By Will Vandervort.
Friday was a crazy day from the get-go at Dabo Swinney’s house. First he had to wake up bright an early so he and his wife Kathleen could get their two oldest boys, Will and Drew, up and off to football camp at nearby Daniel High School.
Then later in the day, Clemson signed 13 future Tigers to financial aid agreements. All 13 players plan on entering Clemson as student-athletes this coming January. It will be the largest group of midyear football players in the history of the program.
“That’s just awesome to me,” Swinney said. “It’s just a sign of how things have changed in recruiting. Those of you that are from around here, you remember how in February of 2009, when I signed my first class and we signed twelve guys.
“Now those guys turned out to be pretty good in Tajh Boyd, Spencer Shuey, Tyler Shatley, Hot Rod, Quandon Christian, and Darrell Smith. There were some great, great guys in that class for sure. Now fast forward and we are signing thirteen guys to financial aid agreements on Aug. 1 before we play a game.
“I give all the credit to that group all the way back to February of 2009 because they came when it was not real sexy to come to Clemson.”
Later in the evening, after speaking with the media for the first time during camp, Swinney joined his team on the practice fields beside the Jervey Athletic Center to begin his sixth season as the Tigers’ head coach.
“It has been a fun five years. I can’t believe I am entering my sixth year,” he said. “I really can’t. It is just mind boggling to me. When I see my children – I have two sons starting high school football today. One is a tenth grader and one is a ninth grader and six years ago they were like little bitty boys to me.
“Now they have hair under their arms and they have deep voices. Will is driving and it is just crazy how time flies. There is a saying, ‘That the days seem very long but the years are short.’ There has never been a truer statement than that.”
Swinney wasn’t the only coach that was excited to get back to work on Friday.
“There was some excitement today and the guys were bouncing around,” offensive coordinator Chad Morris said. “It is kind of like a kid on Christmas morning. The kids are fired up and are ready to unwrap the toys and the presents.
“There was great energy today.”
Clemson quarterback Cole Stoudt, who is expected to get his first start when the Tigers visit Georgia on Aug. 31, was excited about going into practice as the starting quarterback for the first time in his college career.
“It’s great. It’s different,” Stoudt said. “You kind of have a little different swagger in yourself when you walk out there knowing you are the guy. It was fun, it was relaxing and I feel great about it. I’m really excited about this year.”