Clemson football fall camp could look different in 2021

Believe it or not, we’ve got just a little more than three months before the Clemson football team will take the field to begin fall camp and some changes could be coming with that.

CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee and Dennis Dodd reported earlier this week that the NCAA is eyeing many changes to limit full-contact practices following the latest concussion study that was presented earlier this spring.

Recommendations are expected to be forwarded to the NCAA’s Football Oversight Committee on changes regarding how practices will be conducted, as soon as this fall.

"“Those recommendations include the reduction of full-padded practices from 21 to eight, limiting each team to two full scrimmages and banning full-speed collision drills like the “Oklahoma Drill” in which two players fire off the line of scrimmage and hit each other while surrounding by a circle of teammates,” the CBS report said."

Changes could be coming to how Clemson football conducts its practices this fall

The recommendations haven’t been explained in detail yet, but this could mean changes have to be modified to how Clemson conducts the PAW Drill.

It’s not the same as the Oklahoma Drill where there’s one-on-one contact and two players just running straight into one another, but some of the elements are still there. It will all depend largely on how strict the NCAA comes down, but we don’t think the Tigers will have to retire the drill because it is much safer than the Oklahoma Drill and simulates ‘real game’ situations.

More so than the PAW Drill, the biggest change that we would see for Clemson football would come in the amount of practices the Tigers could have with full pads.

There is a great balance to be had in fall camp. You’ve got to get players ready for the physicality of the game, but you don’t want to overexert them and cause injuries that were unnecessary.

Going to eight full-padded practices when programs have been used to 21 might very well lead to more injuries when games are played, but no one can truly know as of yet.