Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is changing things up for this year’s Orange & White Spring Game, which will be held Saturday at Memorial Stadium in Clemson.
Swinney was on the Out of Bounds Show Wednesday on 105.5 The Roar in Easley, and announced the team will not be split up the way it has been in the past. Since Swinney took over the program full time in 2009, the assistant coaches drafted players for the Orange and White Teams to balance the rosters evenly.
This year, the first-team offense will be paired with the second-team defense and will go against the first-team defense and second-team offense.
“We got some guys that are out and just wanted to try and give Cade (Klubnik) the best opportunity to have a little continuity in front of him with some change, obviously, with a new offense this year, terminology and stuff,” Swinney said.
The Clemson football coach says the change will actually make things a little more competitive than the game has been in years past from a player personnel standpoint.
“We are trying to have some continuity that we have had throughout practice with Cade and that first group of linemen that we have available,” Swinney said, “and that first group of receivers because we have had several guys (out). Obviously, Beaux (Collins) and Adam (Randall) have been out. Will (Taylor) is playing baseball and (Troy) Stellato has been out since last August. Then we have three signees that are not here.
“We really wanted to give Cade some continuity with Antonio (Williams), Cole (Turner) and Spec (Brannon Spector) that we built through spring ball. Normally, we have more guys available where we can really truly split it. So, I think it is going to be a really competitive day.”
With more than 60,000 fans expected to be at the spring game, Swinney feels breaking the team up the way they have will be a good barometer on how the players handle playing in front of a large crowd.
“It gives us the best opportunity all spring to evaluate when the lights are bright, if you will,” he said.
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