No team in the country played more players last season than Clemson football. That depth-building approach is certainly working for the Tigers.
According to CFB Kings, Clemson football played an average of 72.5 players per game in 2018.
That ranked well above any team in the nation. As a matter of fact, Georgia was second with 65.6 players per game and Florida third with 62.8 players per game.
Though many Tiger fans disagree with the methods sometimes during the game, it’s clear that the depth-building approach and process that the Clemson football coaching staff has taken certainly is paying off.
The coaches aren’t just concerned about winning a game or having the perfect outing three games into a season.
That’s why a lot of time we see the Tigers struggle to get past an opponent or “only” beat a team by 20 points that they should’ve beaten by more, according to our own standards that we had set in place.
In many cases, though, if you go back and watch the film of these games. What you’ll see may be a bit surprising to you.
Despite the fact that the Tigers are entrenched in a close game (see Texas A&M last year for reference), there are plenty of backups playing across the field.
The coaching staff does this for two reasons:
- It keeps guys fresh
- It builds the program
The coaches knew that Clelin Ferrell, Dexter Lawrence, Christian Wilkins, Hunter Renfrow, Austin Bryant, Kendall Joseph and others wouldn’t be on the roster this season.
So, they are continuously building the program. That means that they intentionally took snaps away from Wilkins to keep him fresh and to give Jordan Williams a chance to prove himself and gain experience, all with meaningful playing time.
Many coaches around the nation play their starters non-stop for three quarters and then play a few backups here or there. Clemson, instead, plays its backups throughout the game. That may mean that you even see starters on the field in the fourth quarter. Why? Because they are just rotating through guys and making sure that players are getting experience, while staying fresh.
It may not pay off in the short term when you “barely beat a team,” but it definitely pays off in the long term when the team is rested and experience come postseason.
You certainly won’t hear Dabo Swinney complaining about his team being “mentally fatigued” or too “physically drained” because everybody shares the load. It’s just better management.