When preseason camp begins, a head coach does not know what he is going to discover about his team.
The two weeks of camp every team goes through in the heat of August, tests a team’s character. It either brings them together or it eventually tears them apart. For third-ranked Clemson, it appears, at least to head coach Dabo Swinney, its players are in the right frame of mind as the Tigers’ camp ended Tuesday at the Poe Indoor Practice Facility in Clemson.
“They are together. This is a team that likes each other, and they will compete,” Swinney said.
The Tigers’ head man says this year’s team has practiced hard and has not taken any days off. They are a focused football team. One he thinks will be ready for the 2021 football season when it kicks off on Sept. 4 against No. 5 Georgia in Charlotte.
Clemson will play the Bulldogs at Bank of America Stadium.
“They practice physical. They are a focused team and those are things that excite me,” Swinney said. “We are talented. I think we all know that, but having the right leadership, having the right focus, having the right commitment, those are the things that … You know? The right attitude and the right character.
“I think this team has all of those intangibles that we are going to need to have the type of season we want to have.”
The Tigers are hoping to make another run at the College Football Playoff. Clemson has made each of the last six playoffs, the only team in the CFP era that can make such a claim.
As for getting ready for Georgia, the Tigers will begin some preparation next Monday and Tuesday.
“We are still working some Clemson, as well, and then [next] Wednesday will be a staff day for us and then Thursday, Friday and Saturday will all be game prep. Then, obviously, you got game week,” Swinney said. “Obviously, we have done a lot of work all summer, so it is not like we just are waiting to start.
“We have done a lot of staff work, but from a team standpoint, you are going through camp. It is about getting ready for your season, and then we will start pairing it down and honing in, evaluating personnel and those types of things. Again, we are just trying to teach everything that we can teach.”
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