More Confident in Year Two, Ronan Hanafin Breaks Down Clemson's New Safeties
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Ronan Hanafin has experienced enough change during his Clemson career that familiarity might be one of the most valuable things he carries into his senior season.
The former wide receiver is entering his third year on defense, but this fall represents only his second season, and second full offseason, in defensive coordinator Tom Allen's system. After learning the scheme on the fly a year ago, Hanafin said Monday that many of the responsibilities that once required extra thought have become more natural.
"Some of it's just muscle memory at this point," Hanafin said. "There's always everything to work on, and obviously, last year, we had a tough year, and we needed to step up in a lot of areas."
The safety position was among those areas.
Following the Tigers' 46-45 loss to Duke at Memorial Stadium last season, coach Dabo Swinney offered a pointed assessment of the group.
"I don't think our safeties are playing well at all," Swinney said.
Duke threw for 361 yards in the victory, the most passing yards Clemson surrendered in a game all season and another example of the problems that plagued a secondary that finished 119th nationally in passing defense at 251.2 yards allowed per game.
A year later, Hanafin believes another offseason in Allen's defense has helped slow things down mentally.
"Just being my second year and having a whole two offseasons to learn his scheme, learn all the checks, and learn all the different formations," Hanafin said. "Whether it's we're getting in one thing and checking another thing off of motion, it's just different things like that that have really helped out a lot."
That experience could prove particularly important because the personnel around Hanafin has changed.
Khalil Barnes and Ricardo Jones, two of the safeties who shared the back end with Hanafin last season, transferred to Georgia and Vanderbilt, respectively. Clemson turned to the transfer portal for reinforcements, adding Jerome Carter III from Old Dominion and Corey Myrick from Southern Miss.
Both arrive with significant production.
The 6-foot-3, 200-pound Myrick brings another physical presence to the secondary after recording 92 tackles and two interceptions at Southern Miss last season.
Hanafin described him as a "dynamic player" whose athleticism shows up quickly.
"Obviously, very fast and agile and just able to go and high point the ball and just a dog on defense," Hanafin said. "Obviously, you see it in the film, so it'll be great to be able to work with him."
Carter, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound safety, recorded 75 tackles and six interceptions last season.
"Jerome, I mean, same thing," Hanafin said. "You see all the picks that he got and watching his film throughout the year. And then watching progress from spring to summer, and the offseason work that he's done really is helping out our team a lot."
The newcomers are part of a broader makeover at safety.
Swinney parted ways with safeties coach Mickey Conn following last season. Former Clemson safety Nolan Turner now coaches the position alongside Thomas Allen, giving Hanafin another adjustment to make as he enters his final season.
Yet amid the changes around him, Swinney sees a player who looks increasingly settled.
"Ronan, man, he looks amazing," Swinney said. "He's a more confident, more experienced player. He's more comfortable, and I think he was third on the team in tackles last year, and he only started like five games."
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Burlington, Massachusetts, native recorded 72 tackles, third-most on the team, along with four pass breakups, two forced fumbles and an interception while appearing in 13 games with five starts.
"So that just shows he's a very active, productive guy when he plays," added Swinney. "So now, we've got really good competition there, and I expect us to be better."
The Tigers won't have to wait long to find out how much better.
They open the season Sept. 5 at LSU, where new coach Lane Kiffin presents an immediate challenge for a secondary looking to erase last season's struggles. Kiffin's final Ole Miss offense ranked third nationally in passing at 313.3 yards per game.
