Clemson legend will be honorary head coach for spring game

CLEMSON — Dabo Swinney has two of his assistants serve as head coaches of Clemson’s spring game every year, and this year is no different.

But the assistants will get a little extra help this year as head coaches as well.

Swinney announced during an appearance on 105.5 The Roar on Tuesday that Tigers legend Christian Wilkins will be an honorary captain for Saturday’s spring game.

Wilkins will be joined by fellow former Clemson defensive lineman Austin Bryant, who had a very good career for the Tigers, too.

“Our honorary head coaches this week are going to be Christian Wilkins and Austin Bryant. That should be a lot of fun,” Swinney said. “Christian’s fired up because he never won a spring game, and Austin’s fired up because he never lost a spring game. So there should be a little fun and a little juice on the line there with those guys.”

While Wilkins and Bryant will be the honorary head coaches, defensive backs coach/special teams coordinator Mike Reed and tight ends coach/passing game coordinator Kyle Richardson will serve as the actual head coaches for the game.

The players will be divided up and placed on teams later this week.

In addition to Wilkins and Bryant, Swinney expects to have several other former Tigers on hand as well.

“We’re going to have a bunch of former players coming back and just a great day in the Valley,” Swinney said. “I hope everybody will come out and support this team. They’ve worked really, really hard this spring. We’re well on our way to having the type of team that we expect and being able to compete at the highest level.”

How spring game prepares Tigers for season

There are no preseason games in college football the way there are in the NFL, which means that when Clemson takes the field on Sept. 5 in Atlanta to face Georgia Tech in its season opener, it will be the first time Clemson’s 2022 team takes the field for a game.

Saturday’s spring game will be the closest the Tigers get to a dress rehearsal run.

“This is the best we get to be able to simulate a game environment. I hope our fans will come out – there’s a lot of recruits coming,” Swinney said. “Just being able to prepare our guys, you know, because in the game of football, if everything goes perfect, in a perfect world you’ve got 15 days that you get to play. We don’t get any preseason games. This is almost like an extra game, because you get to simulate a game, create the environment. And it just is a big part of helping these guys prepare and get ready for what we’ve got to do this summer and this fall.”

Several Clemson players will miss Saturday’s game due to injuries, including freshmen receiver Adam Randall, who suffered a torn ACL earlier this week.

Still, Swinney feels good about where Clemson is as the spring comes to a close.

“We’ve been a little thin in some areas, but it’s been great. We’ve been to able to really get the work done that we need to get done as a staff, as a team, and then individually with some of these guys who really, really needed to get a lot of work,” Swinney said. “It’s been really good, very productive. Excited about this weekend. Hopefully we’re going to have a great crowd.”