A full stadium in Charlotte for Clemson and Georgia? The summer just got longer

Clemson will take on Georgia at Bank of America Stadium.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Apr 26 08:01:03 GMT-04:00 2021

Summer is a wonderful time of the year, full of vacations, day trips, warm weather and lazy days. When you’re waiting on the start of college football, however, the days tend to be a little too long in anticipation of a new season. This year, the wait might seem even longer as the sport continues to trend back to normal.

I can already hear the sound of the crowd in Charlotte when the Tigers kick off the season against the Georgia Bulldogs. I can hear both bands and the sounds of the cheerleaders along the sidelines and what we hope is a sold-out stadium in what will likely be a hot and steamy night in the Queen City.

Let’s face it – everyone made the most of a difficult situation last season. I thought the ACC and Clemson University did everything in their collective power to ensure that there was a full season. The conference held to its belief that the games could be safely played and didn’t waver when everyone from the Big Ten, the Pac 12, and national sports writers wailed and gnashed their teeth in looking to cancel the season.

Instead, both of those conferences and everyone else came around to the idea of playing. It was weird – no recruits at games, attendance limited, cheerleaders in one spot, the band (at Clemson) limited in numbers and forced to the iconic hill for games. It was football, and we were thankful, but it wasn’t the same.

Last Thursday was a beautiful day in the area and I drove down College Avenue and for the first time in a year everything seemed normal. We turned the corner at TD’s and Subway and in front of Bowman, and the field was alive with Frisbee, footballs being tossed, people sunbathing, and the popular game of Spikeball. As I mentioned, it was so….normal. And it was fabulous.

The good news has continued to roll in. Someone sent me a text last week saying they saw a report where the Georgia game might be moved if crowd restrictions were in place in North Carolina come September. I spoke to a representative for the game who laughed at me, reminded me it was only April, and to make sure to watch the news the next day. Sure enough, Governor Roy Cooper announced the state hoped to lift all mandatory social distancing, capacity & mass gathering restrictions by June 1.

I quickly texted a source at the Atlantic Coast Conference and asked about the status of the ACC Football Kickoff, usually held in Charlotte in mid-to-late July each year. Last year’s Kickoff was all online and we didn’t get nearly the amount of content we usually do (a continuing theme all season and even into this spring). The source told me that the conference is making plans for it to once again be in-person but also making contingency plans, just in case. Two years ago, I heard one sportswriter complain that those two days in July were “unusually long” with the constant interviews and sessions with the commissioner and rules experts. I bet no one will be complaining this season. If they do, they are in the wrong business.

That added to the news that the NCAA is relaxing its restrictions on recruiting visits, and as of right now Dabo Swinney’s high school football camps are set to take place in early June.

Late Friday, I received an email from CFP executive director Bill Hancock. The College Football Playoff (CFP) management committee met remotely for two days last week, and Hancock brought us even more good news concerning the College Football Playoff.

Hancock said the CFP intends to return to the traditional pageantry of college football for the CFP games this year. “We are planning to have marching bands, cheerleaders, mascots and the rest of the wonderful traditions at the CFP games. We are optimistic, but, of course, everything will depend on the circumstances this fall.”

Stadium seating capacities, he said, will be determined by CFP in the fall, in conjunction with local health and safety officials.

For those wondering, this season’s Playoff Semifinals will take place Friday, December 31, 2021, at the Cotton Bowl Classic and the Orange Bowl. The College Football Playoff National Championship will be Monday, January 10, 2022, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Later in the day, we drove back to campus to run an errand and everyone was still out and about, enjoying a glorious spring day. The trees once again full of leaves, the grass has turned a bright green, and the azaleas are in full, colorful bloom. As the late afternoon sunlight filtered through the trees and the sounds of a college kids having a good time echoed over Bowman, it was a reminder of simpler times. And a promise that better times are on the way.

Personally, I can’t wait to hear the bands, the screaming of the crowd as the ball is thrown deep, and the sight of a full stadium. After the past year, we all need it.

*In addition to the good football news, the softball team swept NC State in a tough four-game series, baseball swept Wake Forest for a much-needed boost, the university decided to continue men's track and field and cross country. And in men's golf, Colby Patton made a four-foot putt birdie putt on the second playoff hole to win his match and give Clemson a 3-1-1 victory over NC State in the semifinals of the ACC Men’s Golf Championship at the Capital City Crabapple Course in Atlanta, Ga. The Tigers will face Florida State in the championship match on Monday at the same facility. The first match will begin at 9:00 a.m.

Men's soccer? The Clemson men’s soccer team received the No. 1 seed in the 2020 NCAA Tournament during the men’s soccer selection show Monday afternoon. This is the first time since 1998 that Clemson will enter the NCAA Tournament as the top-seeded team. By virtue of being the tournament’s top seed, Clemson has received a first-round bye and will play on May 2 at 4 p.m. in Winston-Salem, N.C., against the winner of the first-round match between Jacksonville and American.