It’s hard to believe, but in nine days the Clemson football team will hit the practice fields behind the Allen Reeves Football Complex to begin spring practice.

“Spring is coming early here at Clemson and (we are) choppin’ at the bit to get on the field,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said.

It’s understandable why the Tigers are so anxious to get back on the practice fields. Despite another great season in 2017, they feel like the year ended too early and they did not accomplish all the things they wanted to get accomplished.

With the return of 17 players that started at least four games, plus its starting kicker and punter back, Clemson will be the overwhelming favorite to win a fourth straight ACC Championship this coming fall and will be one of the favorites to contend for another national championship as well.

But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves. The Tigers must first complete the spring, which will end on April 14 with the annual Orange & White Game in Death Valley.

The spring is the time for coaches and players to work on fundamentals, reintroduce plays that worked well last season and to improve on the ones that did not. It’s the first step in building a championship team, but as Swinney always likes to remind the media and fans, they’re not going to win a title in March and April, they are just working on getting themselves better.

Though there are a lot of players returning from last year’s 12-2 team, it is still a new team. This will be the first time, as a team, they will be working together as they try to rebuild that same chemistry and togetherness they shared in going to a third straight College Football Playoff in 2017.

It will not be as easy as people think. To get better, the Tigers have to improve in a few areas.

On offense, the passing game needs to get better, especially in terms of being a better threat on down the field passes. Granted, no one expected Kelly Bryant to come out and sling the ball around like Deshaun Watson did the previous two years, but throwing for less than 1,700 yards and 28 fewer touchdowns was a little extreme, too.

Granted Clemson ran a different style with Bryant last year than it did with Watson, but it was obvious in the Tigers’ loss to Alabama in the Sugar Bowl they need to improve in the passing game if they want to get back to the national championship.

Though Bryant is the starting quarterback, and deservedly so, he will be pushed this spring by sophomore Hunter Johnson, redshirt freshman Chase Brice and true freshman Trevor Lawrence. The competition should make for an interesting spring and, if anything, improve the passing game.

With wide receivers Deon Cain and Ray-Ray McCloud headed to the NFL a year early, the Tigers will try to get guys like Tee Higgins and Amari Rodgers ready to fill in their shoes. Both came on strong at the end of the season and both are expected to move up the depth chart and fill those roles.

They will be pushed by rising juniors Diondre Overton and Cornell Powell, who will both be a year older and wiser and will want to make a case for themselves to be the new starters at the boundary and the field spots.

On defense, the biggest question comes at the strong linebacker position, where defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Brent Venables must find a replacement for All-American Dorian O’Daniel. Jalen Williams, Shaq Smith and possibly safety Isaiah Simmons seem to be the candidates to replace O’Daniel.

Clemson must also replace Ryan Carter at cornerback, too. However, Trayvon Mullen and Mark Fields both started at least four games last season and A.J. Terrell gained a lot of experience as well while filling in for Fields after he got injured.

All in all, the Tigers seem to be in good shape across the board and the spring is just about getting better, and they are “choppin’ at the bit” to get started.