By Will Vandervort.
The Clemson football team officially reports to camp today as it gets set to begin preparations for the 2014 football season on Friday.
Clemson will open training camp Friday evening at the practice facilities beside the Jervey Athletic Center for the first of 29 practices. Of course this will all lead up to the season-opener at Georgia on Aug. 31.
“It’s that time again,” Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt said on twitter Thursday morning.
Friday is a big day for Stoudt as he begins his first practice as the starting quarterback for the Tigers. The senior has spent the last three years on the bench as Tajh Boyd’s backup. Finally, it’s his turn to grab the keys to the offense and see if he can drive the Tigers to the promise land.
“It’s a good feeling, but it is a different feeling,” Stoudt said. “We are going to see how this whole season goes. I’m very excited about how this whole thing is going to turn out.”
Stoudt isn’t the only Tiger excited about the start of the new year.
“It’s finally Report Day… One of my favorite days of the year. Time to go to work,” wide receivers coach Jeff Scott said on twitter.
No one has as much work to do as Scott. He must find a replacement for playmaker Sammy Watkins—who is now with the Buffalo Bills—and Martavis Bryant, who is playing for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Those two combined for 143 catches, 2,292 yards and 19 touchdowns last season.
“It’s a combination of having great players to buy in and working extremely hard,” Scott said. “There are tons of talented players out there that are not willing to pay the price and you get an average result. We have been fortunate that the top-tier guys that have come in have been hungry, had strong work ethic and have had success.
“I believe success breeds success.”
Scott will try to get that success out of veterans Adam Humphries, Charone Peake, Germone Hopper and Mike Williams, while breaking in true freshmen Artavis Scott, Demarre Kitt, Kyrin Priester and Trevion Thompson.
“Just look back to Jacoby (Ford), Jaron Brown, DeAndre Hopkins and now Sammy, these were guys that watched those guys when they were in high school and obviously learned from them when they got to Clemson,” Jeff Scott said. “These guys want to continue that tradition.
“It is fun as a player and as a coach to be a part of that and see that.”
In all, Clemson welcomes back 52 lettermen from last year’s Orange Bowl Champion team that went 11-2 and finished No. 7 in the country. However, the Tigers must replace seven starters on an offense that averaged 40.2 points and 508.5 yards per game in 2013.
“Our standard is exactly the same as it always has been,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I personally believe, when it is all said and done, we will be one of the best offenses in the country. I love the personal that we have. I think we have some dynamic young talent on our team that this time next year you will all be asking me about those guys.
“That’s what makes college football so fun. Everyone looks at what has left and they make an assessment because they don’t really know who these guys are that are coming in. If ya’ll knew what we knew about Sammy Watkins when he showed up, we might not have been picked about third or fourth in the ACC the year that we won it. That’s what makes it fun. Old players have to leave and new players have to emerge.”
After a team meeting, those new Tigers will emerge when Clemson has its annual weigh in this evening.