Dabo Swinney hopes to see Clemson fans show up in droves for the spring game this weekend.

During an interview Wednesday on Out of Bounds on The Roar WCCP FM, the Tigers’ head coach made a final plea to get fans in the stands for Saturday’s spring game at Death Valley.

Swinney began by emphasizing how important fan support is from a recruiting standpoint, with the Tigers set to host some of their top targets in the 2024 class and future classes.

“We need it, and again, we’ve got a ton of recruits coming, a ton,” Swinney said, “and it’s a big deal when these guys, especially the type of guys that we’re recruiting – they’re going to go all over the country, and for them to come in here and to be able to see the type of support that we have here. It’s going to be a fun day, it’s going to be an entertaining day, it’s going to be a competitive day.”

Given that college teams don’t have intersquad scrimmages or preseason games for fans to attend, Swinney believes his players can benefit from a big crowd turning out to simulate a game-like environment at the spring game.

“We’re going to have a lot of guys that we’re going to have to really depend on, and we don’t get preseason games,” he said. “We don’t get that where you can go play a game and the crowd’s there and all that, that moment to where you can kind of work out the kinks a little bit and the butterflies and all that.

“I don’t care how good of a player you are, when you get out there and you’re performing in front of that amount of people, there’s a little bit of anxiety that comes with it. So to be able to really put the pressure on these guys, that to me is the biggest benefit, and that doesn’t happen if you’ve got 1,500 people in the stands.”

Of course, competing in front of a larger crowd would be especially helpful for the incoming freshmen who haven’t experienced playing in a college game to date. Ideally, Swinney would like his players to get a taste of that in Saturday’s spring game before the Tigers head to Duke for the Labor Day season opener.

Swinney called for Clemson fans to do their part to make Death Valley an energetic environment Saturday.

“Let’s help get these guys ready,” he said. “To me, it’s a part of that, and everybody wants to be a part of it. That’s one way everybody can help is just to show up, create a great environment with a lot of energy and excitement and bringing the juice for these guys to give them, again, an experience of a gameday before we ever line up on Labor Day night when it counts for real.”

The Orange vs. White spring game is set to get underway at 1 p.m. Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Admission is free.

“It’s just a great day, man. Why not come to Clemson?” Swinney asked. “It’s going to be a great day. There’s a lot going on. You’ve got baseball, there’s all kind of stuff going on on campus, and just a good excuse to come and get a chance to see some of these guys. You’re going to love seeing some of these young guys and some of these guys that are really developed over this past year.”

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