CLEMSON — Players continue to rave about the different mindset surrounding this Clemson team during fall camp.

After the Tigers scrimmaged for the first time, Dabo Swinney went in-depth about how competitive the practice was. That was not a one-off, as both sides of the ball have been going at it since the onset of camp.

Senior offensive lineman Blake Miller echoed those sentiments after Clemson’s practice on Monday, noting how the head coach was having to settle players down due to some occasionally being too amped up. After Swinney recently talked about having to set the tone himself at times a season ago, this new mentality is a welcome change.

“He’s kind of had to rein guys back a little bit,” Miller said. “Guys are really flying around out there. It is an amazing problem to have. Having guys on the defensive side of the ball pushing really hard makes the offense go harder. If the offense is dragging, vice versa. I think the dynamic we have going on right now is phenomenal.”

That same mindset would also apply to Matt Luke and his offensive line room. Now that those players have had a year to learn from Luke, Miller feels the Tigers are in a much better place than they were heading into last season, which was Luke’s first with the program.

“I do think having another year with him, and the expectation with him has helped us a little bit, but the mentality remains the same,” Miller added. “Address problems as they come about, but the standards don’t change.”

This is a team that returns a ton of production at almost every spot on the field, including the offensive line, which features several upperclassmen. For that reason, Miller feels like the unit is well-positioned to take a major jump. At the same time, he says there is always room for improvement.

“Not to say there isn’t work to be done, there is always work to be done, but we have a lot of experience in a lot of areas,” Miller said. “I think we are in a better spot than we were last year, and the things that we are cleaning up are minor, schematic wise because there is all that experience at different positions.

Photo courtesy of Dawson Powers