
Clemson's Digital Video Team Remains at the Top of Its Game During Yet Another CFP Championship Game Run New staffers, new gear, new platforms, same mission in Clemson's visual storytelling quest By Brandon Costa, Director of Digital
Friday, January 17, 2020 - 12:54 pm
Print This Story
Story Highlights
Every successful culture has a simple, but deeply engrained mission. The wildly successful digital media team at Clemson Athletics is no different.
With appearances in four championship games (and five semifinals) in the six-year history of the College Football Playoff, it would be easy for this group to allow themselves to grow stale. Instead, they remain the standard-bearers of video success in a social media age.
Clemson brought a team of 11 staff and students to produce digital and social content at the CFP National Championship Game in New Orleans. Top (left to right): Jonathan Gantt, David Platt, Dawson Powers, Carly Gough, Jack Birchfield, and Whitley Ruffin. Bottom (left to right): Madison Williams, Tyson Hutchins, Taryn Carroll, Alex Mueller, and Nik Conklin.
New students, new host cities, and new opponents always help bring a level of freshness to the football proceedings, but Clemson's digital video and design team have continually found success as the pioneers of social video by staying true to one North Star.
The main principles have always been to answer the question what it's like to be a Clemson Tiger?' says Jonathan Gantt, associate athletics director of creative solutions for Clemson. To focus on content that helps recruit student athletes to Clemson. That remains the same. How we package it is always different.
Changes In Personnel and Gear Through the Years
Since the team's 2014 appearance in the Orange Bowl where it topped Ohio State and Gantt was largely running around the stadium producing content by himself - it's been a steady and spectacular climb to the top for the Tigers digital media team, accompanied by important hires, and expanded student staff, and an investment in the tools to make all of the talent sing.
While we joke that these media wizards in orange are here every year, the truth of the matter is that there is a healthy turnover in staff year in and year out, whether it's in the form of full time staff or, especially, students. So how does Gantt keep his group prepared to deliver the high quality work that's expected from it at an even like the CFP? Consistency.
We're trying to put our best foot forward from Game One, says Gantt, who has been with Clemson since 2013. I had a lot of the new employees come up to me leading up to this and ask, okay, so what do we do that's different? I say, nothing. You keep doing the same thing that you've been doing for 20 weeks now. It's a nice thing to be able to rely on it for those people who are nervous or maybe a little bit anxious about going through something for the first time and feeling like they don't know what to do. No, you've been doing it week in and week out and the only way we can mess up is if we don't execute the same way that we have been. So there's a lot more people around, there's a lot more people paying attention, but ultimately the content plan and the way that we execute is exactly the same as it has been from Week One.
Want to know what makes Clemson special?
Watch
: https://t.co/CUnsUJvpgS
: https://t.co/Zz6DKZp3ol
: https://t.co/rwlAWtbxtQ
Because at Clemson, it s different.#ALLIN pic.twitter.com/pYwMBIfADA
Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) January 8, 2020
This year's group is again a loaded one, with Tyson Hutchins, a super-talented content creator that the Tigers recently added to the staff after a successful run at Brigham Young University's athletics department. Clemson's semifinal appearance in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl was his first day on the job.
For me, Clemson was always the gold standard of social for the way it was shot, the way it was executed, the way it was produced and published, says Hutchins. Now to have had that background and that affinity for the way things had been done and following that process, it's I frankly have to pinch myself sometimes. Now I am part of this machine that has been such an example for everyone in the industry. I feel extremely fortunate, to say the least.
Hutchins is taking over the role of Senior Director of Creative Solutions from Nik Conklin, who worked his final event with the Tigers at this CFP National Championship Game. At Clemson since 2014, Conklin played a transformational work that strongly steered the modern era of social video not just at Clemson, but industry wide.
Specializing in video at this CFP, Conklin and Hutchins were joined by Associate Director of Creative Solutions Carly Gough and student videographers Jack Birchfield and Alex Mueller. The remainder of the creative team is filled out by designers, publishers, and photographers. That included Taryn Carroll and Whitley Ruffin (who are both Associate Directors of Creative Solutions), Coordinator of Creative Media Madison Williams, and photographers David Platt and Dawson Powers.
In terms of video gear, the squad was shooting primarily with devices from Sony and Canon. There's a Sony PXW-FS7, a Sony A7S III, and a Canon EOS C300, all paired with Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III USM lenses. The crew was also outfitted with a number of Canon EOS 5D Mark IVs combined with a mix of 50mm prime and 24-70mm zoom lenses.
The blend is really a result of Clemson's digital media continuing to more deeply integrate with its linear video department colleagues that are working in their first year of the ESPN-supported ACC Network. Gantt says that
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
13/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced its participation in the IBC2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Pro...
13/08/2026
dzjinius, the all-in-one production management platform for the media and entertainment industry, will showcase its new application, dzjinius on-set , at IBC20...
13/08/2026
Broadcasting Center Europe (BCE), a leading European provider of media services, system integration and product development, will demonstrate an end-to-end sove...
13/08/2026
Clear-Com is returning to IBC 2026, taking place September 11-14 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. At Stand 10.D29, Clear-Com will spotlight the award-winning FreeSpe...
13/08/2026
Test & measurement innovator, Leader Electronics of Europe, will showcase its comprehensive portfolio of Leader, PHABRIX and LeaderPhabrix test and measurement ...
13/08/2026
KRK Brings Advanced Wireless Control to Professional Monitoring With New V Serie...
13/08/2026
Anthony Noack Captures Artist's Journey in Estonia with Blackmagic Design
Brie Clayton August 12, 2026
0 Comments
Solo filmmaker documents concept...
13/08/2026
ARRI Image Science makes its mobile debut in the HONOR Robot Phone
Brie Clayton August 12, 2026
0 Comments
Hero image displays the HONOR Robot Phone, ...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
13/08/2026
Suitest's Test Automation Platform Simplifies Video Quality Assurance, Monitoring, and Device Certification Across the OTT Ecosystem
At IBC2026, Suitest, a...
13/08/2026
Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software-defined television technology, will have its key software solutions ready to demonstrate at SET Expo 2026 (18 20...
13/08/2026
Scripps Research has established the Peter K. Vogt Endowed Chair, a new faculty ...
13/08/2026
LA JOLLA, CA-A vaccine's molecular structure plays a key role in determining how the immune system responds and prepares to protect the body from future exp...
13/08/2026
GeForce NOW is giving cloud gaming an extra-credit upgrade just in time for back-to-school season.
The native Linux app for GeForce NOW is officially out of be...
12/08/2026
Traditional live sports production has focused on creating the best possible pro...
12/08/2026
FOR-A will showcase a range of broadcast and production products at IBC2026 (Stand 2.B53, Amsterdam RAI, September 11-14), including software-based switching, A...
12/08/2026
The Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and EBU will host live demonstrations of NMOS BCP-008 Minimum Status Reporting at IBC2026 (September 11-14) on th...
12/08/2026
Dalet has announced Dalet Solution Suites, a portfolio of cloud-native solutions...
12/08/2026
Net Insight has announced that DMC Production Norway has selected its Open Live ...
12/08/2026
Zixi has appointed Alyson Stewart as Senior Director of Sales. Stewart will be responsible for direct sales and partnerships, with a focus on broadcasters, medi...
12/08/2026
LiveU's LU900Q intelligent production unit was deployed as part of the host broadcast operation for the Games in Glasgow (July 23-August 2, 2026). Host broa...
12/08/2026
Disney , ESPN, and Formula E have announced a multi-year deal bringing all Formula E races to Disney and ESPN in the U.S. and to Disney in most international...
12/08/2026
PSSI has launched X-LIVE, a managed service offering dedicated engineering resources and Appear encoding infrastructure for live event signal processing and tra...
12/08/2026
The inaugural MoonPay X Games League Summer Season reached 18.3 million unique live viewers across three stops on ABC and ESPN, a 78.5% increase compared to the...
12/08/2026
BBright will showcase an expanded IP-Gateway at IBC2026, adding support for all RIST profiles to its existing support for MPEG Transport Stream over IP with SMP...
12/08/2026
BBright will demonstrate EBU OGraf animated graphics support in its software-bas...
12/08/2026
Interra Systems will demonstrate its ORION, BATON, BATON Captions, and VEGA solutions at SET Expo 2026 (August 17-20, Distrito Anhembi, S o Paulo) at partner Li...
12/08/2026
DPA Microphones has appointed Raul Contreras as West Coast Regional Sales Manager. In the role, Contreras will oversee sales and customer relationships througho...
12/08/2026
Live spectacles ranging from the Super Bowl and FIFA World Cup to the Oscars and...
12/08/2026
Writer-Director Andrius Bla evi ius and crew attend the premiere of How to Divorce During the War at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park City, UT. (P...
12/08/2026
Enhanced DAW & plug-in control for the UC1, UF8 and UF1
The software that powers SSL's range of control surfaces has just received a major update that d...
12/08/2026
In-line preamp features one-knob EQ
In addition to their range of in-line preamps, Triton Audio recently managed to squeeze a compressor into an enclosure t...
12/08/2026
Captures system audio with or without a DAW
Depending on your setup, capturing system audio in a DAW can be a tedious process, so much so that Arvital Audio...
12/08/2026
2026 NATIONAL NAIDOC AWARDS TO BROADCAST ON NITV LIVE AND DIRECT FROM MPARNTWE
12 August, 2026
Media releases
First Nations excellence will be celebrated l...
12/08/2026
More than six million sports fans stay with SBS for Tour de France and Tour de F...
12/08/2026
Nielsen is cementing Digital Ad Intel as the new go-to currency for digital ad intelligence in Brazil-now with streaming monitoring in the mix.
S o Paulo, Augu...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
12/08/2026
As Matrox Video celebrates 50 years of trusted innovation, the company will showcase its portfolio of interoperable IP technologies and software-defined innovat...
12/08/2026
SMPTE, the home of media professionals, technologists and engineers, today announced a program of expert-led sessions, professional workshops and networking eve...
12/08/2026
Berklee Announces Full Details for Inaugural Block Party, a Music Festival Next ...
12/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...