Swinney previews spring practice, says Tigers will focus on the trenches

Clemson is looking to improve in the trenches on both sides of the ball.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Feb 07 12:03:38 GMT-04:00 2021

Clemson football returns to work in just 16 days, and head coach Dabo Swinney will be taking a long look at his young offensive line and the freshmen at other positions he thinks will be able to contribute this season.

The Tigers fell short of the National Championship in 2020, losing in the College Football Playoff semifinals to Ohio State, but Swinney and staff have already set their sights on the 2021 season, and that begins with spring practice.

“We start spring ball on February 24th. It was good to get a break, but let's get back at it, and let's turn the page and get our eyes forward on 2021,” Swinney said earlier this week.

Swinney said he thinks some of the 12 mid-year enrollees will get a long look this spring.

“There will be a couple of wideouts that we think have a chance. We signed three guys,” Swinney said. “The Collins Towers is what I call them, Beau and Dacari, and then Troy Stellato. We are losing Amari (Rodgers) and Cornell (Powell) and we were young last year so we think those guys can help us. And then we are excited about the two backs that we signed, especially with Travis (Etienne) moving on. (Phil) Mafah is a big kid. And then (Will) Shipley is dynamic. And then he's being coached by the most dynamic guy I've coached and that's (CJ) Spiller, so I am excited about him coming on staff.

“And then in the trenches we've got Zaire Patterson and Cade Denhoff are two defensive ends that I think are going to give us some really good depth there. And this might be the best offensive line group that we've signed. These four linemen - they're big. This is a big, big, group, and we added Tristan (Leigh) late to the class, he's an elite tackle that I think will have a chance to help us early. And then probably one of these DB's will have a chance to help us as well, especially at corner.”

Swinney said the focus will be making sure they have the right players in the right spots.

“We just have to grow up and get everybody in the right spot. We have 118 guys going through spring practice. We have every player on the roster except seven of these signees who are coming this summer,” Swinney said. “Twelve of them are already here. So it's evaluation and development and getting guys in the right position, it's the non-football stuff like the development of leadership and chemistry and it's the morale of your team. It's the position technique and fundamentals and all of those things. But football-wise, positionally, it's our offensive line. We have a really young group. We have 17 guys on scholarship and I think 13 of them are freshmen and sophomores. We have one senior in Matt Bockhorst and a couple of juniors and the rest of those guys are freshmen and sophomores.

“We were really, really young last year, so it's taking a big step with that group. We have signed some really good players I am excited about. So it's about development there. And then getting healthy. We have five guys coming back who are six-year guys and I am so excited about that. I think 12 of the top-14 guys that started on defense for us are back. So really getting that defensive line and a guy like Xavier Thomas back full speed. Justin Foster is working his way back and he's trending in a positive way and I am excited about that. We had some guys that had some postseason surgery stuff we have to get healthy. But really it's the team stuff that is the biggest focus.”