Monday Notebook: Saturday scrimmage note, optimism on Dabo summer football camps

Swinney looks at his notes during Friday's practice.

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

I walked around the gate that leads to the indoor practice facility last Friday, showed my negative COVID test to a member of the football staff, sat down on the tombstone celebrating the win over LSU in 2012, felt the sun on my face and broke into a big smile. Football, for me, was back.

Selected members of the media were allowed to view the early portion of Friday’s practice, and I managed to thank Coach Swinney (who was still laughing at his Colonel Mustard comment to me), Jeff Kallin of the Sports Information staff, and football SID Ross Taylor. I’ve been bugging the latter two for months for news and access and they’ve both done a fantastic job in keeping us informed and safe through this difficult time and are to be commended for their hard work.

WCCP radio personality Brad Senkiw walked up and we had the usual “boys will be boys” banter of two people who haven’t seen each other in a while, and it didn’t take long to realize that we were going onto those football practice fields for the first time in almost a year. That’s right – the last time we were allowed out there was last March 14th – the date of Clemson’s Pro Day. We were there when the news broke that the ACC Basketball Tournament was being canceled. The next thing we knew was that spring practice was canned, there were no camps in June, and all of our availabilities last season were via Zoom.

I walked out onto the fields with the biggest and brightest smile I’ve had in a long time – I love my job – and I think Coach Swinney was even happy to see us. We get the chance to go back out there today, and we will have another opportunity in two weeks.

In the meantime, I have a few other notes from this weekend and the Friday availability to pass along. I will start with the Saturday scrimmage. It wasn’t a full scrimmage – just situational stuff – but heard that backup quarterback Hunter Helms accounted for all of the scoring (except for a BT Potter field goal) with three touchdown passes (and he ran for another score).

Helms is still a walk-on, but he was impressive in the few chances we got to see him last fall. With scholarship quarterback Taisun Phommachanh unavailable, Helms was the second quarterback Friday and Saturday (with punter Will Spiers the third quarterback.) The Tigers are thin this spring anyway, but Bubba Chandler and Will Taylor will add depth when they arrive this summer. For now, Helms seems to be making the most of his opportunity (and maybe earn a scholarship). He was impressive during Friday’s drills and seems not only have a nice grasp of the offense, but the kid can also sling the rock.

Each outlet was allowed one person to attend the practice, so we had to make a decision on whether to allow our writer or photographer to go (as did everyone else). Instead of making that decision, my boss handed me the camera and told me to go get it. I put in my earbuds and called my wife Nikki and told her my observations while I walked and shot photos.

It was interesting to walk to each position group and notice – fairly quickly – who was missing. Phommachanh out of the quarterbacks group, Jaelyn Lay with the tight ends, Mikey Dukes with the running backs, Malcolm Greene and Sheridan Jones with the corners – and then notice the number of players in green and yellow jerseys. It’s a good thing there are over 100 players in camp.

Speaking of camps – I have been asked about the possibility of Dabo Swinney holding his football camps in June. The Division I NCAA Council extended the recruiting dead period for all sports through May 31, continuing the ban on in-person recruiting activities that began when the pandemic hit last spring (which is killing the recruiting process for these kids). So for now, everyone has to wait and see if that restriction will be lifted (and soon) before camps can be held in June. My guess is that they would need to give everyone around here at least 40 days to get things prepared, so maybe mid-April to make a decision.

As for what I am hearing, because there are also youth camps that can be held, everyone is optimistic that camps will happen. For now, we just cross our fingers and hope for the best.

That's it for now, and we will have more observations and notes later today.