Nick Eason brings simplicity, hand-to-hand combat to defensive tackles

Nick Eason is big on winning battles with your hands.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat May 14 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Nick Eason came to Clemson with a wealth of ideas about how to make the Tigers’ talented defensive line better, but his experience told him that sometimes simpler is better.

Eason has a combined 17 years as a player and coach in the NFL, and he learned a lot of lessons along the way. During his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 2007-2010, the Steelers won a Super Bowl and the defense was a perennial top-five unit in several categories. Why? Simplicity.

“We became creatures of habit,” Eason said. “When I look back, I can say what was the best time of my career that I played the best technique, and it was in Pittsburgh. And we did like three or four different things. They were so boring to me, but I look back on them and I was like, ‘Man, that’s why we were really good.’ Because we did the same things over and over every day until we perfected it.”

Eason brings that same attitude to Clemson.

“It might have been footwork, directional steps and hands,” Eason said. “I’ve seen a lot more than that, but if I gave us 15 different goals, we might not ever accomplish any of them. So I just wanted to focus on those three - little attention to details with having a 3.0 (GPA) as a group or better.”

Early in his coaching career, Eason watched video and YouTube tutorials on coaching the defensive line but quickly learned that more isn’t always better.

“I was like, ‘This ain’t really carrying over to what we were doing,’” Eason said. “So I went back to the basics, and I’ve seen my guys get better over time. That’s been truly awesome.”

Eason has a veteran defensive tackles group, with Bryan Bresee and Tyler Davis leading a unit featuring Ruke Orhorhoro, Tré Williams, Etinosa Reuben, Payton Page, and DeMonte Capehart. One thing he does want to pass along is the importance of hand-to-hand combat. That includes time spent with Mike Tyson’s trainers when Eason was with the Arizona Cardinals.

“Did a good job of taking notes and learning a lot of different things,” Eason said. “Defensive line is really about having good hands and feet. It’s a violent position. I’ve just taken all of that in, absorbed a lot of information from a lot of good coaches around me, and just kind of brought it together. I use drills that can really carry over into what we’re doing defensively.”

Eason said he learned from watching the Clemson women’s soccer team during his time as a player here when it comes to the feet.

“It’s out of this world,” Eason continued. “So I started studying what kind of ladder drills and footwork drills they were doing, and they were very similar to what football players were doing as well. Just a lot of different ladder combinations. Icky shuffle, in and outs, hip twists. I can go on and on.”

His new charges are catching on.

“It’s been really good,” Eason said. “They’re learning a lot of new things with me being here, but they’ve adjusted to it well.”