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Senior-Laden Team Gives Clemson A Head Start

The senior class for 2018 is more than three times the size of the 2017 class and that has led to a different atmosphere this spring.
Credit: Bart Boatwright, The Greenville News

CLEMSON – Every year at this time, Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney offers a familiar refrain.

“Spring ball is about starting over,” he says.

Technically he’s right, of course, but realistically this year’s starting point is vastly different from most springs during his tenure thanks primarily to a bevy of seniors who will be on display Saturday in the Tigers’ annual spring game.

“This is obviously a team that is very veteran-led,” Swinney said.

No kidding.

Last year the Tigers had six scholarship seniors; this year Swinney will have more than three times that many.

“This team, with our walk-ons, we’ve got like 29 or 30 seniors,” Swinney said. “I think 21 on scholarship.”

The Tigers’ experience level got an unexpected and welcome boost in January when defensive linemen Christian Wilkins, Austin Bryant and Clelin Ferrell all decided to eschew the NFL and return for a final season, as did offensive tackle Mitch Hyatt.

“To have those guys leading the way is special,” Swinney said. “Bottom line is they didn’t get the grade they wanted. Their goal is to be a no-doubt first-rounder.”

And Swinney’s wishful thinking paid off.

“I know this: I was saving scholarships for ’em,” Swinney said.

Suddenly, the composition of the 2018 team took a turn, flipping the script so to speak and giving the Tigers a decidedly veteran look and further boosting expectations for a fourth consecutive trip to the College Football Playoff.

“We’ve had years when one side of the ball was very veteran led and the other side we had to bring those guys along,” Swinney said. “This is one of those years where I really feel like we’ve got the leadership at each position and the type of experience we need at each position on both sides…that’s a good place to start. You can coach ’em hard right out of the gate.”

Or just let the veterans do a good bit of the coaching.

“One of best things that’s woven into the culture of our program is the pride our veterans take in nurturing the young guys and teaching them how we practice,” Swinney said. “You’ve got a lot of guys helping get the message across of how it needs to be.”

Bottom line?

Swinney already is counting the days until fall camp.

“This is as deep of a team as we’ve had,” he said. “We’ve got a great, great veteran-led team with a lot of good leadership at every single position, so that’s exciting as a coach.”

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