He is a super talented kicker,” Swinney said. “He ain’t very big, it just blows my mind how explosive his power is. This kid, the ball just explodes off his foot. So really, really a guy that – we got all these guys in from all over the country – and it was pretty cool to see him when all the smoke settled, he was the guy.”