Dabo Swinney talks Clemson spring game, what he is looking to see

The spring practice period is beginning to conclude for college football teams across the country, as spring games are getting set to take place starting as soon as this weekend. That’s the case for Clemson – which will take to the field Saturday afternoon to show Tigers’ fans what they’ve been working on throughout spring practices.

Clemson – led by veteran head coach Dabo Swinney – is coming off a 10-3 season in 2021, which included a 6-2 mark in ACC play and a win over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl. Coming into the 2022 campaign, the Tigers have multiple options at quarterback with sophomore D.J. Uiagalelei and On3 Consensus five-star freshman Cade Klubnik – which is a positive for Swinney.

Alongside the quarterback position, Swinney – just like most college football coaches – has holes to fill at nearly every position, and he’s been using spring practices to see who those players could be. With that said, Saturday’s spring game will allow Swinney to see his team compete in a game-like setting and give him a better feel of who should be on the field for games this fall.

“Just a good, competitive game,” Swinney said. “We’ve got some guys that have had really good springs and I’d like to see them carry it over into that environment. We’ve got a lot of guys that really have had to play much bigger roles this spring than maybe they’ve had in the past. And then you split the team – with 20 scholarship guys unavailable, it gets thin quick.

“It’s going to be fun, man. I just want to see them compete. I want to see some of these guys that maybe haven’t played as many reps and maybe are not going to have to play a ton of reps in the season, I want to see how they respond and how they handle it. Just see them take and execute what we’ve done this spring.”

Clemson’s annual Orange vs. White spring game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET Saturday at Clemson Memorial Stadium. The ACC Network will be carrying the broadcast.