⚡ CFB Dashboard

Podcast: Clemson Sports Talk Episode: The “Final Four Frenzy & QB Clarity” Edition Transcript: At this time, Boyd, let's send Sports Talk with Lawton Swan. Tell me. What Wow? So you could continue to pick over the fence at the best radio showing the nation. I'm a Carolina fan. I would listening to your show, and I want to compliment you on your even handedness between Clemson and Carolina. What Wow. I listened to the sports talk radio all over the nations, but the what do you come across. Makes me sick. You're gonna find yourself not on the radio. Finally, Clemson Sports Talk has come back. Two drivetime. Hell everybody, Lawton Swan back in the saddle once again. It is the show that shakes the south Land. Clemson Sports Talk for you each and every afternoon as you make your way around the great state of South Carolina and beyond, listening to us on incredible radio stations like Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and the Midlands. Heard around the world on the iHeart Radio application downloaded today, It's free. The website. Put the dot com on a dog on it. That's Clemson Sports Talk dot com. A three four five oh zero zero eighty six. That is the text line in the phone line off of the heels of a weekend in Tigertown, where the Spring game took place. Lots of storylines on that front. The NCUBLEA turn has whittled this way down from the Sweet sixteen to the Final Four and the final four tenths of a second that were left on the clock in an unbelievable matchup between Yukon and Duke where the Husky storm back from nineteen down to win at seventy three seventy two was probably the most magical moment in game that we've seen in the NCAA tournament, the final moment before we get into the final four matchups which will tip off on Saturday and then the championship game on Monday. But real quick, before we get to Clemson football, here's what we've got on that front again. Yukon topping Duke yesterday in the evening seventy three seventy two. We'll play some audio from that in just a minute. They joined the fighting line Illinois in the Final four after a seventy one fifty nine victory over ninth seeded Iowa. Cinderella continued to dance Iowa, who topped Clemson in the opening round beat Florida seventy three seventy two beat Nebraska seventy seven to seventy one, but the Slipper did not fit for a final four visit. Illinois advances with a twelve point victory. They will take on Yukon coming up on Saturday at six 'oh nine on TBS and HBO Max. Then you had. Michigan just absolutely route Rick Barnes and the Tennessee Volunteers thirty five sixty two, Michigan number one seed out of the Midwest. They cruise to the championship or to the final four, where they will face off with Arizona, who beat Produced seventy nine sixty four over the weekend. So it's Arizona and Michigan on one side. They'll play at eight forty nine on TBS and HBO Max on Saturday. Yukon and Illinois two to one seeds to my right in Arizona and Michigan, a two seed in Yukon and a three seed in Illinois to my left. But the moment that made this tournament magical, and I know the disdain for Danny Hurley is out there, and certainly his brother Bobby Hurley probably excited about his brother and sad about his Alma Mater. Nobody is going to feel sad for the Duke Blue Devils when they lose. But I have to say that this moment, the sound of the net popping, that's probably what made this moment so magical. Forget the nineteen point comeback, Forget the fact that Duke was up by two and could have held the ball. I mean, that's the other thing. They could have just allowed Yukon to foul them up to it, made two free throws and go up four. But this is how it played out yesterday afternoon on CBS. Good just to go, got it cut and run to the ball better than the scutt get it into blue gumsar ahead boozer. That bought the still about Cullins caravan. Two seconds Youns tosses it up. It's gone. We're poor. You can goes in trout. And that was Yukon's first lead in the game. I believe, since it was too nothing with eighteen minutes and forty nine seconds remaining in the first half of action, just a bad play by the Duke Blue Devils. They weren't up by one, it wasn't a tie game. Just hold the ball and shoot free throws. Instead it was Caden Boozer, the brother of Cameron Boozer, who tried to make a play at mid court, which you know, if you connect, your guy gets a dunk and you don't have to shoot the free throws. But if you don't connect, you get the turnover and you get that snapping of the sound and Yukon advancing. All right, so we'll talk more about we'll talk more about the final four, talk more about that moment for Duke and Yukon with William Qualkinbush coming up in just a little bit eighth three four five, zero zero eighty six if you want to get in on the conversation about how crazy that was. Now, let's talk about the Clemson spring game, because obviously that's where everybody's head is at right now, because that's in the books, and the Tigers will actually be back out on the field today. They're actually practicing today their final spring practice. As far as I know and look in the annals of Clemson history, has there probably been a spring practice that took place after the spring game? I would imagine so, but it certainly is unusual. It's absolutely a new concept. And we'll hear something from Dabosweenya just a little bit about why they did it this way, and quite frankly, I don't disagree with it. But the big storyline was, you know, people kind of wanting to know what the pecking order was going to look like at quarterback, and I think those individuals who felt like the pecking order would most certainly involved Chris Dinson were probably surprised to see Dentson standing on the sidelines and Tate Reynolds, the incoming freshman quarterback, go out with the second team. Now, we had heard from Chad Morris that that was unfolding and building towards that, but you weren't exactly it was playing. You know. The way Morris made it sound last week was like it was two guys competing at that number two spot. But Dnson is clearly clearly behind because he was after Trent Peerman and Brock Bradley. I mean, he was deep on the depth chart at quarterback. He's a great playmaker. Maybe there's a spot for him at some other position. More on that in a little bit, but quarterback right now, that situation appears to be down to Christopher Vesena and Tate Reynolds. As we have about five months until Clemson and LSU meet in Baton Rouge. And regardless who the quarterback is for Clemson going into that game, whether it's Christopher Vizin or Tate Reynolds, I mean, it's you're fresh out of the frying pan and into the fire. I mean, that's how significant these moments will be for whoever's that quarterback over the next few months. But the defensive line propelled the Orange squad to a twenty three to three victory in the twenty twenty six spring game. Here's what some of the numbers looked like though post game. Christopher of Vezzena was ten of eighteen for ninety five yards with a touchdown. The only other touchdown passing was by Trent Pierreman. He was four of seven for thirty four yards with a score. Tate Reynolds played for the Orange and the White team. He was a combined seven of ten for seventy four yards. He also had a rushing touchdown when he was on the Orange offense at one point in the ballgame, and that came after there was a play where he was a Reid coaching staff dad both felt like he made the wrong read, kind of talked to him, and then he made the right lead on the next play and kind of pulled the ball and got it too the end zone. And obviously the quarterbacks aren't live, so it's still pretty weird to try to really judge a whole lot off of this. Gideon Davidson had nine carries for eighty yards I think in the ballgame, and then the leading wide receiver on the two teams was Tyler Brown five receptions forty seven yards and a touchdown on six targets. So again, you know, it's tough to take. It's tough to take much away, and quite frankly, the fact that the crowd was what it was probably tells you just kind of how Clemson fans feel about this season. I don't think people are heavily invested. The Clemson release said they estimated twenty five thousand people watched the game that utilized a traditional split squad scrimmage. They did play normal clock rules for the first quarter and for the final two minutes of each half. Otherwise they played with a running clock. Matt Luke was the head coach of the Orange team. DeAndre McDaniel coach the White squad quarterbacks. In the game combined to go twenty five to forty five for two hundred and fifteen yards of two touchdowns. I mentioned Gideon Davidson having eighty rushing yards on nine carries. The Range team drove fifty one yards on eleven plays on the opening drive, sparked by a twenty one yard gain on Gideon Davidson's first carry. However, the White defense tightened up in fourth and two at the twenty five forced a turnover all downs. Tate Reynolds made his debut on the following series, leading the White team fifty nine yards in nine plays, and Robert Gunn the third would convert a thirty five yard field goal with six thirty three remaining in the first quarter to give the White team a three to zero lead. The Orange team got on the board in the second quarter when Christopher Vezina, who was four for four on that possession, capped a drive with an eight yard touchdown to freshman Gordon Sellers, who spun around and hauled in a one handed reception. That one's out on social media if you haven't seen it. Pretty smooth play by Gordon Sellers, no doubt about that. And he's a guy, you know Dabblosweeney thinks and named burrows that can make them you have an impact a little bit as wideouts during their freshman year. Reynolds flipped to the Orange team of the second quarter, it had consecutive completions of eleven yards to Tyler Brown is sixteen yards to Sellers to move the Orange deep in the White territory. In five plays later, Reynolds would have his rushing touchdown that we mentioned with six fifteen remaining in the second quarter to give Orange a fourteen to three lead, and the Orange further their advantage in the final minutes of the first half. On first and ten from the White squad six yard line, linebacker Kobe McLeod came free up the middle and sack brought Bradley for a safety. The Orange team would carry a sixteen to three lead into the halftime. And so again, safety's sacks, I mean, all of those things, it's not realistic. Those are foe but anyway, because they're protecting in the quarterbacks, right, The Orange team forced to three and out on the whites first possession of the second half, leading to a six play, fifty eight yard touchdown drive as Tyler Brown raised four yards to the pyelone on a quick throw from Trent Pierman to give the Tigers Let's the Orange a twenty three to three lead, and with time expiring in the official score finalized, Dabos Sweeney called on this kickers for an exhibition series of extra field goal attempts. Nolan Hoosier and Robert Gunn the third both converted from forty four and fifty six yards for both kickers. So that's kind of the way it all played out. Again, what do you take away from it? Not a whole lot. But the big storyline will continue to be the fact that Tate Reynolds has come in and in less than a month has become a storyline that you're going to have to follow heading into the opening matchup against LSU on September the fifth. The Tigers will make their home debut this season September the twelfth, in a matchup against Georgia Southern. Again, I don't I've never leaned too far one way or the other depending on the outcome of a spring game. Storylines are certainly there. I think London merit kind of given, you know, his profile coming out of high school, landing at Colorado and then you know, after being heavily recruited by Clemson and returning. The Vic Burley side of things. I mean, I think there's some positives there on that defensive line from that standpoint, but from top to bottom, trying to decipher if this team is going to be better than the number I gave you earlier or I guess technically in time it was earlier, but it was late last week. You know, I don't know that anything's changed on that front. I think if there were anything that would make me feel differently between now in September, it might be and it's not gonna be lip service from Dabo Sweeney or Chad Morris or anybody about the players or any player in particular, but it would be if there becomes this rampant belief across the board that Tate Reynolds is actually better than expected and could be a viable number one, a legitimate number one. Because I think if that's the case, if like you kind of have an idea of where you think this Clemson Tiger team could be, if Christopher Vizina is the quarterback, and it's not a great spot, most of you don't think that's kind of where my eight and four projection comes from. But if there were to be a guy that comes on campus and legitimately takes that number one spot from him, I don't know that that necessarily means that the Zena was less than an eight and four quarterback. What it might mean is that the guy that you bring in is better than that, And if Tate Reynolds is better than that, then maybe the projections nine and three, maybe the projections that ten to two, which I gave you a plus minus of two either way, so take it for what it's worth. This is all about growth. You got a new offensive coordinator in Chad Morris. You know, he's certainly trying to kind of get his feet back underneath him coaching the game, calling plays. I love the fact that some of the stuff that I saw online, you know, you're seeing the quarterbacks moving out of the pocket. You're seeing kind of an aggressive concept, especially like you know, some of the stuff they were able to do with the zone read game and things that had sort of, I don't know, dried up a little bit, especially especially under Garrett Riley. It really got me thinking this past weekend. You know, when. When Tony Elliott decided he was leaving for Virginia and Clemson made the move to switch to Brandon Streeter as the offensive coordinator, Like, in that moment, if Davos Sweeney could have reset things just a little bit, would would Chad Morris have been a person at that time that he could have called? And if so, like that would not have been the worst thing. And then when you get rid of Brandon's Streeter, could Chad Morris have been a person that Davosweeney called? And if so, would that have been the worst thing? And so it kind of got me thinking, like if that is something you could have considered previously and did not, and you got to the point where you decided, yes, you would kind of go back to the well, try to go back and respark the magic that helped lead you to this run of success that you've been on. If it is good enough now, why wouldn't it have been good enough then? And I regret that when we had Chad Morrise on this program every week that I never asked him that, why do you think when the job came open in your ex you weren't the first call? Why did you think when the job came open in year why you weren't the first call. And I think that's if you want to talk about like a legitimate criticism. If Dabo Sweeney believed that Chad Morris was the best offensive coordinator that he could have, now, why wasn't that the belief then? And it's not like Chad Morris left under some bad pretense. These guys are obviously really good friends. But that's something that popped into my mind over the weekend as I thought about where this Clemson Tiger team is right now and where they're trying to get back to. If it truly is the belief that Morris's offense is the thing that can take you there, why wasn't that the belief? What four years ago, when Tony Elliot's leaving to go to Virginia. Why is it a first phone call? Not Chad Morris? And maybe it was, and we just don't know. And I regret that when I had Chad on the show for all those weeks, I never even thought to ask that. But when he first started coming on, it wasn't like I thought he would be the new offensive coordinator at Clemson either. Right, we'll hear from dabos swinging when we get back. Keep a lot, right, here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred Rocket and rolling along with you on a Monday afternoon off the heels of Clemson Spring game and the final four being pieced together. And as we talked about in the opening segment, obviously the storyline in Clemson is the Tate Reynolds advancement up to number two on the depth chart according to Dabos Sweeney. And look this, like I said, probably shouldn't be a surprise. I think people wanted Chris Denson to become a story. Nonetheless, though, here's Dabo Sweeney's comments following the spring game in Tiger Town on Saturday. All right, well, just fun day, fun spring, fun, spring productive. That would be the word I would use. Very productive spring, got a long way to go, got a lot of work to do. But it was still very productive. This will be a fun take to watch because you know, it was fun to kind of split them up, and you know, have guys have. To start multiple starters and then see some matchups. Uh, for a lot of reasons, you know, self awareness for some guys as we go into our player meetings and things like that, to be able to you know, uh, encourage them from a confidence standpoint, because they really matched up well, or expose them a little bit and what they've got to do to get better. Uh So, but it was a fun day. Really appreciate our crowd. It was. It was also starting with the Tiger Walk and being able to. You know, recognize our captains and that was awesome. Excited for them to be able to be honored that way. For the rest of their lives. That's a cool thing something they earned with some really really great leaders, uh, that we're able to recognize. It's always fun to see a bunch of former players back with a bunch of guys in town. Uh. It's good to see that and spend time with them. See theirs, like I just met Christian Wilkins little son h like a little mini Christian U. So those are always neat neat thing. You never know who you're gonna see. I look up and there's Grady Jarrett's mama in the locker room. Uh, you know. So always a lot of fun to see parents and foreign players on this day. Just a great weekend. Weather got better as the day went and but. Again competitive, some good matchup stuff and then guys we wanted to see play well played well. And then some guys that I would like to have seen flash. They flashed, and then we had a little bit of inconsistency in some spots, but it was really good. And proud of those guys. So now we we got we actually have one more day on Monday. We kind of did that purposely to really be able to get back out on the field. One more time and clean up from this scrimmage and and just just some some clean up offense defense, also some special team stuff and then just take a day and coach them on how we want the summer to look, how we want the skills and drills to to you know, be operated, because the you know, we can get out with them on the on the field with them some in the summer, but it can't be any competition. You can't do any good on good you know, it's just true walk, food, install type stuff. Uh So any type of competitive stuff that they do has to do play be player. Let so really coaching them on how that that's supposed to look. So we'll have a we'll we'll have a one more day with them on Monday. And go into all of our player meetings and get a lot of evaluation that goes into that strength, conditioning, nutrition, medical stuff, obviously, football academics, you name it. Kind of a holistic you know, opportunity to sit down with these guys and then just challenge them and help them, as we call transform So we we we kind of finished in the first quarter of our twenty sixth season, and now we're entering in the second quarter, which we call the transformation phase, coming out to get ready phase, getting. Ready for prime time, all right, which leads into. The fourth quarter, which is our championship phase of this year's journey. So again, a long way to go, a lot of work to do, but this team is it's been productive, and they've had a lot of enthusiasm and I didn't really ever see it, you know, kind of wane a little bit from day one all the way to today. There's been a lot of enthusiasm with this group and they're having some fun. So we just gotta keep doing the work. There you go. Some opening comments from Dabo Sweeney as Clemson's spring game is in the books and they will have a practice, as he said today, a chance to clean up from the spring game. And I kind of liked that idea quite frankly, the spring being the spring game being the culmination of the of the spring practices probably isn't the best thing because of what you put on tape and because of the opportunity to go out and look at that tape and make sure that you know you can kind of take some steps toward growth with the tape that you put together. Playing another scrimmage, and this one a little bit different, certainly because the fans are in the building, et cetera, et cetera. Final thing from Dabbo Sweeney this segment. He was asked about player accountability and holding players accountable on the mic during the game, which Stabo Sweeney did throughout the contest. Yeah, a little instant accountability right there. So yeah over there, Yeah, because sometimes you know, you don't really know what you're looking at. You think you do, you know, but most of the time it's usually not you think that guy missed that the tackle got a sat when it really was we forgot. The motion and block a guy. You know, or somebody made a wrong read or quarterback through into the ground, but the receiver converted when you shouldn't convert, you know, whatever it may be. Uh So I tried to give a little bit of commentary and introduced and then and then just create some pressure. Again it's we we don't have I wish we had preseason games, you know, I wish we had all that, but we don't. So trying to create a little pressure on somebody's got some callouts. You know, Brandon Wilmis might have had his best rep when I said, all right, seventy nine, we're all watching you on this play. Uh, might have been his best rep of today. And that's just trying to see how guys respond and just create a little just a little pressure because you know, I mean, we're not opening up with the East Boga Community College. You know, we don't. We don't get just stick or toe in the water. Uh, you just gotta we we got to jump into. Deep end quick. So there you go, Dabo Sweeny again talking about how they tried to generate some pressure for the guys during the spring game. Uh, in some respects by calling people out and as I mentioned earlier, you know, patton guys on the back when they made a good play and and just sort of indicating you know, the situational awhere the city needs to be improved at quarterback at times, for like say Tate Reynolds, et cetera. All right, with a quick break, we'll come back. We'll continue with our spring football our spring football game, I guess recap here on a Monday afternoon. Again, keep it a lot plus hour number two, we'll catch up with William Qualkinbush will not only get his thoughts on the Sweet sixteen excuse me, the Sweet sixteen being whittled down to the final four, but also his thoughts on Clemson's spring game as well when we return at the top of the hour. Stay with us Lawton Swan Clemson Sports Talk on Monday again. Thank you for being a part of the program, and thank you for supporting our sponsors, including Alumni Hall right there on the corner of campus on College Avenue of downtown Clemson. For all your officially licensed Clemson merchandise, hats, t shirts, Tailgate, Gary Moore go check them out today or online at alumni haul dot com. It's Alumni Hall where Tiger fans shop. All right, So, Dabo Sweeney, obviously, meeting with the media after the game, was asked about, you know, what he'd learned from this team. He also gets into his thoughts on the quarterback situation which we talked about quite a bit out of the gates here in our number one. But here Sweeney commenting on what he felt like he learned about this team during spring ball. Yeah, well, we we're long, we can run. It's a physical group. It's been a physical spring. These guys have taken to that. Nobody's shot away from that. We're much improved defensively, much improved from any point in. Time last year. And so that was really encouraging to see throughout the spring we were able to. You know, fill some gaps that were you know, kind of created. U and maybe and some unexpected and so again just secondary wise, we're just we're just way better. And and again length athleticism. Uh, it's a fast group. I think our backers have really, I mean, we're in a totally different place at backer than we were this time last year. Those guys have all improved. We're gonna have a nice cores right there. It's good to split those guys up today and kind of see them all have to play, so that I think that's a good sign. And then you know, I mean, we we know what will help and Johem can do. But man, I'm gonna tell you Mayo the spring that he's had London Merritt, what a great addition. CJ. Wesley got a couple more guys coming this summer. So we're just we're just better. We're just better across the board. Defense. Again, that's Stabosweeney talking about what you learned about this team. He also talked about the offensive side of the ball. And I'll just go ahead and say it because I know you are thinking it when he talks about Dary Mayo, when he talks about London Merit, it's it's it's prove it. Prove it. I mean, that's legitimately what it's all about. You gotta prove it. The fans are tired of hearing about the fluff and stuff. Prove it, all right, we'll see how that works out now Here he is talking about the offense coming out of the spring offensively. You know, a lot of learning, and we got better and better and better and better. As the spring went. You know, you almost wish if if we had like had like seven more days of practice. Uh, but but you run out of days. But it's been great again, a lot of enthusiasm. I like our quarterbacks. I think we got we got a good situation there. I like our backs. You know, we didn't have to you know, TJ and Cole Cole. Cole and TJ just got back into practice this week, so they've been out of all spring West so West Coast practiced off spring with all the team stuff, but he hadn't been able to do any good on good. So you don't have those three, you don't have Tristan, So that's four guys that haven't been out there. So it's put a lot of pressure on these young I mean, Tyler Brown is the veteran. Everybody else is. A bunch of rookies that don't know what they're doing out there. Other than like claw, Mark, Sanderson and Bird, they know what they're doing and they're productive kids. But so I put a lot of pressure on these freshmen. I mean, because you know, you're trying to evaluate quarterbacks and you got nine Borroughs, and you got you know, Gordo and Salmon and they don't know, they know nothing. So but that's kind of a double edged sword a little bit, and that Yeah, it's frustrating and kind of the moment that that's where you are right now. But by the end of spring, they got better and better and better. All three of those guys. Juju got better, and so you know, those guys got a ton of reps that you know, they might not have got as many. If we'd had if we'd have all of our Ferraris out there. So they looked like Pentos and chevesh to start spring, and they looked a little bit more. Like some malibuus by the end of spring, so they lit a little better, but they're not quite Ferraris yet. We got work to do, so that was a little there was some inconsistency there, but that's just it is what it is. But and they, you know, some way just got to go through it. And it's a new office and it's fast, and it's a lot of stuff going on. You know, Chad has done a great job. Staff's been great, and you know c. J. Johnson's a good addition for us. Really feel good about. The spring that that he and easy E and Gid have had and it's gonna be a good group. Same thing with our tight ends. We didn't have Olson out there, so it just really forced the issue with ben Core and Logan, two guys obviously gonna have to play for us. Charlie Johnson got an opportunity this spring more reps. All those linemen you know, we got we had for the for the first time in a while, most all of our linemen we're out there of the spring except for Saddler. Uh So, most of those guys got a chance to get some really good work, especially when we got Bradon Jacobs back, and so you know, we're just you know, we're encouraged, not discouraged or anything like that. Again, We're we're a long way to We got a lot of a lot of work to do and a long way to go to be game ready. But it was productive. I mean, it was a very productive spring, all right. And we'll save the comments all Chris Dinson, et cetera for you in just a little bit here on the program in the bottom half of the hour, as he talked about that quarterback battle in the situation with Tate Reynolds making his move, they made they call after the spring or after spring break, as I mentioned, And it kind of felt like when Chad Morris was asking about it earlier and he, you know, because Tate Reynolds had been spotted at practice running with the Tues he kind of said, yeah, both guys but I mean, it really does look like and it sounds like from what you're gonna hear from Swingy in a little bit, that Chris Dnson's got a lot of work to do in order to play quarterback at this level, which shouldn't be a surprise. And like I said, I know a lot of people were rooting for him, but Tate Reynolds has come in, and if anything, the good news is perhaps he's pressed Christopher of Azena. And some people will say, well, that might just tell you that Christopher Zena is not very good. But I would say to you, and I'm not trying to pump sunshine for you, I think you have to believe, even in this era, that there can still be freshman players who make a difference for you at the quarterback position. You believed it in twenty eighteen, you believed it in twenty fourteen when Deshaun Watson arrived, and quite frankly, when you watched Taj Boyd play. You believe that a young guy could help you out, and Tadj didn't get as many opportunities as a freshman. But nonetheless, I think you have to consider that there may be the off chance that this thing ends up being in the hands of Tate Reynolds, and if he can deliver good quality play without turnovers and shooting you in the foot, he could be your best option. And I don't know what record that leads you to. Like I told you before, I think eight and four is kind of the mark right now. You could go too lower or too higher depending on how these guys play across the board. I would not project anything better than ten and two. I wouldn't project anything worse than six and six. I think this is probably an eight and four team. All right. Final segment, Flip side, keep it locked. Final segment our number one Clemson sports Talk on a Monday afternoon. William Walkinbush set to join the program. Around the Band again. We just heard from Dabo Sweeney talking about what he learned from this team during spring football. Well, I told you, I promised you that we would give you what Dabo Sweeney had to say about the quarterback situation, which we talked about out of the gates. We haven't even sniffed the final four. Haven't talked about the final four yet. That's okay, Well, yeah, briefly, we briefly did at the beginning of the show. But without further ado. Dabo Sweeney talking about the situation with Chris Dentson at quarterback. I think a lot of people were thinking going into the spring after you saw a little flash from Dentson in limited opportunities that hey, maybe he's maybe he's gonna be number two on the depth chart. And Tate Reynolds came in and in a matter of weeks at practice took over that number two spot. Here's Dabo Sweeney when he was asked about Denson. I mean, depth chart, it's just I mean, he we came out, so we came out of spring CV one and Tate's two. It's not close. Those two guys separated, and that's where we are. I mean, that's just that's just where we are. So you know, cb CEB had a good day today and again you got you know he hasn't had he's had he said, freshmen out there with him, uh you know all spring. But again they got better and he had a good spring. He still got worked. He's got a long way to go. I mean, he's this is gonna be a very competitive summer, very competitive fall camp. You know, he was the lead horse coming in. He's still he's still got the pole position, but Tate Tape. You know, we've made that decision after the break. I mean, he just he just clearly number two and. And just has separated. And so I've been really proud of him. He's done a lot of work. He's got an elite arm talent. Uh and and you know. Big strong, and he's just he made you know, he made forgot a couple of motions today. There's some there's some you know, operational things he's got to keep getting better at. But he just got better and better and better. So you know, we're coming out of spring with some clarity. And I think I think we needed that, the team needed that, the players needed that, and I think they all knew that, you know. Uh so, uh, coming out of it now with two clear guys and we can kind of go into the summer and uh, you know, Trent is is, Trent's gonna be Trent's gonna be ready whenever we need. You know, he's he's. A very steady kid, smart as crap, He's very productive and you know he we know what we in him and are very confident in him. And then I'll tell you what Brock Bradley, he needs to physically develop a little bit. But this kid's a winner. Man, I wouldn't count him out. He's got great arm talent, he's got a great football mind. You know, he he's he thinks he's sixty three two ten. That's just that's just kind of how that kid's wired. And uh so it's a big summer for him, I think physically to take the next step. And then Dnson is physically as gifted as. Anybody we got, but but just not where he needs to be to to you know, you know, from a from a passing game standpoint, you know, to compete, you know, like he needs to. So you know, it'd be uh if if if he stays at quarterback, because I think he's a guy that's got a decision to make. If he stays at quarterback, he will play for us, He'll have a role, he's too talented. Well, we will. Definitely have a role for him. But he he will help our football team no matter what. But coming out of spring, it's just where we are. You know, you got to make tough decisions. But it really wasn't close. You know, we got two guys that separated, and that's why he saw what all. Today and so naturally the follow up to Sweeny was about whether Dancing could make a move to another position. Here's what Sweeney said. Well, absolutely we could, but you know, he's got buy into that, and you know, I think he'll have some decisions to make. But if he stays at quarterback, he will help our football team. There ain't no doubt about it. He will help us because again he's got a unique skill set that we can we can use, but just just limited in the past game right now with where he is, you know, from I mean, you know, developmentally, and I think he'll keep getting better. But you know, we play in five months and we gotta we gotta, we gotta keep moving and we got to put. The team in position to go win. And there's no question coming out of spring the CV and Tate or or the two guys that give us best chance. There you go. So that's Stablos when he talking about that, And again I'm not gonna be one to sit here and try to you know, blow smoke up your ear end about how good these guys can be. YadA, YadA, YadA. Here's what I'll say when Dabos when he talked about like the stature of Brock Bradley. He got me thinking about, you know, Stetson Bennett at Georgia, who helped lead the Bulldogs to two national titles. That dude's five to eleven, one hundred and ninety two pounds can't really get a sniff of an opportunity in the NFL, much like Taj boyd et cetera. But what he didn't do was he didn't kill Georgia with bad mistakes in their two national championship seasons. He was He threw for twenty nine touchdowns at seven interceptions. The following year twenty seven touchdowns and seven interceptions, minimized, minimized turnovers, et cetera, maximized opportunity, And that's really all you need out of whoever ends up winning the starting quarterback job at Clemson. Now, that's not to say that they're going to have anywhere near that type of success, because stets have been it was surrounded by incredible talent, talent that does not reside currently on Clemson's roster. And part of that is because of the day and age that we're in. And part of that is because of Dabo Sweeney, in my opinion, and his reluctance to really buy into this era, and they are trying. And I think the indicator that you heard earlier when he talked about the defense saying that you know, the defense got much better and much faster, tells you everything you need to know about how this defense was previously with guys that maybe Clempson and should have considered and probably should have replaced out of the portal, but they didn't, and so I think they paid the price last year you saw it, and I think they're hoping to avoid it this year. What's all with William Qualkin Bush about it all? When we get back right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred that on the iHeartRadio app, it is the show that shakes the South lay a Clemson Sports Talk. It's time for Clemson Sports Talk with Lawton Swan Swaney pop Wow. So you could continue to peek over the fence at the best ready for showing the nation. I'm a Carolina fan. I would listen to your show, and I want to compliment you on your even handedness between Clemson in Carolina. Walk. I'll listening to the sports Pot Radio all over the nation. But the way you come across. Makes me ship, you're gonna find your stuff. Not on the radio. It is our number two. That's drivetime right here on the show, the Shakespare south Land Clympses Sports Salon swinding out with you, William qualker Bush on the guest line coming up, and as always, the show that Shakespeare south Land is brought to you in part by our good friends over at METS Plumbing mets Plumbing dot com two two six seven one await give them a call to day two two six seven one zero eight. All right out of the gates here in our number two. William qualkin Bush joins us on the program on a Monday quawk welcome in, my man. Hope you had a great weekend. And then I tell you I live with this. I'm sure you did too. Even with Clemson's spring game, the finish of that Duke Yukon matchup was unbelievable, so much so that I think we probably witnessed one of those great moments similar to Christian Laton versus Kentucky, that people are going to be talking about and watching for years to come. I mean, that was unbelievable. Maybe the bad part is Yukon, Who's normally like an Ebenezer Scrooge of a program was on the other end of it all. Yeah, one hundred per I mean, look, it is it is a historical fact that you know, in the last thirty years that when Yukon and Duke play, something crazy happens and it's gonna benefit Yukon, and and so they happen again. I mean, look, I talked about this today. Yukon outscored do sixteen to nothing in points off turnovers. In the second half. Yukon was plus eleven from the floor, three from the free throw line. Terms of attempts, I mean, Yukon was like eight to two. And second chance, I mean they had to win every margin just to give themselves a chance to win at the buzzer. And you would I mean you really would have thought that Duke absolutely went their pants down the stretch. I mean, they had a couple of unsound like sort of rookie mistake turnovers down the stretch. I thought. But like, realistically, Yukon had to do a lot of things right. I mean, Alice Caravan was terrible in the game. He makes the three to cut it to one right there at the end of the game, Yukon has to not foul, trying to foul like two or three times just for the ball to get the Kaden boozer. Then he gets trapped. They don't foul him right away. They actually tried to trap him, which is madness. Is like six seconds something the whole game. You gotta foule him right away. Actually was Yukon's poor execution trying to foul that gave themselves an opportunity. I just felt I feel like there's been a lot of like crushing john Shire today and acting like Dan Hurley coach circles around him or whatever, and the reality is, like Yukon did a lot of stuff right. Duke didn't do a whole lot wrong in this game. They shot fifty three percent in the second half. I'm not saying they weren't. You know, you can won a better team in the second half. But that's what made us so historic is because you got down so far. You got down nineteen in the first half, you were down fifteen a halftime, and didn't play that poorly in the second half, and yet Yukon was able to be plus sixteen score forty four points, ended up with a buzzer beater victory the you know, by a guy who had made a free all game. So uh yeah, we we we saw a thing that we won't see for another few years in terms of the magnitude historically. And then, like I say, not even looking historically in the future, but historically in the past, Yukon Duke is rife with moments like this, and so you can add one to the leisure there as well as you know as the all the great elite eight moments that came before it. Well, and then with ten seconds left, a lot of people are looking at it and saying, well, you didn't have to do anything but take the foul. But in fairness, I do want to say to some of those guys, specifically the two boozers who were freshmen out there, and I can't remember all the you know, the where all the other guys were in terms of their careers, but most of them are very young. There is the pressure of having to go to the line and make two free throws to go up for like, it wasn't a certainty that you were going to put the game to bed if you got to the free throw line, so you're naturally trying to run clot move the ball around, and I could imagine once once Cayden kind of sees that he's got two guys free up the court, he's thinking, just get the ball to him, and it's a dunk and the thing is over. I mean, I can't say I hate it for Duke, but I hate it for the kids that happened to because I think they are good kids. But I can see how you get caught up in that moment and it becomes a bit of a scramble and a bit of a hot potato. Oh yeah. The uh, the the weirdness of that particular sequence comes down to the fact that it didn't go like it was supposed to. And if you're Duke, you're you're in situations that you didn't mentally prepare yourself to be in right there in live action. And if your Yukon, the same is true. But it's different when you feel like you're on the attack. And yeah, I felt I felt like Yukon. Yukon did a good job in the scramble. The only thing that Duke didn't do is get a hand up. You know, Isaia Evan's got to get a hand up there. I know you saw this, but uh, literally his Instagram handle is get a hand up. No, uh uh, it's just the worst part of this. I did not realize that Qual, by the way, followed quawk on Twitter at qual Talk every day noon until three o'clock out of bounds with quaking band one oh five to five, the roar in the Upstate And and I guess finally from Brayln Mullen's situation too, the you cross over as a player and you've been out there on the court in game similar to this, maybe not in the game where it was time, but you knew you needed to make a big shot and you just put up the best thing you got. You just take the best shots you can, and every once in a while you get something like what we saw yesterday and it's magical and I gotta I gotta commend h I'll be honest. I thought that, uh Grant Hill and his name just slipped right out my brain. Bill Rafts. I thought those guys were sensational in letting that situation marinate before really uh giving their thoughts on it. It was awesome. Yeah, I love the uh sort of the core side can they're flipped around where you got to see their reaction rafaies like totally speechless and then just sort of musters up some stuff like you can't you can't really blame him for not having a lot to say right there, because, like I says, as weird as it was for the like for the for the players, like the announcers are, you're trying to call fout like you're preparing yourself. I tell people this all the time. One of the reasons it's great when you're calling the same team over and over again to go to practice and pick the coach's brains is because you can kind of antip pay what's gonna happen. It makes your call better to know what it is that you're gonna see, To go back and watch old games and things like that, it makes your call better. And so you think you're gonna get a certain you know, a certain series of events, and then it goes horribly awry. And so it's not only just to scramble for the players, it is a scramble for the announcers too, And the fact that they needed a second, they gave it a second, that they needed a second to be able to really like figure out how to encapsulate it. And they're at that point, you're just saying whatever comes to your brand. You're not really thinking clearly, I would imagine, but you're just saying whatever comes to your brain and try not to overwhelm the moment with too many words. Yeah, their call is gonna live forever too. That was pretty cool. So second seeded Ukonnell face third seed in Illinois on one half of the final four. On the other side, two one seeds in Arizona in Michigan. Uh, I kind of feel like Michigan's been the best team in the tournament so far that I've seen. They look like they're gonna be tough to stop. Uh. Do you concur with that assessment or is there another teams four that you feel like is going to bring home the championship? You know, I think the winner of Michigan Arizona. I just think those two teams have been really, really good. I concur with your statement about Michigan. I think Michigan just looks like a buzzsaw, if we're being honest. I kind of felt like Duke has been cruising for a bruising for a little while, and but but they the way they played in the first half, I'm like, all right, they figured it out. Like I really thought, Okay, this is this is where they're gonna get it. But Michigan and UH and Arizona really have not. Purdue was up seven in the second half against Arizona, so you could potentially say maybe they showed some some chicks in the armor there, but the reality is they they became a buzzsaw to win by fifteen. After that, I mean, they just they steamroll passed Purdue like they were standing still. Once they really engaged with about fifteen ish minutes left to go in the game, and there was about eight or ten minute strets there where Purdue had no chance. It was like being washed away by tidal way. It was. It was like again, it was like that no agency in the whole process. So I I do feel like I do feel like Michigan's probably been the most consistent team, but Arizona, to me, is also really really good. Now. The one thing about Arizona Tommy Lloyd, this is fourth time being in the term as a one or two seed. He'd never gotten past the sweet sixteen, and so I was I was doubting. You know, when you've seen something happen that many times, you doubt whether the guy can get it done. But he certainly impressed me. You know, the way they beat down Arkansas and they maybe game about the things they wanted to be about. The beat they beat up Purdue with like three may three. They didn't make any threes and they still beat them because they control the paint and they control the free throw line. That thoroughly, I think one of those two teams gonna win it. I do like Illinois. Look, I love the coaching of Yukon, but to me, Yukon is by far the fourth best team here. I pick you Illinois to the final four before we started. Their size is second to none, the biggest team in the country, and they roll them like a conveyor belt off the bench too. They don't really have a small lineup. They're just big and different ways out there. And you know, I that's why I'm compelled because Yukon also, you know, in the second half, they their size came to the four and Reid became a monster inside. And uh they they beat Duke. I think they made four of their last five threes. They were one for eighteen to start the game. So this tournament's been about brute force and playing inside first, and I think all four of these teams can do that. The one team that probably needs the three the most is Michigan, and they just shoot us so well and scored all three levels that I'm not sure there's a way to really keep them off the scoreboard for a long period of time. Man, I'll tell you what. That Illinois team seemed like a like an all star squad from Europe. I mean, I'm looking like I'm looking at the roster. I'm going, holy smokes, I can't pronounce any of these names. That's a broadcaster's nightmare. Yeah, two Evsitches and Amerkovich and you've got, You've got Yeah. I tell you. I was like, man, this guy just looks like they just went overseas and brought everybody over to play. But hey, Brad Underwood, they're getting it done and and really it's a it's a really good squad. They were fun to watch. I really enjoyed them, and certainly utilizing the transfer portal to get Stoyakovich from from cal has helped them. And we'll see if they can pull it off. I think this. I think nationally they will be the team everybody's rooting for. I don't think there's any doubt about that. Yeah, I would agree with that. I think, you know, I think Yukon fans are are very passionate, but I think with Duke out of the tournament that you won't see a whole lot of love for Yukon nationally. I think Michigan is the least like team from the industry. I mean, every single handshake line, like no one likes Dusty May. I don't know if we've talked about this on this show, but like in Big Ten Play, like everyone did the like fly by Dusty May handshake where they're really just blowing by him. There have been substantial rumors of and and really I would say pretty credible allegations of campering where he put the roster together using every means. I mean, you know, let me put it to you like this, Pete Golding would blush at some of the stuff that people have said that Dusky May's done to put his roster together. And then you've got Arizona. I think Arizona is a team that's gonna engender some good vibes too, because like, we haven't had a champion west of the Mississippi in thirty years, we haven't had many Final four teams from there, like in Zag has been a couple of times, in Arizona a couple times, but really haven't really haven't had that, and this seems like something that's just it's just overdue to be able to bring that home. So you know, I might, I might root for Illinois and Arizona in the two games. That's probably where I'll be qualk. Since I think we last spoke, there have been head coaching changes at both well not changes yet, but openings at North Carolina and NC State, And I really think the will Wade situation is interesting because I think it's a big positive for Brad Brownell at least at this point. Not to say that Will Wade was gonna build this behemoth at n C State. I don't know that that's the case, but he had beaten Brad Brownell in his first year. He had topped them at McNeice, and I think it kind of got one of the guys that might have been a thorn in Brad Brannell outside out of the league. Your thoughts on those two job openings, as they are certainly significant sort of in the direction that the Atlantic Coast Conference continues to go nationally in basketball if they can bring in some big names, and I'm seeing a guy like Dusty May's name being thrown around for potentially that job in Chapel Hill. Yeah. You know what's funny about the Will Wade thing. I think more for Brad Brannell is just a pain in his butt to like have to think about that. And really, I mean, if you don't think Brad Brandell knows that a lot of Clemson fans are looking at Will Wade and every time Clemson loss, and particularly when they lost in C State saying, hey, wouldn't we rather have that guy? You know, the way he left n C State and being out of the league and not having a play there year, Like, I think it does Brad Bright now a lot of favors. I think he would tell you that too. Just I think it was just sort of annoying to him. He's never told me that, but that's kind of the sense I get that it was this, It was this kind of annoying to him that he had to he had to consistently deal with that. And like I say, beach in your place, beach in the tournament. Uh he was, ah, you know, he was. It seemed like he had the wherewithal to be able to get things done in n C State. Then he bolts in the middle of the night. They hate him, and uh, you know it, it just it It leads to an interesting situation because, like you said, you've got North Carolina. They say they're they're pausing their stadium renovation right now or you know, the fundraising for that where they've already raised nine figures to be able to either build a brand new arena or do a half a billion dollar remodel of the Dean Dome. I mean, so we're talking significant stuff together. They're like, let's get this in place first, then we'll go back to that and then and then NC State looks like they're gonna hire Justin Gainey. Uh. The former USC upstate coach and some of the Rick Barnes really gave us full throated support to you know, as somebody who himself has been rumored in the mix for NC State in the past. Coach Barnes, he basically said, if NC State's too stupid to hire Justin Gainey, than I hope Tennessee will, which is again that's pretty full throated support for your right hand man to be your successor if things on God well, so I think NC State made a good move there, and we'll see what North Carolina does. Someone tells me they're gonna talk to some coaches that are still playing, and there's no real rush because no matter what happens with the portal window and all that stuff, man, the North Carolina name is gonna like that. That stick is gonna be big to swing whenever you decide to swing in. So I don't think they need to necessarily worry about the calendar as much as some other jobs that are open, because it feels like they can come in the last second and be able to pull some rank. Well, only about five minutes left, not even that with William qualkin Bush, and we're now going to turn our attention to the Clemson spring game. Qualking The fact that we're getting into it this late might tell you kind of the tenre of how people feel about Clemson football right now. I don't think it was the major storyline out of the weekend outside of Tate Reynolds and his ascension to number two. Here's what I thought about on my way in to talk to you about this today. For those people that would look at that and say, oh, man, that must be terrible. I would only tell them to pump the brakes and think about the way they felt about Deshaun Watson as you saw him as a freshman. To think about the way you felt about Trevor Lawrence when you saw him as a freshman. And I'm not telling you that Tate Reynolds is that or will be that, but I do think it's something that you should at least absorb as a fan and go, Okay, maybe it's not all terrible. If Tate Reynolds ends up being a guy that gets a lot of snaps for Clemson this year, that might not be the worst thing. Yeah, I would agree with you on that. I mean, to me, the takeaway is simply this that Tate Reynolds has been good enough in spring practice. And by the way, they well they have practice fifteen today. They're you know, they're they're they're not quite done yet. They've got the what what I call sort of the the Porsche the post mortem, or the the parting shot where they're like, hey, let's let's make sure we know how we're gonna do things in the summer, so we don't you know, we don't lose all the progress that we made. They're able to do that officially now instead of having some meetings and doing it that way. But when when you're talking about Reynolds, to me, it's one thing to say, Okay, Reynolds did your backup in Denton's three and we still got a competition. But Tate Reynolds has been so good that Chris Dnson might not even be a quarterback when August Camp starts. You know, it's one thing swany to just beat a guy right to to be better, or for Davo to say, you know, uh, there's there's three guys that are gonna still compete. You got the Zeno one, Renotlds two, and Dents three. That's that's an entirely different thing than beating a guy off the depth chart. And that's the sense of what Davos when he said happened that Tate Reynolds is the number two quarterback, he said, it's not even close. And then he actually address the idea that Chris Benson could change positions, and I'm told that that's probably more likely than not at this point that Dnson will not even be a quarterback. Now. Again, you don't have to feel like Tate Reynolds is the second coming of Deshaun Watson or whatever. You don't have to feel that like, you don't have to be totally blown away just to say that the dynamic at the quarterback position appears to have been changed. And it ain't because Christopher Bazin is lighting it on fire now that the bazine has been bad. But to me, this does give you a lot of reason to be excited about the potential going into the future, regardless of what happens this season and the timeline for a change. If Zina gets the whole year, if Reynolds gets it at some point, it just is a layer of excitement that we haven't actually had at quarterbacks for the last couple of years. That's exactly how I'm looking at it as well. And again you can follow them on Twitter at qualt Talk every day noon until three o'clock. Out of bounds with qualking be in one th five to five the roar qualt Man, thanks for making time for us today. Thanks Swani, always gonna be with him. Really great catching up with William Qualkinbush there to get his thoughts on the quarterback situation at Clemson and I think he's all over it. As I noted earlier, I don't think that it's necessarily a bad thing. I think that probably tells you some positives about Tate Reynolds. Right, we'll hit a quick break. We'll reset some of that with you right after this. Clemson Sports Salt Lawton Swan hang out with you on a Monday Willim qualkin Bush before the break, and we talked a lot about the NCAA Final Four. Obviously, if Duke Yukon, I thought about this coming into the show today, Like if Duke Yukon ends up being a nineteen fifteen point whatever blowout by the Blue Devils, We're probably not spending a whole lot of time on that topic today outside of just to say here's who's in the Final four, X, Y and Z. But when you get a historic moment, in a historic shot that moves into the realm of we gotta focus on him. We gotta talk about it because that thing will will live forever. I would say this, Raylan Mullins is a freshman, and this is the only thing that maybe holds it back a little bit. Christian Latner is considered the greatest college basketball player in the minds I have some people of all time. And so because of that fact Laytner pulling that feet off and maybe the fact that it's the long pass, like other than a turnover, now which one is more likely to happen, I don't know. I just knew this. I just knew Duke was not gonna convert with zero point four left in the game. They weren't gonna get to take George moment out of that. They all of those moments were shot during Latner's tenure, believe me, But that moment will be one of the greats, and there'll be one that we'll talk about for a long time. And I heard this, it's the fourth longest buzzer beater. Well, I guess technically game winning shot in the history of the NCAA tournament. The only thing that could have made that better would have been if the game had actually ended, the clock had run out. That that's the only thing that would have added to that moment. And it does make you feel for the Clemson women and the way their season ended, the heartbreak that they had. But man an iconic shot by Brayla Mullins lifting Yukon. But back to Clemson football, for a in this quarterback situation. I think it's probably pretty promising, quite frankly, that Tate Reynolds made this move. The more I think about it and the more I have a chance to digest it, the more I say, you know what, it's good because he was injured his senior year and that was one of the reasons that people were concerned about Tate Reynolds coming into Clemson and whether or not he would be able to kind of pick up where he left off as a junior. And so he had a torn hand a torn hamstring at the beginning of his senior year. And so. The positive of that, I would say, would be the fact that it wasn't anything like a shoulder or a broken finger or and maybe a broken finger wouldn't be too substantial for anybody to bounce back from. I have no idea, but I'm thinking like mechanically right, but with the hamstring being the issue which can certainly crop back up, which is if you've ever torn a quad or pulled your hamstring, Believe me, every time you hit full throttle and really try to open up the jets, you do think about whether or not you're gonna do it again. But with Reynolds squarely in the mix and healthy and playing well, you might have a situation where in this system under Chad Morris, which utilizes the quarterback uniquely. And also. Might present better knowledge of what's happening. Like the criticism that I had and so many of you had of Garrett Riley was that his system rarely motioned guys to give an indicator to the quarterback of what kind of defense they were seeing. Additionally, some of those jet sweeps and motions allow for some of the pop passes and some of the what was this sprint right utah reverse? I can't remember what the name of the play was that Chad Morris gave us when we had him on the show talking about the play where obviously Tis Boy would turn his back and Sammy would run that Utah motion around the back. And anyway, I think there's some concepts that are good in this offense under Chad Morris and the way he wants to do it. Not to mention the fact that Chad Morris is a quarterback coach who's had a son play collegiately, and I think he's gonna want to put these guys in situations to be successful. Now we can argue whether or not Garrett Riley's success was a byproduct of Sunny Dyke's or not. But I do think that in this point, at this point in his career, Chad Morris is more more likely to be someone that's going to look to protect and ensure that the quarterbacks are prepared and that they don't feel let down because think about the lawsuit. And I believe I talked about this on the air with you. Maybe not, but right now, part of Chandler Morris trying to get back to play collegiately. Part of his. Lawsuit has to do with his mental health. And I don't know the ends and the outs of it. I'd have to go look at it a little bit closer, but I can only imagine that if you've got a son who is utilizing that as an argument to be able to play collegiately for an extended period of time, that as a coach, one of the things you are going to be focused on is making sure that the student athletes that you are coaching are put in the best situation mentally to be prepared to go play each and every game, every snap, every rep. That it's it's something that you know, focus on as a coach, but as a father as well, and that Tate Reynolds is. A risen. Doesn't necessarily mean that the other guys are really bad, or even that he can't get better than Christopher Vizina by the beginning of the season. I mean, all of that is possible. And as I noted earlier in the show, just simply think about how you felt about Deshaun Watson and Trevor Lawrence. And if the possibility exists that Tate Reynolds can be a freshman that plays and helps you, great, But if he's a freshman that's a backup that can still help you, that's also not the worst thing. All right, quick break, We'll come back with more of the show, The Shakespeare South Lane. We'll hear from some of the players following the spring game. Right after this Clempson's Sports, Salt Law and Swan with you on a on Monday afternoon again off the heels a Clemson spring game. The final four is set, by the way some of the players after the Clemson spring game. I told you We're going to play some audio of that. We'll hear from Gideon Davidson, Clemson running back eighty yards in the contest. But whoever was doing the camera work for Debos Swingings video, I don't know what was going on with it, but they just kept zooming in really close. Kind of strange anyhow, Yeah, Gideon Davidson, Remember, you can get probably find that Gideon Davidson jersey or at least some of the Clempson jerseys. I don't know if the guy gideons or not over at Alumni Hall. I could check online real quick, though, so could you at Alumni Haul dot com. But when you're up there in Tigertown has t shirts, tillgate gear, all the Clemson memorabilia you could possibly imagine in a hat wall that will blow your mind when you walk into the store. Go check them out today at Alumni haul dot com online or right there downtown Clemson across from Bowman Field. You can't miss it. It's alumne Haul where Tiger fans shop are. Here's Gideon Davidson following Clemson's spring game to give his assessment on the situation and how he thought things went. Yeah, as an offense, you've definitely improved since the first day, first day of spring till now. I think we I think our tempo is a lot faster. We all know what we're doing. I think we just increased, We've gone upwards trajectories. Gideon Davison was asked why he felt like he was more prepared to be ready going into year two under a new offense. I think it's just confidence of Obviously is my second year, so I know a lot of schemes, a lot more than I did last year, and I just kind of implied by what I knew last year to this year and kind of just you know, coach gave me an opportunity, so I was like, you know, I'm just gonna take it out. Gideon Davidson was also asked what he's seen from Christopher Azene the stepping in as QB one. I would tell you a lot more confidence in his leadership. He's definitely more vocal. He's also playing a lot faster, so I think the just his confidence is leading him. Davidson was also asked about his thoughts on the running back room. Thus far, our running back group, it's gonna be the best in the country. We're definitely very got a lot of diversity. I got a lot of speed, got a lot of power, we're all we're all good right backs, and we're gonna. Be utilized well. Davidson was also asked how it felt to be out there in an environment with fans unlike a typical practice. I love it. It's awesome. It gives you motivation. I love the fans, the field, the stadium. It just makes the game. A lot to break off a couple of nights. It was fun. It was definitely a good experience. I do hope to keep doing that in the. Fallst Gideon Davidson was also to ask if CJ. Spiller challenged him and Chris Johnson who's gonna be the top dog. He did encourage us to, you know, just have fun, play hard. It didn't matter who was which team you were on, just as long as you. Did your job, knew what you were doing, and played confidently. Davison was also asked if any other former running backs had reached out to him while he transitions to a bigger role in the offense. I talked to. Adam a little bit. Adam he's come back for his training for the combine and all that, But other than that, you. Just talked to Gideon was also asked about Tate Reynolds and what he's kind of seen from the freshman quarterback and what makes him special. I guess his. Confidence on the pocket. He really does. He's able to, you know, dot ball. He's very confident and then also just very athletic. So I do like that aspect of Tate. I think he's gonna get it done that. Gideon Davison, Clemson sophomore renningback, was also asked about his excitement on being in Chad Morris's scheme A lot gives me a lot. Of commons and I really enjoyed that because he's gonna run the ball a lot, but he's not gonna, you know, rely on one guy to do it. So that was very encouraging and obviously opened up the passing game, and so yeah, I really enjoyed it. What's your relationship been like with himself. I mean, it's better, pretty good. I know, he's pretty busy in the head, so I'm not seeing him every day, but when I do see him, he's very encouraging and I like that about it. Davis. It was also asked how he planned to approach preparation for the season this summer. Yeah, I guess our mindset going into the summer. Is just to you know, stay consistent, not not let off, not let off the gas kind of just right, you know, keep going up boards directory not. Not really slack off. So Davis it was also asked about when the coaches aren't around this summer, what it's gonna be like for him to have that leadership role and keeping the guys sharp and working hard. I think it's really just you know, focusing on what we have to do, uh well, keeping you know, the right our focus on the I think I think CB is gonna do a great job leading us, since I think I'm gonna do a pretty good job of leading the running backs. So yeah, I think it's just about folks. Gideon Davison was also asked what the successful season would look like for him in his mind next year. Really just hitting my goals. I'm trying. I'm trying to set my goals high. So even if I don't, you know, every single one of my goals, I still think I'm pretty successful. I've been drinking from a fire hose, trying to learn a whole new scheme because. Morris has called it. How do you feel about the offense? Is a hottle after in this spring. I think it's good. I think we're all getting very comfortable with it. I also think it's a little easier than you know, coming from high school. Obviously, because I've been here for a whole year or so. It has definitely been a fire hose, but it's been a little bit easier since I've already had one one year. Under my belt. So there you go. Gideon Davidson again meeting with the media following Clemson's spring game on Saturday, and a lot of people obviously expecting to see a lot out of him this year as the lead dog at running back for the Tigers, regardless of who's at quarterback. But again you hear him talk about the positives that he sees in Tate Reynolds, and I think the coaching staff recognizes one of two things. Number One, that Christopher Zena is the most prepared for this moment, and I think they probably see number two that the the highest potential resides in Tate Reynolds at this point. And what's the mesh to be able to get as much as possible out of both of those guys. That'll be the big question, I think heading into that opener in September down in Baton Rouge and what it looks like, because that is as I said earlier, man, that is that's tough sledding. And when Clemson went into Georgia with Deshaun Watson as a freshman quarterback, it was Cole Stout who got the start and Watson had his moments in that game, and Watson would eventually take over the starting job. But that's a tough environment and regardless for either one of these guys, it would be tough, much like it was tough for Cole Stout in Athens and tough for Deshaun in Athens. All right, final segment, We'll put a ball on the Monday edition of the show that Shakes the Southland when we get back. Keep it a lot right here on Fox Sports Radio fourteen hundred and on the iHeartRadio app. What have you done for me lately? It's a fair question. Just don't lose sight of the bigger picture, don't forget history. Lucky for us at Clemson, the answer to the questions what have you done for me lately? And what have you done? Always are the same. Final segment on Monday Clemson Sports Talk. Over the weekend, things did not get much better for your Clemson Tiger men's baseball team, man Eric Beckett saying on Saturday after Clemson's eight to six loss to Miami that this losing stuff's gotta stop, and there is pressure mounting on Eric backache quickly. They are nineteen and ten. More importantly, they are two and seven in the ACC and they did salvage of victory in game two on Friday, seven to six, and the matchups were competitive. Remember Thursday's game ended in ten innings. You had the lost. Now again it was eight to three in ten. You know, Miami blew it open there in the tenth, but you had that lost to Coastal Carolina that just honestly felt like you got hosed. And you know, I think. It doesn't get any easier with this midweek non conference matchup against Wake Forest in Charlotte on Wednesday, that there'll be a six thirty start. You do have a weekend series at Stanford. It's on the road. You need to go out there and sweep. You need to go out there and win all four games. You're playing three against Stanford, then against Santa Clara next Monday, because you return to face off with North Carolina and then the following weekend you're against Virginia and the following weekend you're at Louisville. I mean, the hole that Clemson could be in if they don't win a couple of these series. Who Man, I don't know how fans are gonna take well. I know how fans are gonna take it not well, not well at all. A lot of fans don't take Dabo Sweeney too well right now. Either. Played some audio from Sweeney earlier and got this text message to the text line from Tiger Chuck. He says, man, I think I need a new outlook on life. Just hearing Clemson sports talking Dabo's voice makes me want to turn the channel just so over this current state and dabble on the mic is just cringe. Dude, He's so in love with himself and I can't help but make it all about him. Well, Tiger Chuck, I hope you won't turn the channel because of the show, but I do understand where you're coming from in terms of Dabo Sweeney, and I think it is I think it is a shift that has happened amongst Clemson fans in the past two seasons with Dabo Sweeney. And it's not. And I am a tiger Chuck and anybody else listening. You know, I've been a person that said I think Dabbo has the right to leave when he wants to leave. And I still believe that he has the right to leave when he wants to leave, and stay as long as he wants to stay. And you guys might disagree with that because of the era and the way things have changed, but I'll continue to stand on that drum, or beat that drum, whatever, stand on that hill, die on that hill. I'll continue to die on that drum anyway. I think that what you hear from him, though, is falling upon deaf ears for people because they're tired of hearing it and not seeing it. The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. And you may or may not have all the ingredients necessary to bake the best cake in the land. But regardless of what those ingredients are, if the cake flops and tastes terrible, it doesn't matter. So you could talk about this ingredient and that ingredient how great they are. And this guy's standing up and we're going to need this player to step up, blah blah, blah blah blah. The end. What I know is Judgment Day comes this year for Clemson football September the fifth, in Baton Rouge, and it doesn't have to be the end all be all, but it will tell the story of where this team has grown or if this team has grown. And after that, like I said earlier in the week or late last week, like I think eight and four is about the top of the mark. You guys have tuned into this show in the twenty so many years we've done it. In the fifteen we've been on the air here in Colombia and you've heard me basically fifteen years, we're getting there. You've heard me call for seasons where I thought twelve and oh, eleven and one, ten and two, this is not it. And the only way that would shift for me would be with what the performance looks like in Baton Rouge. Now, if you were to go down there and steamroll these guys, it just looked like you're a completely different squad than we've watched the past few years, And yeah, my stands would change significantly, But I don't think that's the case, and I think a lot of people feel like Tiger Chuck they're tired of hearing the talk and the positive talk and then seeing the results that aren't. Fans are tired of it, and I get I get it, Chuck. I just hope you'll stay with the show regardless of what Coach Sweeney has to say. Right, all right, we gotta get out of here. We'll talk to you oll tomorrow. Till then, as always, I'll take care now and go Tigers. Show notes: Swanny breaks down a wild weekend in college sports, highlighted by a historic finish in the NCAA Tournament as UConn Huskies stunned Duke Blue Devils with a last-second thriller to punch their ticket to the Final Four. Plus, a deep dive into Clemson’s spring game and what we really learned—most notably the emergence of freshman quarterback Tait Reynolds and what it means for Christopher Vizzina and the Tigers’ outlook heading into a massive opener at LSU Tigers football. From buzzer-beaters to quarterback battles, Swanny connects the biggest storylines shaping Clemson and the college sports landscape.