Spring game provides a showcase for Clemson's younger players

Gideon Davidson will get a look in the spring game (Photo by Merrell Mann).

David Hood · Senior Writer · Friday, March 28 2025

CLEMSON – Clemson’s annual spring game is in eight days, and fans wanting to see the Tigers’ stars might want to get there early because that day will be mostly about the younger players.

Clemson’s spring contest will kick off at 1 p.m. in Memorial Stadium a week from Saturday. The game isn’t televised.

Head coach Dabo Swinney mentioned at the beginning of the spring that he would use the 15 practices (which includes the spring game) focusing on the younger players. Swinney said he doesn’t need to see a lot from older players like right tackle Blake Miller and Antonio Williams, he needs to see how the younger players are progressing.

With several freshmen on the clock – including running back Gideon Davidson, offensive linemen like Brayden Jacobs, Easton Ware, and Rowan Byrne, and tight ends Logan Brooking and Christian Bentancur – the spring has provided an opportunity for them to showcase their skills in front of the coaches.

Add in the injury factor – several veterans are missing the game while recovering from off-season surgery – and the spring game is all about the youngsters. Offensive coordinator Garrett Riley said he wants to see how those younger players react to a game-day environment.

“These (spring games) are all just so different now. I think it's actually a good question,” Riley said. “What are you trying to really accomplish out of it from a coach's perspective? And I think for us offensively is some of these guys that we know are going to have an opportunity to have a bigger role or players that are just new from the get-go of seeing how they handle themselves in a stadium in front of a crowd and just being able to function. To me that's the biggest thing that we're trying to see.”

Riley said he isn’t looking for perfection, he simply needs to make sure the younger players can function in a different environment.

“We're not trying to go out there and be perfect. I don't need Cade (Klubnik) to go out there and be perfect or anything like that,” Riley said. “I need to see some of these other guys and see can they function when they're kind of under the lights and can they make routine plays? Can we get calls in? Are we going to freak out just because there's however many thousand people in the stands? Those are things that we need to evaluate and see on the spring game.”

He also wants to see how the players – and coaches – react on the sidelines.

“The other thing you see as a coach when you get in those settings is you see kind of the demeanor and just the presence of some of these players and coaches on the sideline. It's a little bit more real,” Riley said. “So I think that's always something that I like to personally gauge is just kind how do these people react when it's a little bit more of a game setting?”