What Dabo wants to accomplish with four Clemson spring practices to go

Clemson’s football team is closing in on the end of spring practice as the defending national champions have four sessions remaining before the spring game on April 6.

The Tigers practiced nine times from Feb. 27 through March 13, then had all of last week off for spring break.

Clemson returned to the practice field on Monday after being away for nearly two weeks, and Tigers coach Dabo Swinney explained afterward what he would like to see his team accomplish before spring is complete.

“We’ve got a lot to do. We spent the first nine days, a lot of installation, kind of what to do, how to do it,” Swinney said. “These next six days we’ve got to see who can do it. And then we’ve got to get our (evaluations) done.”

Clemson returns the majority of its offense, led by quarterback Trevor Lawrence, running back Travis Etienne and receiver Tee Higgins. But the Tigers have plenty to replace on defense, most notably four starters on the defensive line.

After spending a few weeks giving players a base knowledge of what is expected of them, it’s now time to see who is ready to perform and the specific areas where they need to improve.

“(We’ll) give them some really good, concrete feedback on what they’ve gotta do to get better and create some momentum going into the summer to improve their opportunity when camp gets back here,” Swinney said. “That’s the big focus this last part here is who can, where are they, how far can we get them and what individually they need to do to transform to the summer.”

Clemson spring game info

Date: April 6

Time: 2:30 p.m.

TV: ESPN2