Dave Clawson Sounds Off After First Week Of Fall Camp

Les John's has once again provided a transcript of the comments made by Coach Dave Clawson, this time after the first week of fall camp.

One thing that really was interesting to me is that apparently Justin Herron and Justin Strnad didn't practice, but they also didn't take the day off. Apparently they and other senior leaders were in full player-coach mode. "...They’re good leaders. There was a rep today when Nolan Groulx didn’t do what he needed to and Steven Claude got over him aggressively and coached him. That’s all the things we talk about in terms of being a player-led team." This is exactly the kind of thing that makes me feel very comfortable with Coach Clawson at the helm. He has the right kind of attitude in my opinion, and he brings in players that will help to nurture that type of environment.

Another thing worth noting is that there were some ACC officials watching and calling the camp. "When you go against yourself all the time and you don’t have officials, alignments, being in the neutral zone — you get away from that stuff a little bit. So you get the official out here and it brings to our attention some things we’re not doing that we have to clean up.” Makes sense to me, and I'm glad that the team is getting an opportunity to simulate game day environment as much as possible.

In additional good news, the team is comparatively pretty healthy as well. "[...]I think comparatively to a year ago we’re much better off. I think the players feel better. It’s still camp and they have camp legs. We’ve got a lot more guys out here practicing and less guys in the pit." In other words, it's a double benefit. You have fewer injuries, but you also have more players getting prepared for playing time should they get the call. "Justin Herron took the day off, so now Nate (Gilliam) gets some tackle work and Jake (Benzinger) some left tackle work. Loic (Ngassam Nya) and Sean (Maginn) were both in the starting lineup. You’re preparing for all those what-if scenarios.”

That all sounds good to me! Again, thanks go to Les Johns for the transcript. If you want to see the entirety of Coach's comments, follow the link above. Sound off in the comments, and as always, thanks for reading and Go Deacs.

--SF