CLEMSON - It's early yet, to be sure. Very early. But Clemson's defense is
beginning to show something it had virtually none of a year ago.
Swagger.
Now, before you go conjuring up memories of William Perry or Levon Kirkland -
and the great Clemson defenses of those eras - understand that this is, after
all, just spring practice. And, after all, the defense is working against an
inexperienced offensive line.
But the past few days have seen John Lovett's squad begin to exert itself -
both physically and vocally - and, in the process, again cause head coach
Tommy Bowden to question the Tigers' leadership on offense.
"As the defense has made progress, there's been less offensive skill show
up," he said. "The biggest disappointment (Wednesday) was leadership. We lost
Kyle (Young), T.J. (Watkins), Will (Merritt) and Woody (Dantzler). They had
been around here a long time and played a lot of football.
"Things started sinking today and nobody showed any signs of leadership. It
takes a while to develop and they've only had 12 days together. But it's
something that has to develop."
Meanwhile, Lovett said that while he is still looking to match proper
personnel with positions, he's been encouraged by the early play of his
defense.
"They're learning how to play together out there," Lovett said. "They're
playing hard and playing with a little bit of confidence. We're staying with
what we're doing...not expanding our package a whole lot. We're just touching
on the different fundamentals of the different packages we do."
Clemson's final spring practice will begin at 4:45 p.m. today and is open to
the public.
The spring game is set for 1 p.m. Saturday at Riggs Field.
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