With classes beginning today, Clemson finished its 16th and final practice of fall camp on Tuesday. The players will get Wednesday off to get acclimated to their schedule, and they will resume practice on Thursday.
Here is what we heard from the final day of fall camp:
“It’s been a good camp. It really has from start to finish. I’m proud of the guys for how they pushed through,” head coach Dabo Swinney said afterwards. ”We’ve pretty much have had them 24/7 for the last couple of weeks so I know they’re glad to get back to a little bit of a normal schedule for them but there’s still a lot of work to do.”
Swinney mentioned he is happy to have escaped fall camp with relatively healthy, but he still had some injuries to report.
“Were in decent shape,” he said. “Everybody this time of year, after a couple weeks of camp, is beating each other up and has all kinds of nicks and bruises.”
Swinney said freshman quarterback Tucker Israel is doing great with his recovery after he broke his foot on the first day of practice, while linebacker Kendall Joseph is recovering from a minor knee procedure, but he is expected to return soon.
“Kendall Joseph had to have a little scope on his meniscus, but we anticipate him being back,” Swinney said.
On the depth situation at linebacker, Swinney said, “We’ve got bodies, were just young. We’re just green. We just don’t have experienced bodies.”
Swinney went on to say he is happy with where the team is at with the nickel/SAM (strong side) position but that the MIKE (middle) and WILL (weak side) positions need some work.
However, linebacker Ben Boulware has faith the linebackers will be okay.
“I think we will be okay by the way we work and the way we prepare for games, for these scrimmages and for practice every day,” he said. “A lot of guys have matured.”
Boulware is particularly fond of freshman linebacker Jalen Williams.
“I think he resembles me a little bit as a freshman,” he said. “He’s farther along than I was as a freshman,” Boulware continued. “I think once he learns his game plan and is mentally mature, he’ll be an amazing player.”
On special teams, Clemson rewarded two hard working players with scholarships this fall.
“To be placed on scholarship is definitely a privilege to be taken seriously,” said starting punter Andy Teasdall. “It’s pretty special.”
“I was hoping and praying he’d (Swinney) call my name and he did so I was super excited,” said starting long snapper Jim Brown. “It’s a dream come true because I’ve been waiting on it for five years.”
Running back Tyshon Dye knows he has a lot of guys to compete with for playing time, but he feels as if is improving each day and pushing himself.
“I’ve been getting a lot better over camp and I’ve been seeing improvement. The coaches have been seeing some improvement,” Dye said. “It’s a good competitive atmosphere. Whatever role coach feels I need to be in, I will be glad to do that.”