What Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney Learned About His Team From 'Productive' Spring

Clemson football heads into the summer with a lot more answers, and nobody knows that more than head coach Dabo Swinney.

The Tigers had their spring game last weekend, and Swinney talked about some difference in his team this upcoming season to that of the one from 2025. There was one thing that immediately stood to him throughout the early days of 2026.

Simply, this team is a lot more athletic than that of the 2025 team.

“Well, we’re long. We can run,” Swinney said. “It’s a physical group; it’s been a physical spring. These guys have taken to that. Nobody’s shied away from that.”

That’s seen especially on defense, which was also a credit to the Tigers’ transfer portal efforts back in January. They added nine players to the defense, including a remodeled secondary that features the likes of Elliot Washington II, Corey Myrick and Jerome Carter III.

The new group is “way better”, according to Swinney, and it led to the strong influence the defense had in a 23-3 final score in favor of Team Orange, which consisted of most of the first-team players.

“We’re much improved defensively,” he said. “Much improved from any point in time last year, and so that was really encouraging to see throughout the spring. We were able to fill some gaps that were kind of created, and some unexpected.”

Another group that stood out were the linebackers, who the Clemson head coach said were in “a totally different place” compared to the spring of 2025. Swinney reassures those who think the room is slim that there’s a solid core to succeed next season.

That’s simply how the defense looks, as a whole. For the offense, it’s been a learning experience because of the new scheme.

“We’re just better across the board defensively, and then offensively, a lot of learning, and we got better and better and better and better as the spring went,” Swinney said. “You almost wish if we had like seven more days of practice, but you run out of days, but it’s been great.”

Starting wide receivers Bryant Wesco Jr. and T.J. Moore headlined some of the key skill position players who were out for a majority of the spring. Swinney called them “Ferraris” postgame, adding that the players who were practicing were underclassmen, especially with a large freshman class at the position.

While being given a metaphor of a lower-caliber car, Swinney says they look a lot better.

“So, they look like Pintos and Chevys to start spring, and they look a little bit more like some Malibus by the end of spring,” he said. “So, they got a little better, but they’re not quite Ferraris yet. We got work to do.”

With a scheme to still implement and a summer ahead, the Tigers are far from done with preparation ahead of a Sept. 5 matchup against LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. However, there have been positives, especially on defense, throughout this spring process.

The summer is where the productivity will shine.

“Again, we’re a long way, we got a lot of work to do, and a long way to go to be game ready, but it was productive,” Swinney said. “It was a very productive spring.”