One way Clemson fans can always tell that fall camp is nearing is by watching the Tiger player’s social media and this year, even during the Covid-19 pandemic, is no different. The Clemson football team had the big “Weigh In” on Wednesday and then start fall camp on Thursday.
As is now customary, Tiger players sent out a series of social media messages as they signed off just ahead of the new football season. This is a tradition that was first put in place several years back, and one that has now become the norm.
Many have speculated and/or believed that this rule was put into place by Coach Dabo Swinney, even though it actually wasn’t. While it is still unclear as to exactly when it did first start, it was actually something one of Swinney’s senior classes came up with all on their own.
“Yeah, that came from the seniors,” Swinney said. “I want to say it was either 2012 or 2013. They just came to me and said, ‘Hey Coach, this is something we’d like to do, what do you think about it?’ I said, ‘You’re asking me what I think about it? Shoot, that’s great with me.’ I said, y’all want to do it, then y’all do it, and so they did.”
It is a policy that Swinney now goes over each year with his seniors, and each year he leaves it up to them to decide whether the policy stays in place. So far, that’s exactly what’s happened.
It‘s a tradition that the Tiger football program now embraces with open arms, but it is a tradition that also brings a lot of criticism with it each and every year. Swinney has just accepted the fact that every August when camp opens, he is going to take some heat in the media, whether it is deserved or not.
You can check out some of the latest entries here:
