Clemson Football Coach Dabo Swinney Brought By A Kicker Who Was About To Quit!

This week, Clemson needed a new kicker, so coach Dabo Swinney phoned a recognizable name who wasn’t even playing football. Despite preparing for a career in the real world, Jonathan Weitz, Clemson’s former backup kicker, returned to the squad this week.

Weitz was a walk-on at Clemson from 2019 to ’22, but he spent his whole career trailing B.T. Potter, the Tigers’ all-time field goal leader. After last year, both Potter and Weitz left the squad, with Potter going to the NFL and Weitz moving on to the next stage of his life.

Clemson Football Coach Dabo Swinney Brought By A Kicker Who Was About To Quit!

After learning that the former kicker was still enrolled at Clemson, the coach reached out to him. While living in Charleston, Weitz was taking online classes through the school to earn his master’s degree. Swinney phoned him after he took a job offer in New York City, asking whether he was still in school. Swinney urged Weitz to rejoin the team after he answered that he was.

Despite having a job set up in New York City, Weitz opted to return and started for Clemson against No. 4 Florida State. Weitz, who had previously only made extra points, made his first collegiate field goal in the first quarter, giving the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Over the previous week, Weitz’s LinkedIn profile has been the most popular among Clemson master’s degree hopefuls.

Weitz is a Masters of Data Science and Analytics candidate at Clemson and an investment management intern at Ally Financial, according to his LinkedIn profile. In May, the 22-year-old finished with a bachelor’s degree in financial management after three years of study.

Swinney admitted that he would most likely use Gunn for long-range kicks, but he needed a more reliable alternative for short kicks and extra-point tries.

“It’s either gonna be a great story or it’s gonna be terrible. It’s not gonna be anything in between,” Swinney said about Weitz, via The Athletic’s Grace Raynor. “I hope [Saturday] doesn’t come down to a kick. I don’t know if my heart can take that.”

Weitz ended up starting Saturday’s game against No. 4 Florida State, and his performance was mixed. He hit an early field goal to put Clemson up 3-0, then missed a game-tying field goal from 29 yards out with 1:45 remaining. Clemson was defeated 31-24.

Weitz took over for redshirt sophomore Robert Gunn III, who had a rough first three games of the season. He had two field-goal tries against Duke blocked and a field goal and an extra point missed against Florida Atlantic.

According to Swinney, while Gunn will continue to be the favored choice on longer kicks, Weitz is regarded the likely starting kicker and will likely receive opportunities on at least PATs. Gunn missed an extra point, a 31-yard field goal attempt, and field goals from 41 and 23 yards in the opening defeat against Duke. Swinney said Weitz, a graduating senior, made 7-of-8 tries in practice on Monday.

Weitz’s chance comes in a high-pressure game against Florida State, when the Tigers cannot afford to go 0-2 in the ACC.

Why did Dabo Swinney bring back Jonathan Weitz?

Potter, Weitz’s teammate, said they joked about Weitz being summoned back to the squad this year when another kicker entered the transfer portal in May. After watching Clemson’s first three games, the chance increased.

“I did not say anything to Jon. I did not want to bring it up to him,” Potter said to The Clemson Insider. “But I talked to some of the other guys I used to play with, and I said, ‘We have to keep an eye on it. Something might happen.’”

Swinney looked to Weitz for his maturity despite being a backup throughout his four seasons at Clemson when other kickers at practice failed to respond to the opportunity to become starters.

“It’s either going to be a great story, or it’s going to be terrible. It’s not going to be anything in between,” Swinney said on this weekend’s game against Florida State.Because of his low-trajectory kicks, Gunn will be used for longer field goal attempts while Weitz will come in for the close “layups.”

Jonathan Weitz College Record

According to his profile on the football team’s website, Weitz kicked in mop-up duty for the Tigers from 2019 to 2022. Weitz redshirted in 2019 after handling five kickoffs in three games, then kicked his first career extra point against The Citadel the following season. Weitz handled several kickoffs against SC State and made another PAT against UConn in 2021 before kicking what was expected to be his last extra-point attempt against Miami (Fla.) on Senior Day in Death Valley.

Weitz has completed all three of his PATs but has yet to try a field goal in a collegiate game.

Given that players from the 2020 season get an extra year of eligibility, Weitz could conceivably return as a sixth-year graduate senior in 2024.

On Saturday, Florida State defeated Clemson in overtime for the first time since 2014. The No. 3 Seminoles defeated the No. 23 Tigers 31-24 at Memorial Stadium, their first victory there since 2013.

Weitz hit his first career 30-yard field goal in the first quarter and went 3-for-3 on extra points. Late in the fourth quarter, he attempted a 29-yard field goal that would have given Clemson a 3-point lead, but he missed to the left.

The Clemson defence made a key stop at the conclusion of the game to keep Florida State from scoring and forcing overtime, but it couldn’t score one more after regulation.

Clemson failed to score when it received the ball in overtime. Cade Klubnik’s first-down pass was incomplete, but Will Shipley picked up 9 yards on second down.

It everything went awry on third-and-1.

With the loss, Clemson fell to 2-2 overall and 0-2 in the ACC, basically ruining its College Football Playoff prospects. No club with two losses has ever made the playoffs. Florida State is now 4-0.

 

 

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