Clemson Spring Notebook: Tigers Put on the Pads

CLEMSON—The Clemson Tigers returned to the practice field inside the Poe Indoor Practice Facility Monday, as they continued spring practice with their fourth practice.

Monday was the first practice of the spring in which the Tigers donned their full pads.

"Today was the first day of live work, day four," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "We did two periods of live work and then finished practice with what we call our 'Rapid Fire' drill, a live drill. So it was good, good to see them really put it all together.

"We've got a lot going on, a lot of installation, we've got a lot of corrections that we're making. But I'm pleased with them. This has been good work, great work ethic, guys have got great energy coming out here. As I said the other day, this is a good looking team.

After three days of shorts and shells one thing was abundantly clear—the freshmen defensive linemen—Demonte Capehart, Myles Murphy and Bryan Bresee—are "as advertised."

“They’re big and just athletic. They’ve got a lot to learn. They just have natural gifts and those guys have played ball for a long time," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "These guys are as advertised. They’re really, really talented."

"Myles Murphy is as advertised," Swinney said. "I mean you're just like, 'Wow.' Same thing with Bryan Bresee. Same thing with Demonte Capehart. It's just impressive to see those guys out here. Yeah, it'll be instant competition, that's for sure."

The Tigers may have "instant competition" in other areas of the defense.

The Tigers were without cornerbacks Mario Goodrich and Derion Kendrick, leaving the Tigers noticeably short at that position during practice.

Kendrick was healthy at the media portion Friday, so his status is unknown at this time. Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said last week that Goodrich was dealing with an ankle injury that apparently hasn’t improved; he was not in a limited jersey at the first practice, though.

After the Tigers' practice Swinney addressed Goodrich's injury stating that it is improving and they hope to have him back later this spring.

"We've got a few guys, especially at corner right now that are banged up," Swinney said. "(Andrew) Booth's getting better, trying to wait on him. DK kind of strained his ham(string), so he was out today. Mario, we're kind of nursing his ankle. We'll take it slow with him the first half and hopefully he'll be ready to second half — or sooner. So we've been a little banged up there."

Who flashed?

"Saturday, I think Jordan Williams had his best practice since he's been at Clemson — it's amazing what a little competition will do," Swinney said. "But he really was a guy, to me, that jumped out. Just really pleased with some of the guys that I've seen in the secondary. At safety we've got some guys that are moving around very, very well back there. I think Mike Jones is a guy that's doing a nice job. He's getting a lot of work.

"All of those young guys, I'm incredibly pleased with. Now that second group of offensive linemen, we've got a long way to go there.

Special teams is special early:

"Really proud of BT (Potter), hasn't missed a single kick in four days. Also really proud of Will Spiers. He's doing a nice job."

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