What Clemson coaches will be watching for in the spring game
Spring football games do not matter a great deal in the grand scheme of the college football landscape.
Sometimes players perform well, only to struggle during the regular season. Other times players struggle in the spring game before going on to have great years.
More than anything, a spring game is an opportunity for fans to tailgate and catch a glimpse of their favorite returning players or get a first look at an up-and-coming freshman before the start of the regular season several months later.
Still, the scrimmage can be a valuable tool for coaching staffs to go off of, and Dabo Swinney and Clemson’s assistants will be watching intently when the Tigers holds their Orange & White Game on Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium.
Swinney will specifically be watching to see how the newcomers respond to playing in front of a large crowd for the first time.
“The biggest thing is these 17 midyears that for the first time are gonna get a chance to kind of be exposed to that. And even though it’s just a spring game it’s a big deal for a lot of those guys,” Swinney said. “And for them to kind of go out there and breathe a little bit, it just gives you a great chance to coach them and for them to grow from that experience and be more prepared for August when it gets here on that Thursday night.”
Swinney expects several of the newcomers to be counted on in 2019, including receivers Frank Ladson and Joseph Ngata. The spring game will be the largest crowd that Ladson, Ngata and Clemson’s other freshmen will play in front of before the Tigers host Georgia Tech on Thursday, Aug. 29 to open the 2019 season.
The roster is split into two teams for Saturday’s spring game, and everyone should get an opportunity to play.
The coaching staff will evaluate which players take advantage of their opportunities, then give players specific areas of their game to work on between now and the start of fall camp.
“It’s a big tool for us to grow our team. I really hope our fans will show up. It’s big for recruiting... But really for our team and just using it as a great tool, because it’s a privilege,” Swinney said. “Very few people will have a spring game environment like we have here. So that gives us, to me, a big edge in the mental prep for our players.”
The spring game is perhaps more important to Clemson’s defense than its offense as the Tigers return seven starters on offense, led by ACC Rookie of the Year Trevor Lawrence.
But defensively Clemson must replace seven starters, including all four defensive linemen.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables is anxious to see how his players that are stepping into new roles handle their added responsibility.
“Guys playing physical, communicating, playing with great effort. Those are the main things (I’ll look for), those three areas,” Venables said. “Just guys knowing what to do with their eyes, playing with good fundamentals, technique, playing sure of themselves, being physical, playing with effort is a big part of it. See who can get out in front of a big crowd and execute and communicate and play within the scheme, play with discipline. It’ll be just another opportunity for us to evaluate those things.”