CLEMSON FOOTBALL

Saturday Update: More info on staff changes, Braden Galloway's return
Head coach Dabo Swinney meets with his staff before Friday's practice

Saturday Update: More info on staff changes, Braden Galloway's return


by - Senior Writer -

CLEMSON – Tyler Grisham has a whistle and another member of the 10-man staff will take over recruiting duties while Brandon Streeter steps into a new role. Welcome to bowl practice in Clemson.

No. 3 Clemson held its first bowl practice Friday afternoon in the Poe Indoor Facility. The Tigers usually practice outside, but heavy rain in the area forced the truncated practice indoors. Missing was former wide receivers coach Jeff Scott, who has taken the job as the head coach at USF. Scott will help coach the Tigers through the College Football Playoff but will miss the early part of bowl practice as he tries to put his staff in place.

Head coach Dabo Swinney met with the media after the practice and he was asked if any other members of the Clemson staff will go with Scott.

"Oh, I don't know. Hopefully, there will be some opportunity for some young guys to get a chance with him,” Swinney said. “I'll let (Scott) figure that out. If he wants my opinion, I'll give it to him."

"I'm assuming he's going to be good to go."

Swinney said that with the compressed calendar, he told his players to visit the weight room a “couple of times” during the week. The players came in every day to lift.

“We wanted them to get like two thirty-minute sessions in at any time during the week, but man they were in here a bunch,” Swinney said. “Coach Joey Batson) was very encouraged… He said it was almost like an offseason the way they came in this week. There was a lot of energy and a lot of focus.”

The Tigers haven’t played or practiced since last Saturday’s win over Virginia in the ACC Championship Game, so Friday’s practice was limited.

“I think we are off to a good start,” Swinney said. “Today was just about getting back out on the field and knocking the rust off a little bit. It does not take long to get a little rusty. Four days of not running around and running your offense or your defense, so getting them back in there and getting some of the installation going and get started.”

Clemson has been in the College Football Playoff each of the last four seasons and has had three weeks to prepare for the semifinal, but because the regular season went deeper into December this year the Tigers have just two weeks to get ready for Ohio State.

“It is a whole different calendar and it is a very compressed time, but it is the same for everybody,” Swinney said. “Everybody has the exact same calendar. So, we have a good plan and as always, for us, we believe in how we get ready.

“It is kind of back to the basics. It is the fundamentals and techniques of what you do. It’s working on Clemson and then it is installation and working on Ohio State and then it is player development. We do take time to work on what we call our JV this time of the year. Just give them some attention. Give them some coaching. Give them some work where everybody is kind of out of the way and take advantage of the practices that they do get to just coach those guys.”

New wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham was sporting a whistle for the first time.

“He’s interviewed with me for 22 years, however long I’ve known him,” Swinney said. “So, 22 years of interviewing, and he’s just a special, special young (person). It’s what we do. We develop and you develop your staff just like you develop your players. It’s just a great opportunity. The same thing he’s brought to the table as a player, he’ll bring to the table as a coach. He’s tough, he’s gritty, he’s smart, he’s a winner.”

With Scott’s departure, Tony Elliott will be the lone offensive coordinator.

“Tony will be the coordinator. Probably we’ll move some duties around and probably change a few titles within our staff, but Tony will be the offensive coordinator,” Swinney said. “Brandon (Streeter) has done an awesome job as well. (He will) probably be more of the pass game coordinator. (We will) probably move his recruiting coordinator title over to another guy on the staff. So we’ve got a good plan for all that stuff, got a great group of people here. It’ll all settle out once we kind of finish this thing.”

With Brad Scott’s departure, Swinney is also looking for a new director of player development. That role looks to go to Kyle Richardson, a senior offensive assistant who has filled in for Brad Scott all week. Swinney hopes Richardson will take over the role full-time.

“Kyle Richardson has done an awesome job stepping in for Brad there, filling that role and helping us navigate,” Swinney said. “Brad's role is critical and he does a lot of stuff here, especially in the recruiting process and Kyle has a great feel for all of that. He's done a great job. That's what I hope happens (Richardson takes over full-time). It's a hard job. It's a job you have to have been a coach to be able to do. We have to through the processes. Nobody is done yet but hopefully, we can get some stuff settled out.”

Swinney told TigerNet he thinks making Streeter the passing game coordinator is the next logical move.

“I think he deserves that promotion if you will,” Swinney said. “Tony will run the shop. He will be the coordinator and he’s earned that. Streeter has done a good job as the recruiting coordinator. Tony is with the running backs a lot, and Brandon deserves that next step. He is with the quarterbacks and receivers every day and it’s just the right transition with where we are. He will be excellent in that role and it frees up the recruiting coordinator role for somebody else on the staff.”

On Braden Galloway’s reinstatement

“I am assuming he will be good to go. I have been gone. It feels like we played the ACC Championship two weeks ago. It's been a blur. I haven't met with Dan Radakovich about it, but my hope is that he is and we will practice as if he is. I don't know what the reinstatement process is - that's out of my lane. Hopefully, we will know for sure in a day or so.

“It's a different deal when it's live bullets and the intensity is at a different level. He's been practicing every single day and getting grinded out every day by Brent Venables. A million reps, they go really fast on the scout O. So he's in great shape and he's done all the individual drills. He's caught a million balls. So it's not like he's been standing over on the side and now we are going to run him out there. He's been playing football all fall. We've worked him all fall in good-on-good here and there getting him some reps. It's good to have him back out there.”

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