Could Clemson Make an Early Redshirt Decision on Freshmen?

CLEMSON– Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked Wednesday if the coaches saw anything from any of the true freshmen that could help them make an early decision on removing a redshirt like they did Ronan Hanafin last year.

Hanafin had his redshirt removed after the second game of the season last year because he was such a standout on special teams.

Swinney does not see anyone, at the moment, they can make a judgement on because they did not have the opportunity to play a lot of guys in the loss to No. 1 Georgia due to the game’s lack of snaps.

In last week’s game, Clemson and Georgia combined for 112 plays from scrimmage — 52 by Clemson and 60 by Georgia. It was only the 15th
time since 1954 that Clemson had played in a game featuring 112 or fewer plays — 11 of those 15 took place in the 1950s, with the other contests taking place in 1963, 1998, 2006 and last Saturday.

“We did not play a lot of guys in that game,” Swinney said. “We are early in the season. We are evaluating and we got plenty of time.

“We got up to four games before you have to decide and you may even have more than that because, again, a lot of guys did not play in that game last week. So, some did, you still got a few games, but for those who didn’t, you still have four games before you have to make a decision.”

Swinney continued by saying some guys might play in a game or two early in the season, but that does not mean they are going to be redshirt or not. The coaches still have a few games left to make that decision.

“There is plenty of time to figure that stuff out,” he said. “But I love the ability to be able to do that throughout the season and not have to make a hard decision at the beginning of camp.

“That has been a great rule change for college football.”