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Message: [QUOTE="CuseLegacy, post: 2565278, member: 469"] [URL="https://www.postandcourier.com/sports/with-nine-days-until-spring-game-clemson-defense-still-looking/article_fdf1d028-3868-11e8-9fef-ff28fa4a827a.html"]With nine days until spring game, Clemson defense still looking to perform to Brent Venables' standards[/URL] CLEMSON — This time last week, Brent Venables found himself so dismayed by the lack of leadership and focus with his Clemson defense, that the Tigers' defensive coordinator turned to the universal post-practice punishment to see if he could get through. For about 15 minutes after a March 28 scrimmage that the offense dominated came to an end, the defense ran. Then the offense walked off the field. Then the defense ran some more. And if that wasn't enough, once the metaphorical message was sent, Venables sent a literal, vocal one, too. It is April and Clemson's football team is not expected to be in midseason form right now, as coach Dabo Swinney pointed out Wednesday evening. But Venables wants more from his esteemed defense and he has made that crystal clear over the past week. That much is evident from what he told them once he had time to digest what it was that had him so irked from that scrimmage. "He just kept it real with us, told us the bad, told us the little good that we had and told us basically (that it was) upon the leaders to make sure it's corrected," rising senior defensive end Austin Bryant said Wednesday night. "(He) put it on each guy to take responsibility of what they did and own up to what they need to do better in order to make the unit better. "I think with the guys we have on this team, talks like that really resonate well because we have the type of guys that are going to respond the right way." But perhaps that response is still a work in progress. If Swinney had to gauge Venables' level of satisfaction Wednesday night after Clemson's football team held a half-scrimmage during the second half of practice, the head coach was willing to bet his assistant was still bothered. "Probably not," Swinney swiftly said, when asked if he thought Venables would be happier this time around. Then he explained: "The first drive was a long drive — now they did stop them on the goal line. But it was a long drive, third-and-10, we jump offsides. Now it's third-and-five and it's a lot easier to call plays on third-and-five than third-and-10. They get the first down and then here comes a drive. Just some things like that," Swinney continued. "The defense, I thought, they did a great job in (the) two-minute (drill). They did a really good job in our short-yardage, competitive situation today. So there was some improvement in some areas. But we’re a mixed bag right now." As Clemson looks to move forward and get the defense back to the standard Venables expects, the good news for the Tigers is that they have some of the best leaders in the country in Bryant and fellow linemen Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Dexter Lawrence. There are also several returning faces at the linebackers position and the secondary is talented, even if it is thin. The less optimistic news is Clemson is running out of time in spring practice and only has nine days until the annual spring game kicks off on ESPN April 14. Should Venables' unit lack that focus or execution then, it would be a disappointing showing by a unit whose coach demands the best. Bryant seems confident the pieces will come together sooner rather than later. "Oh most definitely," he said, when asked if Venables has gotten the defense's attention. "He's got to challenge us and I wouldn't want it any other way." [SIZE=3][B]Dabo's plea to fans[/B][/SIZE] Fewer than 10 days remain until Clemson's 2018 football team gets its first real look at the new squad during the April 14 spring game and Swinney has a plea for his fans planning to check it out. "It's a big deal. As y'all have heard me say many times, we don't get preseason games. When we play, the scoreboard is for real. So this is a great opportunity to create the best environment we can to just give us another opportunity to evaluate our players and help them get better," he said. "The crowd, the type of crowd that we have, it's going to be on ESPN. It's going to be a big deal. I hope our fans will show up and it'll be a packed house in here and we can really challenge these guys from a game-day environment standpoint." [SIZE=3][B]Coaches in town[/B][/SIZE] It is quite the busy week for Swinney and his Tigers, who are hosting a major coaches clinic all week. According to Swinney, 700-plus coaches will trickle into Clemson on Thursday night for the beginning of the clinic, which extends into Friday, too. With loads of high school coaches in attendance, Swinney wants to shed some insight into how Clemson does things for those interested in learning. Then Friday night, Clemson will welcome Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pederson of the Philadelphia Eagles to town for the keynote address. "The Friday practice is much more oriented for the visiting coaches to try to help them," Swinney said. "We don’t have a scrimmage on that day. We try to help them so they can see how we practice, how we install things in individual work, stuff like that." [SIZE=3][B]Galloway still a work in progress[/B][/SIZE] Freshman tight end Braden Galloway is still a work in progress health wise now that he is starting to make strides from an offseason foot injury that required the insertion of a screw. Galloway has been in all of the team meetings and the next step is getting him more physically developed. Galloway was in a green jersey Wednesday, meaning he participated in everything except for contact drills. [/QUOTE]

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