Williamson Moved to Defensive End

Aug. 18, 2004

Clemson, SC – Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden announced at the conclusion of Wednesday’s practice that Bobby Williamson had moved from tight end to defensive end. It was the only position change after he and his coaching staff reviewed the film of Tuesday’s scrimmage at Death Valley.

“Bobby Williamson is a good football player who needs to get on the field,” said Bowden. “Ben Hall has had an outstanding spring and preseason and has been getting most of the reps at tight end. Bobby has worked hard and deserves to be on the field. He can help us at tight end. He looked good for the first day and even had a sack in one of the scrimmage situations.

“Bobby will continue to work at tight end during short yardage situations and on special teams.” Bowden said that red-shirt freshman Zach Green had moved to second-team tight end on the depth chart. He caught a pair of scoring passes during scrimmage drills on Wednesday.

Williamson has played in 24 of the 26 games over the last two years, including 12 as a starter. He started 11 games last year when he had 12 receptions for 105 yards. He had five receptions at NC State, the most by a Clemson tight end in a single game since 1975. Among his receptions was a 13-yard catch on the first offensive play of the Peach Bowl against Tennessee.

The other bit of news on Wednesday centered around the amount of injuries. No less than 14 players were on the injured list, including four starters (Tye Hill, Chip Myrick, Mo Fountain and Duane Coleman). “We just had two full contact stadium scrimmages over a four-day period so it is pretty common to have this many injuries,” said Bowden.

“The only one that would be considered serious would be the broken foot to Rashaad Jackson. He will probably red-shirt now. He was competing for playing time as a first-year freshman. Now Dorell Scott looks to be the first-year freshman who might get some playing time at defensive tackle.” No new injuries were reported from Wednesday’s practice, which was a helmets and shoulder pads practice.

The injury list on Wednesday included: Tye Hill (turf toe), Ryan Charpia (sprained foot), Brandon Pilgrim (pulled groin), Chip Myrick (mononucleosis), Vontrell Jamison (broken arm), Kevin Burnette (recovering from spring surgery for torn ACL), Kwam Williams (sprained ankle), Mo Fountain (bruised knee), Christian Capote (sprained ankle), Michael Collins (leg), Rashaad Jackson (broken foot), Duane Coleman (broken foot), Roy Walker (torn ACL), Gene Pate (recovering from broken leg).