All gas, no brakes: Sense of urgency in Clemson football program began last October

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CLEMSON – Urgency. All gas, no brakes.

Every August, we hear the same tropes from players or coaches—this team is different, this team is the most focused, this team believes. And when that doesn’t translate to higher levels of success, fans begin to tune it out and say, “Prove it to me on the field.”

But throughout June and July and now into August camp, there has been a different feeling around the program. But this didn’t start in June. Or July. Or even in spring practice. I take you back to October of last season when the Tigers were on a two-game losing streak after turnover-filled losses to Miami and NC State.

Remember the catastrophic three turnovers in the first half against Miami when the Tigers blew a 10-point lead and lost in double-overtime? There were loud, and I mean loud, voices in the Clemson locker room that night.

“They found a way to win,” head coach Dabo Swinney said, “and we found a way not to win.”

A week later, two interceptions and defensive lapses led to yet another loss to NC State.

The Tigers were 4-4, and some predicted a losing season. People wondered how the Tigers would finish with Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, UNC, and South Carolina.

The flight home from NC State was not fun. At practice the next week, we heard and told you that Swinney told everyone that they had four games – around 30 days – to prove why they deserved to be in the program. Those included players, coaches, and even support staff. That point was hammered home daily, and starting cornerback Nate Wiggins didn’t start against Notre Dame for what Swinney later said was about missing tutoring sessions. A walk-on walked out after failing to meet standards, a move quietly applauded by those in his accountability group, we also heard.

Through all of it, you could see Swinney was not only judging his players and coaches but himself and his entire program. Accountability, after all, starts at the top. The program had reached a tipping point, and Swinney went to work to fix it.

The Tigers wound up winning the last four games of the regular season, but the Tigers parted ways with defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall and offensive line coach Thomas Austin. Clemson won the bowl game over Kentucky, and the new hires settled in. Spring is different – it’s more about getting in work and installs and self-scouting. So, I was interested to see what August camp would look like, especially after (once again) all of the right things were said during July.

Camp began Thursday with defensive tackles coach Nick Eason yelling at players for not moving fast enough and forcing them to perform up-downs. Swinney recently hired Lorenzo Ward, and Ward throws his ire at anyone he thinks isn’t performing to a standard, whether an intern, a player, or a grad assistant.

Following Thursday’s practice, we heard that Swinney once again lectured everyone in the program, loudly, about expectations. Keeping receipts? Playoffs? Swinney said none of that mattered for a program that finished 9-4 a year ago. The proof isn’t in the talking, but in the doing.

I was sitting at home Saturday after reports of another spirited practice, and it hit me that what we are seeing isn’t new—that it started last season. I texted someone I know in the program about my thoughts, and the reply was, “Yes, and he has not taken his foot off the pedal.”

All gas, no brakes, and we have football in just 26 days. The next few weeks should tell us a lot about this football team and the program in general. So far? So good.

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