Swinney loves idea of possible redshirt changes

Swinney and the Tigers will be on the hill in a few months

by Tony Crumpton - Assoc. Editor - Wed May 17 07:01:01 GMT-04:00 2017

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was in attendance for the ACC spring meetings in Florida on Tuesday and discussed various subjects including a new proposal to the NCAA that would allow players to play up to four games before they would burn use up their redshirt year. In theory, you could work with your freshman players in practice and then play them at the end of the season or during bowl preparation to give them valuable experience and not ruin their future by giving up a year of their eligibility.

"I love that for a lot of reasons," Swinney said. "You might have guys decide not to play anymore. You might have a guy that is not really ready to play as a freshman. Clelin Ferrell. Not quite ready and all of sudden to you get to the halfway point, and you don't want to waste his year. But man it would have been great to play him by the end of the season because Holy Cow this guy can help us. But you are not going to burn a year for one or two (games).

Swinney knows throughout the grind of a football season there will be several injuries to any team and depth is always an issue.

"Injuries. Guys get hurt," Swinney said. "It's a long season. We just played two 15 game seasons. You get to the end of the year, and you got some guys banged up and hurt and a guy that wasn't ready maybe he is now more prepared and can come in and get you through a couple of games. It will be good for his development. I think it would keep student-athletes more engaged because they know they have a chance to play somewhere in the season up to 4 games. I don't care if it is just to go cover a kick. One rep. Just the fact to get in the game and get some experience and not lose a year. I think that would be great for the development of the player. The engagement of the player and the whole process they are going through as a true freshman. The quarterback at Ole Miss that came in lost a whole year for one game. There are a lot of positives. From an overall player welfare standpoint to be able to use more of your guys down the stretch if you needed them would be good. Sometimes you play a guy early then you realize he is not quite ready and you would be able to sit him back down would be good as well."