New Faces in New Places Make Offseason Prep Difficult for Swinney, Tigers

Between the NCAA transfer portal and sweeping coaching changes around college football, opponent prep isn't easy on anybody, including Dabo Swinney.

Between the NCAA transfer portal and sweeping coaching changes around college football, are you having a hard time keeping up with who's who and what's what in this sport?

Well, you aren't the only one. 

The vast changes from one roster and staff to the next are also headaches for the teams trying to scout the opponent. Ten of the 12 schools Clemson faces this season changed head coach, coordinators or both in the offseason. Even veteran Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney knows that's a lot to account for this fall. 

"We've done a lot of preseason stuff on what we think and just gathering information, spring games and all that type of stuff and going back to last year," Swinney said after Saturday's scrimmage at Memorial Stadium. "We're going to play a lot of different coaches this year. There's a lot of different coordinators that are on our schedule so some of it doesn't help you. That's what makes the opener hard."

Clemson will face such a team when the Tigers kick off the 2022 season against Georgia Tech at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sept. 5. Swinney said the opener is usually the hardest game to prepare for because you have too much time to get ready for one game combined with a variety of unknowns.

"When you've played two or three games you start to at least have more of an identity," Swinney said. "You know at least a little bit more about their personnel. You have a much better feel for who they are schematically. When you have all spring and all summer and you don't know a lot about their personnel, especially if there's an influx of new people and coaches, it just creates extra stress because you know there's just, especially in the early part of the game, a lot of feeling out."

Yes, Clemson is a heavy, three-touchdown favorite over the Yellow Jackets, but there is much about that first opponent the Tigers aren't prepared for heading into the game. 

Coming off a three-win campaign, Georgia Tech head coach Geoff Collins retooled his coaching staff, bringing in Chip Long to run his offense along with QB coach Chris Weinke and special assistant Jim Chaney. Defensive coordinator Andrew Thacker was retained, but he got three new assistants under him. 

That's a lot of change but is far from the variables Swinney mentioned. The Yellow Jackets had a wild transfer portal run. More than a dozen players, including now-Alabama running back Jahmyr Gibbs, exited the program via the portal while more than dozen more landed in Atlanta for the first time. 

Clemson faced QB Jeff Sims in 2020 but not in 2021. Then-starter Jordan Yates transferred to Sam Houston State at the end of last season. That team, with Yates under center, gave the Tigers all they could handle, losing 14-8 at Memorial Stadium last season. 

The Yellow Jackets' defense showed Clemson looks that the Tigers weren't prepared for, something Swinney also mentioned Saturday when discussing the work that goes into that offseason preparation. 

"You think you know," Swinney said.

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