Dabo takes a kicker off the beach to start against Florida State

Weitz will likely start against FSU

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Sep 19 11:59:51 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – From working at the beach to starting against Florida State in one of the biggest games of the college football season is just another step in the journey of kicker Jonathan Weitz.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced Tuesday that Weitz, who was still in school but living on the beach just a few days ago, will start against Florida St. Saturday when the Tigers host the Seminoles in an ACC showdown at noon.

Weitz had moved on from football after last season and has returned to the Clemson football team as a graduate. Weitz did not attempt a field goal in his time as a Tiger from 2019-22 but did hit multiple PAT attempts. He also had multiple kickoffs. Weitz played at Charleston's Porter-Gaud.

The move comes on the heels of a 1-of-4 start on field goals for redshirt freshman kicker Robert Gunn III, who missed a field goal and a PAT in Saturday's 48-14 win over FAU.

“We went to the bullpen and called him off the beach. He's down in Charleston,” Swinney said at his Tuesday press conference. “Honestly, we just need a little bit of maturity there, I guess, would be the right word. I haven't lost any confidence in Robert Gunn at all. I mean, this kid is... Man, when you say this kid is talented, you're really not doing it justice. This guy is freaky. He really is. I mean, he is a freaky talent when it comes to his ability to kick a football.

“And he's just a young player, a freshman that's just got to work himself through the funk. And his kickoffs are amazing. He's been unbelievable there, but he's just been in a little bit of a funk. And it really started the week of the Duke game. He was amazing, all camp. I mean, just in every situation. But everybody thinks they can do it, and it's easy. But this is a great kid who really cares a lot. But sometimes you just need to catch your breath. And we've got two other guys on the roster who just haven't stepped up. They've had the opportunity the past two weeks, and they haven’t got it done. They've not taken advantage of the opportunity.”

Swinney said he only recently learned that Weitz was still enrolled in school, and now the story will either be great or terrible.

“The only reason he is here is because I found out he was in school. I didn't even know he was in school. he was pretty shocked to get a call from me on Sunday,” Swinney said. “I had heard he was in school, and I was like, Are you really in school? 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. He's got a boss up in New York probably pissed off at me because he's in school, but he's been online and living in Charleston. He was in our program for four years and was our backup the last two years and a good backup, but we just had BT Potter. He just happened to be here at a time when we had BT Potter.

“He had more eligibility, but we had this guy named Robert Gunn that he sees in practice every day, too. And so he had a chance, he wanted to go, and he spent the whole spring in France studying abroad and hanging out at the Eiffel Tower. And he's just had a great summer and has his life planned out. He just rented an apartment in New York. He starts his job in two weeks, and he's graduating with his Masters' in December. And he gets a call from Coach Swinney on Sunday, ‘Hey, you want to come kick against the Noles this weekend?’ He's just crazy enough to want to do it, and it might be what we need right now. I mean, he was seven for eight yesterday, so he hadn't kicked the ball since April. Hopefully, he'll be ready. But we have to have a change there. I mean, it's just where we are, and we'll see what happens.”

Swinney said that Weitz would start Saturday, but then laughed and backed off just a bit.

“Hang on. Let's see warmups, okay? He's starting today, but we have a long week of practice and we got warmups. So, we'll see how that goes.”

Gunn will still handle kickoffs and longer field goals (45 yards or more), Swinney said.