Clemson Football 2012: Latest News, Updates and More from Spring Practice

The Clemson Tigers had one of their more successful seasons in recent memory in 2011, as they finished with a 10-4 record and won the ACC. This season they look to build on that success, as a total of 14 starters are returning from last year's squad.

The key to the success is the seven starters who return on the offensive side of the ball.

The Tigers averaged nearly 34 points per game last year, making them one of the more explosive teams in the country.

They also return seven starters on defense, which should be improved with a bit more experience under their its this year.

Clemson has their eyes on another ACC title, and possibly a national championship, but it all starts with spring practice. The Tigers have already begun their preparation for the spring game on April 14.

Stay tuned for all of the latest news, updates and more involving your Clemson Tigers.

April 9 Updates

Sophomore linebacker Stephone Anthony will miss the rest of spring practice due to surgery after tearing a ligament in his finger. The former 5-star recruit finished the year with 31 tackles, five tackles for loss and two sacks. Anthony is expected to be ready to play by the time the regular season rolls around.

The good news on the defensive side of the ball is 4-star recruit Travis Blanks has really impressed coaches throughout the spring and may see a lot of playing time as true-freshman. At 6'1", 190-pounds and extremely athletic, he has the ability to play safety or cornerback, but defensive coordinator Brent Venables sees him playing nickel.

“We are trying to get him really good at nickel position instead of really average at a lot of things,” Venables said. “Get him really good at one thing and go from there. But he has a lot of flexibility.”

Clemson's secondary surely needs to improve if they expect to take that next step, after giving up 217 yards in the air a game last season. Don't be surprised if you see a true-freshman getting a lot of minutes in that defensive backfield if he continues this progress.

Dabo Swinney Would Like Spring Games Ran Differently

As spring practices and spring games are underway, head coach Dabo Swinney threw out an idea that could be great for college football and its fans everywhere. Instead of playing a spring game against each other, why not play other teams to prepare for the regular season?

“I don’t know if it will ever happen but it’s fun to think about,” Swinney said.

Now of course this idea has been thrown out there before and other sports do hold preseason games to get ready for the year. But Swinney was really passionate about this topic and would really like to see something done about this.

“The other side of it is this: We’re already doing it in basketball. Our basketball teams play other teams but it’s closed, so nobody knows about it. For example, Clemson plays Georgia in basketball every year. But it’s a closed scrimmage. You know, nobody can be in there except the two teams. If they didn’t want to do any type of public thing, I wouldn’t have a problem with having a closed football scrimmage where nobody could be there but the staffs of both teams.”

This idea of course may get the players a lot more excited about practice and I'm sure the NCAA could find a way to make even more money with this idea.

What do you think?

Clemson Looks to Use Sammy Watkins in More Creative Ways

Clemson Tigers Offensive Coordinator Chad Morris picked up a few ideas from Oklahoma State. Wide receiver Justin Blackmon had 111 catches in 2010, yet he managed to improve last season with an impressive 121 catches.

Morris found it very fascinating how the Cowboys were able to get the ball to Blackmon so much, even with every defensive coordinator in the country knowing he was their bread and butter. 

"We are not trying to be Oklahoma State," Morris told Travis Sawchik of the Post and Courier. "They are pass-first. We are going to be who we are, but we are going to do some things, moving (Watkins) around and getting some ideas. They did a good job getting all their receivers the ball."

That's something Morris will have to deal with when Sammy Watkins takes the field again next season, due to his ridiculous freshman season when he finished with 82 catches for 1,219 yards. Defenses know who he is now, and will try and do whatever it takes to take him out of the game.

"There's always a better mousetrap," said Morris. "Sometimes they put (Blackmon) singled up, sometimes they'll put him trip side, sometimes inside slot. We do a lot of that I just wanted to see what else they are doing."

It should be interesting to see how else they use Watkins in his sophomore season, but regardless, he's still one of the more talented receivers in all of college football. Not to mention very few players can match Watkins' blazing speed.

Another positive for the Tigers is that freshman running back Zac Brooks is really impressing the coaches and is already drawing similarities to former Tiger C.J. Spiller.

"The thing we liked about him is he can be a guy we can throw the football to," Head Coach Dabo Swinney said. "We have to improve that part of our game. We were really average throwing to backs last year. We went from really good to really average. We can put him anywhere like we did with C.J. (Spiller)."

Things seem to be getting better and better for an offense that averaged nearly 34 points per contest last season.

March 13 Updates

Clemson returns the majority of their offensive from a year ago, but their offensive line suffered a major blow with four key linemen graduating. Good news for Tiger fans is that they may have their answer at right guard in former defensive tackle Tyler Shatley. 

“That's been a great move for us,” Head Coach Dabo Swinney told goupstate.com. “He looks natural. He's powerful. He's a guy who is going to solidify us on the offensive side. ... He has as a chance to be a 70-, 80-play (per game) guy.”

One down, three more to go for the Tigers.

The wide receiver position was often overshadowed by freshman Sammy Watkins, but many people forget that DeAndre Hopkins caught 72 passes and five touchdowns last season. He's put extra work in during the offseason, and he even bulked up to 212 pounds and looks fantastic early on in camp.

“Hopkins has been unbelievable,” Swinney said. “Ain't nobody covered him yet.”

If Hopkins can improve on a much underrated sophomore season, this offense could be a lot scarrier than it already is. Although the Tigers have a few questions, camp so far is looking very positive for the ACC champions.

Updates

This slideshow will continued to be updated with the latest news, quotes, position battles and more throughout spring practice. Stay tuned for everything involving your Clemson Tigers.