Dabo Swinney addresses safety depth following Lannden Zanders stepping away

Dabo Swinney is still reeling from having to deal with safety Lannden Zanders retire from football due to a litany of injuries — but the show must go on for the Clemson Tigers.

During his career, Zanders has dealt with multiple injuries, which led to his decision to retire. He appeared in 25 games over his career, including 10 starts, and played in one game last season.

While it’s been a tough situation for all, Swinney believes Clemson has the depth to be able to handle everything thrown at them.

“We’ve got a great group. That’s one of those blessings of this team, I think we’ve got depth at every position,” stated Swinney. “As I’ve said, the only real question I have is punter. We’ve got guys, but who’s going to be the guy? We’re going to find out as we go through camp, I’m excited to see that. We’ve got excellent depth at every position. We really do. We’ve got experience. We’ve got experience and talent.

“So I love the makeup of this team. It’s not always the case that you have that. Some years you’re young on one side, really experienced on another side. Some years maybe it’s one position that’s really young. Like in ‘18 when we won it, we were obviously really young at quarterback. Trevor’s a true freshman and Chase is a redshirt freshman. After the fourth game, that’s kind of where we were the rest of the year. Some years you get more lucky than others. But this team has really, really good depth. I think at every position.”

Nevertheless, the Tigers coach recognizes losing Zanders’ on-field ability is a blow for Clemson.

“It’s a big loss, because he’s another great, experienced players — but we’ve got options,” added Swinney. “Obviously the guys that are there. We love the guys we brought in. Then you’ve got some guys that can cross-train if we needed them to, position wise.”

Dabo Swinney never wants to have to watch one of his athletes retire before reaching the pinnacle of their football career, but Lannden Zanders will still have the lessons taught by the Clemson coach that can apply to many major aspects of life. As for their safety room with his absence, its evident Swinney believes the Tigers will be able to recover just fine.