Parker and Ellington impressive in Tuesday practice

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Mar 11 08:47:01 GMT-04:00 2009

CLEMSON – Forgive Kyle Parker if he thought the golf cart ride he took from the locker room to the football practice fields felt like a cruise down the beach, considering it was one of his few moments of peace on Tuesday.

Parker was in the lineup for Jack Leggett’s baseball team in a 15-2 victory over Michigan St., and then quickly changed into his pads and shorts for the football practice, where he certainly impressed head coach Dabo Swinney, who said that playing quarterback makes it easier for Parker than if he played another position.

“He is 19,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “He is having fun and he is a quarterback. If he was a running back or a wide out that had to come out here and run all night, it would be a little different, but his deal is more mental, being sharp and obviously throwing the ball. Very rarely can you be around a guy who can be great in one sport and then can walk across the street and be really good in another one too. I have seen some good ones in my day, and he has an opportunity to do that.”

Parker will double dip again today, leaving football practice traveling to Greenville for the baseball Tigers’ second game against Michigan State at Fluor Field.

For his part however, Parker said he has yet to feel the effects of the grind.

"You get yourself in trouble if you start worrying,'' he said. “You just go out and try to enjoy yourself. Right now, I’m just concentrating on football.”

Despite Parker’s strong showing on Tuesday, however, Swinney said the second day of practice is not the time to be speculating if one quarterback has moved ahead of the other in the race to be the starter.

“I like what I see,” Swinney said. “I really, really like what I see. Guys are competing and they are all working hard. I have seen a lot of good throws out there and that is a good thing. We have a great competition, but it is way too early. But this game is played in pads, not in shorts. We had good intensity at times out there tonight, and we have accomplished a good bit out there in two days, but we have a long way to go. I’m very anxious to get here tomorrow at two o’clock and start seeing who is a football player.”

The drills were open to the fans on Tuesday, and one player that certainly impressed was freshman running back Andre Ellington, who also caught the eye of his head coach.

“Andre is really going to be a good football player,” Swinney said. “He showed that last year. We dressed him up until about the sixth game, thinking that we might play him. I’m really glad that we showed some discipline and did not play him because it sure is nice to know that we have him for four more years.”