Cade Denhoff He finally got his first career start last week when Clemson defeated North Carolina State. He took advantage of the opportunity and also recorded his first career fumble recovery.
“I’ve put in a lot of effort at this point and I’m really lucky to have the opportunity to compete,” Denhoff said. “It was a lot of fun, but it took a long time to get there, it was a lot of development. But to be able to go out there with the Tigers and hit the ground running there first was… It was just a blessing. Our defense is really great to play with. So it was a lot of fun.”
Coming out of high school, Denhoff was the top-ranked defensive end and was ranked No. 82 nationally in his recruiting class, according to ESPN.com. He finished his high school career with 26.5 sacks, seven forced fumbles, and four recoveries.
It’s common for players of this caliber, especially those who don’t receive much playing time in their first few seasons, to take advantage of the transfer portal in this new era of college football. However, Denhoff chose to stick with the process and move forward, believing that he would eventually get a chance to start.
“First of all, this is exactly where I wanted to be and I felt like this is home for me. I just wanted to dedicate myself to where I had decided to further my education and sporting career. “And I wanted to be there.” Good things will happen in the future,” Denhoff said. “I’ve never really made a transfer. I’ve never seriously looked at the transfer portal and never really wanted to pursue it. I just didn’t really want to leave. My legs were… I have settled here.”
A journey like this also requires a good coach. The following people are critical of Denhoff: Chris Rumph. This season will be Lamp’s first full season with the Tigers since returning in December. He worked at Clemson from 2006 to 2010 before entering the NFL. With his experience as a coach, Rumph brings a wealth of football knowledge to the defensive end room, and his approach to the game is very similar to Denhoff, which has helped him develop as a player.
“He’s an exceptional coach. We love what he’s done for our position groups so far. Just the learning side, really. He’s taught us the positions and the right plays. It taught us a lot about how to do things and just broke down the fundamentals and that helped us play so much faster,” Denhoff said. “He’s very fundamentally sound and wants us to be technically sound, which is great. That’s who I am as a player. That’s how I approach my game. So it was a lot of fun to work with him and get to the nitty-gritty of how he plays in that position, and that helped us a lot.”
Rumph’s coaching may also explain why Denhoff believes this defensive end group has the most depth he’s seen in his entire college career. The Tiger defense has been a force so far this season, with 18 tackles for loss through the first three games.
“Everyone on the D-line can make plays. To be honest, we can throw them in there and they can make plays. But it’s the best overall since I’ve been here. It’s something that has developed and it’s really great to see,” Denhoff said. “We all get to go out and compete. There’s a competition going on in practice every day. We feed off of each other. We also teach each other as much as possible and coach each other. We’re really interested in players who are progressing and getting better every day.”
Clemson’s defensive depth certainly showed against the Wolfpack. Even without a top defender, a sophomore defensive lineman. peter woodsthe defense held North Carolina State to just seven points in the first half. Woods has been dealing with a knee injury that leaves him in doubt for this Saturday’s game against Stanford (7 p.m./ESPN), but I’m sure Denhoff would be happy to have him back on the football field. There will be.
“He’s just a weirdo athlete, that’s the thing that stands out the most. He came in the spring and it took him about a week to adjust to it (because there’s a difference) and there were some things he had to be careful about. Yeah. But he just took off from there,” Denhoff said. “We all know he’s a very good athlete and just fast. It’s been fun to watch, especially watching him pass rush on the edge, and it’s just been a seamless transition. It was fun to be there.”
