Note: The following appears in the Troy football gameday program.
Dominic Cardone had to take a lot more than two right turns before he ran down the Hill. He played football at Riverside High School in Greer, S.C. Upon graduation, he came to Clemson not as a five-star recruit, but as a regular student. Despite this, he was determined to put the pads on again. He wanted to do it in Death Valley, but he knew there was a tough road ahead of him.
The junior offensive lineman grew up around Clemson football. His parents have been season ticketholders for years, so he spent his fall Saturdays watching the Tigers play. Cardone loves Clemson as a whole, which is why he knew it was the only school for him.
He tried out twice early on in his college career and made an inventory list, but there was never a spot for him on the roster. Despite that, he never wavered. His mother always told him everything happens for a reason.
“As long as I put in the work, whatever happens was supposed to happen, and I worked really hard.”
That hard work paid off with a call while Cardone was in class.
“I remember when I got that call. (Director of Administration and Player Personnel) Mike Dooley called me and I was in a statistics class. He told me the news, and I couldn’t believe it.”
Cardone would soon be playing college football at the Division I level for his favorite team. For the 6’9”, 385-pound offensive lineman, playing for Clemson is “a dream come true.”
When he first practiced with the team, he had three goals.
“I don’t want to get cut, I want to run down the Hill and I want to play in a game.”
He made it through the offseason and kept his spot on the 2024 team, accomplishing his first goal. The second goal was realized against App State, as Cardone boarded a bus outside the home locker room and made the short trip around the stadium to the top of the Hill. The cannon fired, the crowd erupted, he rubbed Howard’s Rock and ran down the Hill.
However, his third goal had to wait until deep into the 2024 season.
In the November matchup against The Citadel, the Tiger offense was firing on all cylinders. The 51-point outburst came largely as the result of the effective ground game, in which the offensive line takes great pride.
Clemson had totaled 290 rushing yards, and the Tigers wanted to reach the 300-yard mark. However, it looked like they might fall just short, and it looked like Cardone’s goal of seeing in-game action would have to wait.
“Coach (Matt) Luke grabbed me and told me to play right tackle, and then we threw an interception on that play.”
Luckily, the Tigers regained possession with 20 seconds left in the game, and they were not about to run the clock out.
“We needed 10 yards to get to 300. We got 12.”
From not being recruited out of high school to enrolling at Clemson as a regular student and trying out twice before breaking through, that play meant so much more to Cardone than the 12 yards recorded on the stat sheet. He was standing in the spot where the players he watched growing up once stood.
Cardone was standing on the shoulders of giants with his fellow walk-ons who helped him get there.
“I was really happy to be out there with those guys. Jake Norris, Jackson Hall, Chapman Pendergrass, Bryce Smith…I think it was the five of us, and we went through it all together. Being out there with those teammates was really special.”
Cardone accomplished at the age of 21 what he dreamed of as a young Clemson fan, and it is an experience he will never forget.
