Swinney wants to see 'retention' in scrimmage
CLEMSON–The Clemson Tigers continue their preparation for their Aug. 29 season-opener against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Saturday, as they travel across Perimeter Road into the friendly confines of Death Valley for their first of two preseason scrimmages.
While last season's preseason scrimmages saw the emergence of wide receiver Justyn Ross, whose one-handed catch garnered him a place in SportsCenter top 10, and Lyn-J Dixon, who had the most "wow" plays last camp, the Tigers are not looking for the next great talent this year.
Instead, they are simply looking for how has retained the information they have been given.
"Just retention. See where we are," head coach Dabo Swinney said. "You know, you come in you just throw a whole lot of stuff at them. And then after Saturday, we kind of see what's really stuck and we kind of got to scoop it all back up and got to give it to them again and see if we can get some more hang in there. But that's really the main thing just an assessment of where we are."
College teams do not get the benefit of playing preseason football games, as is the case in the NFL. Instead, they are limited, by NCAA rules, to only two preseason scrimmages where they can go live.
Meaning, the Tigers will look to get the most out of Saturday's first scrimmage as possible.
"We get really two preseason games, if you will, so the way we do two full scrimmages and then we'll have a controlled situational scrimmage on," Swinney said. "Tuesday morning. But that's just that's different you know because it's really situational and it's controlled as opposed to just let's go play some ball.
"So we've got two opportunities and the biggest thing in this first one is just kind of assess where we are where are we what what's what's our retention and then and then kind of strategize from there."
While the fanbase, and the media, will be looking to draw some big conclusions about the depth chart, or who made a move and who didn't following the scrimmage, for Swinney, and the rest of the coaching staff, no decisions will be made—except for setting the stage for the Tigers' next scrimmage on Tuesday.
"It's not a lot of final decisions or any decisions are really," Swinney said. "Maybe, it may set the tone for for the situation scrimmage in the next one but but it's really just an assessment. For me, that's okay because we've put a lot and there's a lot going on and let's see let's kind of see who's got it."
