Clemson likely to get one linebacker back for Sugar Bowl, losing another

Clemson is likely to get linebacker Tre Lamar back for the Sugar Bowl against Alabama but will be without reserve linebacker Judah Davis, who recently suffered a knee injury.

Lamar, Clemson’s starting Mike linebacker, has not played since suffering a stinger Nov. 11 against Florida State.

He has recorded 52 tackles, five tackles for loss and four sacks in 10 games, with eight starts. Lamar was expected to be in pads for Clemson’s practice Tuesday night.

“We’re going to take it easy with him and just go from there,” Tigers coach Dabo Swinney said Tuesday of Lamar “But he’s a lot better. His strength has come back, just really kind of an irritated nerve, that stinger was. But he’s doing good.”

Davis played in all 13 games while contributing on special teams and defense. He registered 13 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss.

“If we have an opportunity to advance maybe he’d be back for that one, but he’s definitely out for this game,” Swinney said.

Cornerback Mark Fields, who missed most of the second half of the year, did not play in the ACC title game with a foot injury but should be back for the Sugar Bowl.

EARLY SIGNING

This is the first year of the early signing period, and Swinney is a fan of it.

Seniors will have an opportunity to sign a letter of intent from Dec. 20-22 instead of waiting until February.

“It’s different because it’s something we’ve never had to plan for in this process. We’ll do a signing day thing just like we do in February, because most of our guys will sign… It’ll be a good day but we’ll have a whole morning thing planned and it’ll be awesome,” Swinney said. “I like it, I really do. Most of our guys are committed and I think it allows everybody the chance to kind of move on. Depending on what happens with some of our juniors, we might have a spot or two to chase in January, but for the most part, it gives us an opportunity to really turn our attention to 2019.”

COACHING CONTINUITY

Swinney is pleased to have all three of his coordinators still on staff after they were rumored to be candidates at other places.

Defensive coordinator Brent Venables was mentioned as a candidate at Arkansas, Mississippi State and Tennessee.

Co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott was said to be in the running for the UCF head coaching job, while fellow co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott was mentioned as a candidate at South Alabama.

“I think it’s rare, it’s uncommon in this business that we’ve had great continuity. This is a great place to work, a great place to live and raise your family,” Swinney said. “If somebody gets an opportunity to go be a head coach, I’m always willing to help and (be) happy for him.

“But for the most part, we’ve had a lot of continuity on this staff and I think it’s great. And then we’ve developed our staff. We’ve been able to promote some guys from within, which I think has allowed us to have that continuity as well.”

This story was originally published December 13, 2017 at 3:43 PM with the headline "Clemson likely to get one linebacker back for Sugar Bowl, losing another."