"We gonna produce it": Clemson HC Dabo Swinney shares his expectations for spring game despite the lack of a TV broadcast

Dabo Swinney remains optimistic about the new system for Clemson’s spring game on April 5, even without a television broadcast. The Tigers’ coach announced after their first spring practice of the year earlier in March that the school’s annual spring game wouldn't be live on television.

Nonetheless, Swinney is pushing for preseason games to turn the event into an even bigger spectacle. Spring games have also been an opportunity to showcase the roster on the field before the season. However, the coach wants to make it something bigger and more lucrative.

"We’re gonna produce it,” Swinney said. “We're doing our own in-house type of a deal. And so it’d be a good day where, again, we got, we’re gonna definitely have a game type of deal. … Lots of fun, a bunch of recruits coming in, it's a great opportunity to come out and see our team."

Dabo Swinney also gave a couple of details on what the participation of players would look like in the upcoming spring game. While the annual intra-team game doesn't always involve freshmen and depth players, Swinney will do it differently with the Tigers this year.

"Everybody’s going to play, everybody’s going to have an opportunity to see the guys. And we got a few guys that will take a ton of rest, but we may not tackle them. … It’s going to be a good, competitive day, be a lot of fun."

Dabo Swinney expects a large crowd at the spring game

With the unavailability of this year's Clemson spring games on television, Dabo Swinney is hopeful for strong attendance at the spring game. While the Tigers have always had solid attendance in spring games, the coach believes a lack of live coverage can increase that.

"That’s kind of what I’m hoping,” Swinney said. “It's kind of always been easy, but we’ve always had great crowds at the spring game because we could have had it on TV. It was our decision for it not to be on TV.

"It wasn’t like somebody didn’t want to do it, just we made the decision to do our own in-house thing. … I hope that that’ll mean even more people to come. It’s just a free opportunity to come see the Tigers, and we need it."

The Tigers' current spring game attendance record came in 2017 after they had won the national championship the previous season. More than 60,000 fans were present at Death Valley to see the Tigers round up their spring schedule with the Orange and White game.