Blake Miller Embraces Leadership Role, Pushes for Consistency on Clemson O-Line
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By the time Clemson right tackle Blake Miller takes his first snap in Saturday’s ACC opener, he’ll have already logged more than 3,000 career plays in orange. That number, he admits, feels surreal, but not in a way that makes him feel old. Instead, it’s a reminder of how quickly his Clemson career has moved, and how much responsibility now rests on his shoulders.
“It’s a weird feeling having guys come up to you for advice,” Miller said. “Even Ross (Taylor) just saying ‘senior offensive lineman,’ it feels like it’s gone by in the snap of a finger. Mentally and physically, I still feel like that freshman. I’m still eager to learn.”
Miller’s eagerness isn’t just for himself—it’s for his entire offensive line. The veteran lineman was one of the voices who helped spark Clemson’s second-half turnaround in the win over Troy. After a sluggish first half, Miller gathered his teammates and told them to stop playing tense, start playing physical, and let loose with “reckless abandon.” The result was a group that imposed its will and opened up the offense.
That mentality, Miller insists, can’t just be a halftime adjustment. “There can’t be a reset,” he said. “We need to keep that mentality, that physicality, and that aggressiveness going forward into every single week.”
Execution remains a theme for Miller. He acknowledged Dabo Swinney’s critiques about timing on pulls and counters, noting that when the head coach points something out, it becomes the unit’s top priority. For Miller, the way to fix those issues is to simulate game speed in practice—physically and mentally. “Being able to mentally put yourself in that mindset of, ‘this is a game rep right here,’ I think is very important,” he explained.
If Clemson’s offensive line has drawn praise, Miller isn’t letting it affect him. He brushed off the idea of “rat poison”—Nick Saban’s term for media hype—by saying the O-line has heard both extremes before. “There’s been times where we’ve been told that we sucked,” Miller said. “It’s good or bad, you can never buy into it. At the end of the day, what’s written is what we do.”
Miller also sees part of his role as mentoring the Tigers’ younger linemen. He pointed to freshman Brayden Jacobs, who struggled at times in his debut but showed flashes of promise. “I think that Brayden is made of the right stuff,” Miller said. “He’s always asking me, Tristan (Leigh), Walker (Parks), all the older guys questions. I have no doubt that he’ll be improving.”
As Clemson heads into ACC play—starting with a road trip where noise will be a factor—Miller says the O-line’s identity must stay steady. Communication, echoing calls, and staying on the same page are non-negotiables. And more than anything, Miller says the group can’t let the environment dictate how it plays.
“Whether it’s noisy, whether it’s quiet, doesn’t really matter,” Miller said. “We got to be inside out no matter where we are. We can’t let the environment dictate how we play. It has to be a standard that we play to.”
For Miller, that standard isn’t just about protecting Cade Klubnik or opening holes for Adam Randall—it’s about defining the mindset that carries Clemson’s offense forward. Now with over 3,000 snaps under his belt, Miller knows exactly what it looks like.
