Bowl practice insider: A festive air, except for Nick Eason

Clemson held bowl practice Wednesday.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Dec 27 17:18:33 GMT-04:00 2023

FERNANDINA BEACH, FL – The last practice of the season brought out former players and family members, and there was a festive air to the proceedings. Just don’t expect Nick Eason to be festive.

Overcast skies led to cooler conditions as the Tigers practiced at Fernandina Beach High School Wednesday afternoon, the last full practice before Friday’s Gator Bowl against Kentucky (noon, ESPN). Freshman linebacker Sammy Brown was at his second practice (not in uniform). Brown had tightrope surgery a few weeks ago, and it was unknown if he could participate. He is expected to be full go for spring practice.

*Former Clemson linebacker Levon Kirkland was one of the first ones off of the team bus. He is now working on staff and will be working with athletes on NIL possibilities.

*The heart and soul of the equipment staff, David Saville, was also festive, telling me he received some Chick-fil-A gift cards for Christmas. He also predicts a 48-7 Clemson victory.

*During an early special team's period, Eason was not happy with the effort of some of the players. He screamed, “This ain’t a damn walk-through!! Run this again!!” There was a lot of energy around practice – from the players to the coaches to the support staff. Mike Reed and Eason made it known early on during special team drills that they were there to work. They let the players know – more than once – that they were there to work.

*Starting O-line in early drills was (l-r) Tristan Leigh, Collin Sadler, Will Putnam, Harris Sewell, and Blake Miller.

*Antonio Williams was not in any type of special jersey for Thursday's action after starting bowl practice this month in a yellow and then was in a green jersey in earlier bowl practices.

*Cade Klubnik's first run at a punt picked up some boos from the Clemson sideline that he tried to quiet down. He then ran the play again and pinned it inside the red zone to some mock cheers.

*During special team’s work, the quarterbacks moved down to an endzone, and each was taking snaps at the five- and ten-yard lines, trying to throw a fade into a garbage can in the corner of the endzone. Christopher Vizzina hit the bucket twice, Cade Klubnik once and Trent Pearman was the closest to making it as he hit the top rim. Head coach Dabo Swinney’s four attempts were well off the mark as was Tajh Boyd’s line-drive try.

*Former offensive lineman Bobby Hutchinson was there, along with his two sons. Hutch, always a favorite of mine back in the day, was taking good-natured ribbing from former trainer Danny Poole and a few others. He also got a big hug from Dabo Swinney.

*More on the freshmen later.