Football Season Is Back (for the media)!
It is finally here. College football has returned, at least for the media.
This week for members of the media marks the unofficial start to the college football season, as conferences from around the country gather for their respective media days. But for those covering the Clemson Tigers, it is an especially busy week.
Tuesday is the only day the media will be allowed to interview all of the assistant coaches for the Tigers until bowl season, except for the offensive and defensive coordinators. This will be the first sense of normalcy, as the media will be placed on teams with coaches and take part in various games—at the player facility.
Wednesday will include a quick trip up Interstate 85 to Charlotte for the two-day ACC Kickoff, where we will hear from the commissioner of the ACC, Jim Phillips, and every head coach in the conference, along with three players from every school.
With this week being a jam-packed four days filled with lots of questions and plenty of coach-speak, today we give you the biggest three questions that the Clemson Tigers will face during the next week.
1. How will the Tigers handle the pressure ... again? It seems like a question Clemson has had to answer consistently since 2016 following a magical run to the national championship in 2015. But it still needs to be asked.
The Tigers will once again be favorites to win the ACC, make the playoffs and play for a national title. And even with this team being different and having its own makeup from the previous, the expectations have to wear on a team, especially after seven years of being at or near the top.
2. What position group concerns the Tigers the most? This question is a staple for Swinney at his outing, and every year the answer provides a glimpse into the coaching staff’s area of concern.
While Swinney, ever the optimist, rarely points out a group that truly concerns him, the head coach often gives hints through his response as to the area that the staff believes will need the most improvement early in the season.
3. What position group will surprise people? This is the question that Swinney loves because he annually points to the “gotcha” times over the last few years in which he has named a group or player that no one expected and proved to play out.
Three years ago it was the cornerbacks that Swinney believed would be the biggest story of the season, and they were. A few years ago, it was a scrawny walk-on receiver named Hunter Renfrow, about whom Swinney sang praises, and he turned out to be pretty good at catching footballs.
And four seasons ago, Swinney pointed out the running backs as a group to watch, and the country watched as a true freshman named Travis Etienne exploded into the record books.
A note from the publisher:
As crazy as it sounds, this week in July football is back!
I want to take a second, as the publisher of AllClemson.com, to thank each and every person that has read our stories, interacted on the message boards and supported what we are trying to build. This site, we believe, gives you, the readers, the best and most in-depth content that is 100% free. We are only going to continue to strive to be the best site for Clemson sports in the nation, we won't stop until we are, with your help!
