Clemson spring football is over. Dabo feels good about what Tigers accomplished
There will be no Clemson spring football game in 2020 and no more practices the rest of the spring.
The ACC announced Tuesday morning that all athletic-related activities through the end of the 2019-20 academic year have been canceled because of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Tigers completed nine practices, their most recent last Wednesday, before shutting down for spring break. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was asked about the possibility of COVID-19 altering spring practices following Clemson’s pro day last Thursday and said he felt good about what the Tigers accomplished if their spring ended up being over.
“We’re in good shape,” Swinney said.
The fact that Clemson started spring practice so early ended up working out well for the Tigers. Most ACC teams started after Clemson, according to a report from CBS. And North Carolina and Virginia Tech had not started spring practice at all.
Several SEC teams also had not started spring practice, including Alabama, Auburn, Florida and Georgia, according to CBS.
Had Clemson not already held nine practices, Swinney said his team would be behind.
“A lot of valuable development,” he said of what was accomplished during the nine workouts. “We’ve got 15 midyears and it’s a lot of development for those guys. They’ve been in a lot of meetings. A lot of corrections, a lot of installation. So a lot of just team building. A lot of team meetings and things, the way we build our team. We’ve gotten a lot of that done... I’m glad we were able to do that.”
Clemson, which has reached the College Football Playoff five consecutive years, is expected contend for the postseason again in 2020 behind junior quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
Tigers star running back Travis Etienne is also back, opting to pass on the NFL to return for his senior season. Clemson will open the 2020 season on Thursday, Sept. 3 at Georgia Tech.
