Over his first three years at Clemson, offensive lineman Matt Bockhorst bided his time while working toward an opportunity to eventually be a starter.
The former four-star recruit from Cincinnati redshirted as a true freshman in 2017, then saw limited action across 13 games a year later. He subsequently stepped into a bigger role last season, logging 421 snaps over 15 games, including one start, while helping the Tigers finish ranked 13th nationally in rushing yards per game (240.40), fifth in total offense (school-record 528.7 YPG) and fourth in points per game (43.9).
Now as a redshirt junior, Bockhorst is expected to take over as the starting left guard this coming season in place of John Simpson, who earned consensus All-American honors in 2019.
“It’s a unique opportunity to kind of fill that spot, and hopefully do a good job,” Bockhorst said this spring. “I think there’s big shoes to fill – with John Simpson, quite literally – so now it’s on me, and I think that I’ve done what I can to prepare. Now moving forward it’s about performance and doing what I can to help the offense be the best in the country.”
Just as veteran offensive linemen such as Simpson and Taylor Hearn once took Bockhorst under their wing when he was a young player, Bockhorst is taking it upon himself to be the same type of leader that the current young O-linemen can learn from, look up to and lean on.
“Definitely take a lot of pride in it,” Bockhorst said. “I’m really thankful for the guys that have come before me and guys that have taken me under their wing – John Simpson, notably. Now that it is my time, it’s something that I have to pay forward to the young guys. And given that we have a really young offensive line room this spring and coming up this season, it’s kind of on me and Jackson (Carman) and Cade (Stewart) to take those guys under our wings and really elevate the level of the group as a whole.”
As Bockhorst referenced, Clemson has plenty of youth in its offensive line unit with guys like redshirt sophomore Jordan McFadden, sophomore Will Putnam and redshirt freshmen Hunter Rayburn, Mason Trotter and Kaleb Boateng.
The Tigers also welcomed a trio of true freshmen early enrollees to campus in January (Mitchell Mayes, Paul Tchio, Bryn Tucker) and have three more incoming freshmen O-linemen expected to join the team ahead of this season (Trent Howard, Walker Parks, John Williams).
So, what was Bockhorst’s message to Mayes, Tchio and Tucker as they went through spring practice as wide-eyed newcomers trying to get the hang of everything in their first action at the college level?
“I think the biggest thing is don’t freak out,” he said. “You come in on your first day – I didn’t early enroll, but speaking to other guys, you come in on your first day of spring practice and it’s pretty overwhelming, the speed of the game, physicality. So, the biggest thing I just told those guys is don’t freak out, take it one day at a time and just do what you can to learn the offense, to be physical and absorb as much as you can. Coach (Tony) Elliott says they’re feeding them with a firehose and just try to swallow as much as they can, and it’s so true. I think when we come back around to fall camp, they’re going to realize how beneficial it was to have the install in the spring, and they’ll really be able to take heed to it and further their game come fall.”
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