Clemson football holds first day of 2023 spring practice. Here’s what we heard, saw
Spring practice is officially underway.
The Clemson football team held its first of 15 practices Monday afternoon at the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex, and early portions of the workout were open to the media. Some early observations on the defending ACC champions:
Offense
The Tigers’ most intriguing new partnership — offensive coordinator Garrett Riley and quarterback Cade Klubnik — was on display early. Riley ran the quarterbacks through a drill in which they had to move through a line of wobbling tackle dummies while maintaining a deliberately slow pace — essentially a pocket presence exercise. “Who can be the most calm?” Riley, the former TCU offensive coordinator, asked Klubnik and his teammates after each of them bumped into at least one dummy the first time around. Coach Dabo Swinney said Riley’s already been “awesome” in his role as quarterbacks coach, which former OC Brandon Streeter held from 2014 to 2021.
With Alabama/Arizona State graduate transfer Paul Tyson (thumb) limited, redshirt junior QB Hunter Helms took second-team reps in the team’s early practice “tempo drill” behind Klubnik. True freshman Christopher Vizzina took third-team reps.
Clemson’s first-team offensive line during the aforementioned tempo drill was: left tackle Tristan Leigh, left guard Mitchell Mayes, center Will Putnam, right guard Trent Howard and right tackle Blake Miller. As a reminder, two of last year’s starting offensive linemen, Marcus Tate and Walker Parks, will miss spring practice after surgeries. Tate and Parks were the usual yellow non-contact jerseys Monday, but neither wore a brace.
Receiver Troy Stellato wore a left knee brace as he continues to recover from September surgery to repair a torn ACL. Stellato has only played in two of a possible 27 games in two seasons at Clemson due to injuries. Receivers Beaux Collins (shoulder) and Adam Randall (knee) were also in non-contact jerseys. With those three out, there’s ample spring opportunity for early enrollee freshman Noble Johnson. He’s a former four-star recruit from Texas and ranked as the No. 57 receiver in the class.
Defense
Monday marked freshman defensive lineman Peter Woods’ first career practice as a Tiger. He’s easily the most-hyped recruit in Clemson’s recruiting class of 2023 and finished his career at Thompson (Ala.) High School as the No. 33 prospect in the country. Freshman early enrollees T.J. Parker and Vic Burley also rank as top 10 defensive linemen in the class (Burley and Stephiylan Green, another freshman defensive lineman, practiced with Clemson at the Orange Bowl). Woods looks every bit of the 6-foot-2 and 300 pounds he’s listed at and moved well in early drills.
Three key defensive linemen were in yellow jerseys: tackle Ruke Orhorhoro, tackle Payton Page and end Xavier Thomas. All three players had late-season or postseason “clean-up” surgeries. Their absence, naturally, opens up spring reps for those aforementioned early enrollee freshmen and players such as Greg Williams, DeMonte Capehart, Cade Denhoff and Zaire Patterson.
Swinney was polite but firm in his criticisms of safety Andrew Mukuba on Monday. The former ACC Rookie of the Year made too many mistakes as a sophomore, Swinney said, and also “didn’t have his body in the best possible spot.” Mukuba has already put on 8 to 9 pounds ahead of his junior season, which Swinney said should be beneficial for his 2023 health. (Mukuba played hurt lots of last season.) In the tempo period, Mukuba came down with a nice sideline interception on a fade route intended for receiver Antonio Williams.
Clemson essentially knows what it has at defensive line and linebackers: All-ACC talent such as Tyler Davis, Orhorhoro, Barrett Carter and Jeremiah Trotter. The secondary is a bit more unproven. Swinney, once again, highlighted passing defense as one of two major things he wants Clemson to improve on in 2023 (the other is passing offense). Clemson’s DBs spent a good chunk of Monday’s early periods working on form tackles and driving offensive players toward the sideline in open-field situations.
Other notes
For a second straight season, Clemson has a laundry list of spring practice absences due to injuries. A large group of players will be limited but “involved in various roles throughout, and some will be completely out,” according to Swinney. Notable players: WR Beaux Collins (shoulder), CB Sheridan Jones (ab), DL Ruke Orhorhoro (shoulder), DL Payton Page (shoulder), OL Walker Parks (ankle), OL Marcus Tate (knee), WR Adam Randall (knee), DL Xavier Thomas (foot), S Jalyn Phillips (ankle) and WR Troy Stellato (ACL).
The Clemson Athletics Branding Institute, or CAB, is open for business. Clemson officials gave the media a tour of the name, image and likeness-focused space ahead of Monday’s practice. Features include a podcast studio, meeting rooms, photo rooms and a new balcony overlooking the indoor practice facility field. It’s accessible to all Clemson student-athletes and also houses the office of C.D. Davies, the football team’s in-house NIL coordinator.
Fresh off the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, former Clemson defensive end K.J. Henry and defensive tackle Bryan Bresee were hanging around practice Monday. Same for former tight end Luke Price, who just wrapped up a six-year Clemson career.
Opening practice tunes: “Good Day” by Greg Street, “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan and — just like the opening day of 2022 fall camp — “The Boys Are Back in Town” by Thin Lizzy.
