Today officially marked the halfway point of spring practice. Today was practice No. 7. To this point the Clemson football team has been building toward its first official scrimmage of the spring, which will be on Wednesday in Death Valley (closed to the public).
This is an important scrimmage obviously for Clemson's midyear enrollee offensive linemen. I asked Dabo Swinney this evening if there was any additional clarity up front at this point.
"The best way to get a true evaluation is to let them go play and have them in a stressful environment. I'm anxious to see them play (in Wednesday's scrimmage) and have them react to situations as they're presented. That first group has really had a good spring. I'm very encouraged with Isaiah Battle, Eric Mac Lain, Ryan Norton, Tyrone Crowder and Joe Gore. They're confident. They look like they're having fun.
"The guys behind them are just all talented, athletic and hungry. Mitch Hyatt and Jake Fruhmorgen, Justin Falcinelli, Taylor Hearn ... really an impressive array of guys. That's the group we've got to figure out. We've just got to go play. That's the only way they're going to grow. After the spring and after we get some good evaluation, we'll give them good feedback in exit interviews so that they can go to work on those things in the summer. None of the second group is anywhere near where I expect them to be in the fall. They all want to be good players. They're all hungry and they're all talented. I'm not disappointed with any of them."
As you'll recall, both Hyatt and Joe Gore missed practice No. 5 and practice No. 6 (minor injuries/tweaked hamstring) but I asked Dabo if both were back in practice today full-speed and he said that they were. In fact everyone was back today, so no spring break drama.
BTW ... I was told this evening that the primary reason Deshaun Watson was in Dallas last week was to join Milan Richard on the trip to see Richard's uncle, Herschel Walker. Walker of course also was at an SMU practice last week.
I spent some time with running back Tyshon Dye this evening. He seems to really have it together, he's got a smile on his face and he's excited about the off-season.
Dye acknowledged that the train hasn't yet fully left the station, as he continues to try to reach full speed. He said he's about 80% full throttle, though he pointed out that at full speed he believes he's a consistent 4.4/40 back. He believes he'll be full speed by the start of the summer.
He's at 215 pounds currently but he wants to be at 210 by the fall. When he was pushed into action late last fall, he weighed in at 235.
To this point in the spring he has received no first-team reps. Those have gone primarily to Wayne Gallman and Zac Brooks.
Dye says he's spent extra time working on change of direction. He believes he's able to cut better as a result, and he also says his endurance has improved since dropping 20+ pounds over the winter and early spring.
FYI, I asked Dye if anything looked different up front this spring in terms of protections and he said he didn't detect any changes thus far.
Dabo had this to say on Dye's progress through seven practices:
"He just looks very different than what he looked in the fall. It's a combination of him just continuing to gain that confidence and the off-season. It's the work ethic in the weight room, going through our off-season program. He's just gotten back healthy. His body looks great. As opposed to just getting thrown in at a high level late in the season - and he held his own - he just needed an off-season. I'm really pleased with him. He's moving, making cuts he wasn't quite able to do with the speed he's doing now. He's also more confident in what we're doing. He's gone through installation. He's playing faster as well."
*** The team will work out again Wednesday (officially practice No. 8/scrimmage) and Friday (No. 9) before wrapping up this week. The remaining spring practice dates are March 30 (No. 10), April 1 (No. 11), April 6 (No. 12), April 8 (No. 13), April 9 (No. 14), and April 11 (No. 15/spring game).
**** B.J. Goodson said this evening he has continued to receive exclusive first-team reps at MIKE (no work at SAM or WILL).
**** Former Clemson running back C.J. Spiller was at practice this evening.
We hope everyone's week is off to a great start!
This is an important scrimmage obviously for Clemson's midyear enrollee offensive linemen. I asked Dabo Swinney this evening if there was any additional clarity up front at this point.
"The best way to get a true evaluation is to let them go play and have them in a stressful environment. I'm anxious to see them play (in Wednesday's scrimmage) and have them react to situations as they're presented. That first group has really had a good spring. I'm very encouraged with Isaiah Battle, Eric Mac Lain, Ryan Norton, Tyrone Crowder and Joe Gore. They're confident. They look like they're having fun.
"The guys behind them are just all talented, athletic and hungry. Mitch Hyatt and Jake Fruhmorgen, Justin Falcinelli, Taylor Hearn ... really an impressive array of guys. That's the group we've got to figure out. We've just got to go play. That's the only way they're going to grow. After the spring and after we get some good evaluation, we'll give them good feedback in exit interviews so that they can go to work on those things in the summer. None of the second group is anywhere near where I expect them to be in the fall. They all want to be good players. They're all hungry and they're all talented. I'm not disappointed with any of them."
As you'll recall, both Hyatt and Joe Gore missed practice No. 5 and practice No. 6 (minor injuries/tweaked hamstring) but I asked Dabo if both were back in practice today full-speed and he said that they were. In fact everyone was back today, so no spring break drama.
BTW ... I was told this evening that the primary reason Deshaun Watson was in Dallas last week was to join Milan Richard on the trip to see Richard's uncle, Herschel Walker. Walker of course also was at an SMU practice last week.
I spent some time with running back Tyshon Dye this evening. He seems to really have it together, he's got a smile on his face and he's excited about the off-season.
Dye acknowledged that the train hasn't yet fully left the station, as he continues to try to reach full speed. He said he's about 80% full throttle, though he pointed out that at full speed he believes he's a consistent 4.4/40 back. He believes he'll be full speed by the start of the summer.
He's at 215 pounds currently but he wants to be at 210 by the fall. When he was pushed into action late last fall, he weighed in at 235.
To this point in the spring he has received no first-team reps. Those have gone primarily to Wayne Gallman and Zac Brooks.
Dye says he's spent extra time working on change of direction. He believes he's able to cut better as a result, and he also says his endurance has improved since dropping 20+ pounds over the winter and early spring.
FYI, I asked Dye if anything looked different up front this spring in terms of protections and he said he didn't detect any changes thus far.
Dabo had this to say on Dye's progress through seven practices:
"He just looks very different than what he looked in the fall. It's a combination of him just continuing to gain that confidence and the off-season. It's the work ethic in the weight room, going through our off-season program. He's just gotten back healthy. His body looks great. As opposed to just getting thrown in at a high level late in the season - and he held his own - he just needed an off-season. I'm really pleased with him. He's moving, making cuts he wasn't quite able to do with the speed he's doing now. He's also more confident in what we're doing. He's gone through installation. He's playing faster as well."
*** The team will work out again Wednesday (officially practice No. 8/scrimmage) and Friday (No. 9) before wrapping up this week. The remaining spring practice dates are March 30 (No. 10), April 1 (No. 11), April 6 (No. 12), April 8 (No. 13), April 9 (No. 14), and April 11 (No. 15/spring game).
**** B.J. Goodson said this evening he has continued to receive exclusive first-team reps at MIKE (no work at SAM or WILL).
**** Former Clemson running back C.J. Spiller was at practice this evening.
We hope everyone's week is off to a great start!
