A Day At Clemson Football Camp

Author Kris Fisher

June 14th 5:16 AM

Dabo is a super nice guy and a great coach

Recently, I took my son to the Clemson football camp. In case you don’t know, pretty much every college with sports teams have camps where kids can go to run through some drills with the actual coaches from the university.

The Clemson University indoor football practice facility with people scattered about the field, walking around. — The Clemson Indoor practice facility is state-of-the-art.

Clemson Football Camp – The Benefits

In all honesty, these camps are as much for the kids as they are for the schools. While the kids get a really cool experience of being on a major university’s campus, usually practicing on the same field where that college’s team practices, the school gets a look at some of the future prospects coming out of high school.

Clemson Is Just The Start Of Our Camp Season

My son, being a rising high school junior, has a handful of these camps on his agenda for the summer. He’s actually been to quite a few already. Last summer, we went to camp at Louisiana State University, Ohio State University, University of Tennessee and the University of Oklahoma.

This year’s collection of camps, for us, started at Clemson University. College football fans already know the story of Clemson’s recent success on the field. Head coach Dabo Swinney took reigns of the program in 2008 with the job officially becoming his the following year.

Since then, the Tigers have pretty much gone on a winning spree that includes 2 national championships. Dabo Swinney is college football’s winningest (active) coach with 170 wins under his belt. So, attending this camp was an honor.

Clemson's national championship banners from 2016, 1981 and 2018 hanging in their indoor practice facitlity. — Clemson’s national championship banners

This was a quick trip, so we didn’t get to do much exploring of the campus, like we like to do. But, we got to see a lot, as the 81,500 seat Memorial Stadium, aka “Death Valley” sits right across the street from the indoor practice facility. So, we did get to see the “Tiger Walk” and the recently renovated entrance to the stadium.

The Clemson football camp experience, itself, was great! My son, at 6’4” and 320lbs, is an offensive lineman. They rotated through different drills and were coached up by several members of the Clemson football staff. Dabo, himself, was riding around on a golf cart watching some of the prospects.

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney driving a golf cart at football camp — Dabo seemed to love watching the athletes compete

That doesn’t happen a lot. Some head coaches might make an appearance. But, most of them are scarce at these camps. I gotta hand it to coach Swinney, he not only hung around camp all day, he even spoke to all of the campers at the end of the day for quite a long time.

Football camp attendees sit on the turf in the Clemson indoor practice facility, listening to head coach Dabo Swinney speak — Head coach Dabo Swinney talking to the campers

He talked about the importance of having a positive outlook, taking care of yourself and your teammates and believing in yourself. It was quite a positive message, and powerful, coming from college football’s winningest coach. Admittedly, I’m not really a Clemson fan. But, Dabo won me over at that camp.

But, I’m still cheering for the Dawgs on August 31!

Latest 2024 NFL Power Rankings

It’s certainly not too early to get into our expert 2024 NFL Power Rankings. Sure, it’s not quite football season yet, but the clock is ticking. The NFL’s pre-season kicks off in August, so we really just have about two months to go until we can start getting into the football action.

Latest 2024 NFL Power Rankings

Before we get into the early 2024 NFL Power Rankings, it’s worth noting that it’s been a very active offseason in the NFL. Believe it or not, the NFL replaced a quarter of its head coaches in 2024. I never would have imagined so many coaches getting the boot, but that’s football for you. The same goes for NFL and college football: If coaches can’t deliver the wins a few years into their time with the team, they’re usually out. Some of the coaches that got the boot were very successful, too, such as Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots. But, sports can be fickle, so with the Patriots’ dismal 2023 season, it wasn’t a big surprise that Belichick and the team parted ways at the end of the season. I’m actually more surprised that he hasn’t picked up a new gig yet. One that surprised me even more than Belichick was when the Seattle Seahawks let Pete Carroll go after so many successful seasons. But, with the NFL, there’s a lot of money at stake. A winning franchise can bring in big bucks for both the owner and the city. So, the musical chair of coaches is expected.

Now, onto my expert 2024 NFL Power Rankings. For these rankings, I took into account how these teams performed last year, as well as new additions they’ve made to their rosters during the offseason. Some teams should be notably stronger than they were last season, such as the Chicago Bears, who had the No. 1 draft pick this year in Caleb Williams and are banking on him to bring the goods as their new franchise quarterback. But, that said, I don’t have the Bears in my top 10. The following 2024 NFL Power Rankings show my picks for the top 10 teams going into the 2024 season. Also, I’m a sports podcaster and host a podcast called “The Squad with Anne Erickson.” Listen to my full interview with Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff here. If you’re a sports nut, I would love to hear from you and get your picks for the strongest teams going into the 2024 season. Reach out to me here. I seriously can’t wait for the new NFL season to start in September.

10. Cincinnati Bengals
Experts have so many differing opinions on the Bengals. Some think they’ll go to the Super Bowl this year. Some don’t think they’ll be in play at all. I’m somewhere in between. But, Joe Burrow is strong, so he could push them to victory.

(Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
9. Green Bay Packers
As a Detroit Lions fan, it pains me to admit that the Green Bay Packers, once again, will be strong in 2024. They were strong last year. Jordan Love is on his way to being one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Watch out for these guys.

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
8. Dallas Cowboys
No offense to Dallas Cowboys fans, but they can be pretty annoying. But, I won’t let that cloud my thoughts on this year’s team. While the Cowboys haven’t spent much in the offseason, they’re still a strong team, and Dak Prescott is a strong quarterback. They’ll be a contender.

(Photo by Richard Rodriguez/Getty Images)
7. Houston Texans
The Houston Texans have rebuilt faster than any team I can remember. They were surprisingly stellar last season. I mean, experts thought they would be good, but they were better than good. C.J. Stroud is a superstar.

(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)
6. Philadelphia Eagles
What happened to the Philadelphia Eagles last season? It was a dismal end to what started out as a strong season. I’m sure Eagles fans would like to forget about it. But, the Eagles have spent a lot in this offseason, and they’re determined to fly back.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
5. Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are hot or cold. But, Josh Allen is a stellar quarterback, and he still has a lot to prove with this team. He’s great, but he hasn’t been able to lead the Bills to a Super Bowl yet. This could be his year.

(Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)
4. Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, hands down. That’s not up for debate. But, the Ravens fell in the AFC championship game last season, and it was a surprise to many. Will Jackson bring the guys back to win it all? It’s a strong possibility.

(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
3. San Francisco 49ers
I’ve noticed that some NFL experts have the 49ers as the best team in the league next year. I just don’t get it. Sure, Brock Purdy is a great quarterback. But, I don’t see this team really being the best in the league. They almost lost to the Lions in the NFC Championship game last season and ultimately made it to the Big Game but fell short. But, they are always solid.

(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
2. Detroit Lions
Full discloser: I’m a Detroit Lions fan. As a Michigan native, I’m for all the Detroit teams, especially the Lions and Pistons. But, that’s not why I have them at No. 2 on my 2024 NFL Power Rankings tally. I really think they’re that good. The Lions have spent the most money in the NFL during the offseason, both to secure current talent, such as superstar quarterback Jared Goff, and add new talent. They also came within inches of making it to the Super Bowl last season. I think this is their year.

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
1. Kansas City Chiefs
Will it be three in a row for the Kansas City Chiefs? Maybe. The guys have won two Super Bowls in a row now, and they’re still strong. They could do it again, but I think one of the teams on this roster will get in the way. Still, I believe they’re the strongest, most complete team going into the 2024 NFL season.

(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)