Clemson Tigers Open Fall Camp: Swinney Addresses Fred Davis II Arrest, Justyn Ross and Much More

The Clemson Tigers began their march back to the College Football Playoff, and hopefully a fourth national championship Friday. But before the Tigers took to the practice field, head coach Dabo Swinney addressed a number of topics with the media.

CLEMSON—The Clemson Tigers are back on the practice fields in preparation for the 2021 season, opening fall camp, and head coach Dabo Swinney was all smiles as he met with the media prior to the Tigers starting practice.

"Right, ready to go. All right, just, first of all, excited that we're finally here, finally getting going excited, everybody's together," Swinney said. "And we can kind of get off to a normal start. This is my 40th football season. So started playing in the fifth grade, and played eight years and then played five years in college. And you know, it's crazy. 13 years at Alabama is my 19th year at Clemson, 13th as the head coach, and one thing I can tell you, for me that it never gets old. like this so much. It's this point, so much to kind of get going, but it absolutely never gets old. I love it every, every aspect of it. Even the crappy stuff that you had to do to get to this point to get ready to go play football. I love it. I'm really proud of our guys. It's been an incredible offseason."

Swinney Addresses Fred Davis II Arrest

Following a July 21 car crash, Clemson defensive back Fred Davis II was charged by Clemson police with reckless driving and turned himself into authorities Sunday.

Clemson police say traffic specialists and eyewitness accounts led them to determine that Davis was going 115 MPH in a 55 MPH zone before crashing into a mail carrier vehicle on Highway 123. 

"We did have obviously one incredibly unfortunate situation with with Fred Davis last month and that that's obviously everybody everybody knows about that. And, you know, first of all thankful thankful to the good Lord and I think To all those people that are responders that were on the scene there, that was an incredibly serious situation did become tragic. And so I'm really thankful again to God and all the people who were there. And as far as this goes, this is out of his character. I'm just incredibly good disappointing news decision making, it's just that's I mean and just poor decision. And, you know, he will he's going to deal with lots of consequences for a long time."

Swinney Addresses Wide Receiver Justyn Ross' Status

Ross missed all of 2020 after a congenital fusion issue was found in his neck. He had surgery last summer to correct the condition but has been practicing in a limited fashion with the team since last fall.

At one time, it was unknown if Ross, a first-round NFL talent, could play the game
again at all. However, all of that changed Friday.

"I'll first say that Justyn's done a phenomenal job as a leader. What we do as a staff, as we head into spring, we have our guys kind of vote on who's the most all-in offensive players,” Grisham said. “And we also kind of call out some guys that maybe aren't all-in. Throw their names up there and hold them accountable. And that's an important part, too, but Justyn had the most all-in votes for the wide receiver group and Will Swinney's right behind him. But Justyn is seen as a leader. And that was heading into spring, and that's coming off of a year of not playing, and not being in wide receiver meetings often. He's doing rehab and trying to recover. And so, coming off of that, he still was seen as a leader.

“And the feedback I've gotten this summer from the strength staff is that, even more so, he's seen as a leader. He's taken leaps and bounds in that area. He's kind of always been a quiet guy. Just always been a freak athlete. Did his thing and made plays. But with a guy like Amari Rodgers and Cornell Powell gone, he's had to step into that role of the leader, of the lone senior. Obviously, Will Swinney's involved in that, too. And we are counting on Will a lot to lead, and he has done so this summer.”

Covid-19 Protocol

Last season saw coaches, players and fans impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. While things are greatly improved from a year ago, the rise of the Delta variant and concerns over rising numbers have health officials worried.

Swinney addressed the current state of his program with regards to COVID-19 protocols.

"We're right there at the 85% (vaccinated). We have a couple of guys that are scheduled for this weekend...but we're in a good spot."

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