COLUMBIA, S.C. - Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney couldn't hide a wide grin as he talked about watching the Tigers finally take a major step toward preparation for the season.
"Once we got on the field, it was awesome," Swinney said Thursday after the team's first official preseason practice. "Just a blessing to be able to get back, unbelievable energy and excitement."
Swinney was just as confident college football will find a way to successfully finish the season amid the coronavirus pandemic. He said his players showed him soon after returning to campus in June they were serious about staying healthy - and doing what it took to play championship football.
"I'm very hopeful and optimistic that we're going to find a safe way to play," he said.
The Tigers had some trouble early on as 37 of 43 student-athletes who tested positive during the first three weeks after the June return were football players. All were quarantined, and none had to be hospitalized. Since then, the football team has remained largely healthy and focused on getting back to work.
"Their commitment has really shined through," Swinney said of his players.
Not everyone was unaffected. Swinney said starting defensive end Xavier Thomas contracted COVID-19 while he was away from campus and was more recently diagnosed with strep throat, with the illnesses taking effect on his health and mental state.
Swinney said Thomas, a 6-foot-2, 265-pound junior who started eight games last season, will redshirt in 2020. The hope is for him to play the four games allowed by the rule and return to the Tigers next season.
"He's 20 years old," Swinney said. "We want to do what's best for him."
Plenty of things seemed like business as usual Thursday for the Tigers, who were 14-0 and had won 29 straight times before falling to LSU in the national championship game in January.
The speakers in the practice facility blasted Thin Lizzy's "The Boys Are Back in Town," as they typically do at the first workout.
Clemson was picked No. 1 in the preseason coaches' poll released Thursday, and quarterback Trevor Lawrence and tailback Travis Etienne - the two-time Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year - are once more leading Clemson's offense.
Lawrence, now a junior, had the worst game of his college career last time out as he struggled against LSU's championship defense in the 42-25 loss - the first for the former Georgia high school star in college.
But in recent months, Lawrence has been the face of the Tigers for his altruism and activism. He and his fiancée raised money for COVID-19 patients and their families. He also helped organize and lead a march for the Clemson team in June to support social justice.
On Thursday, Swinney said Lawrence was sharp and active on the field, looking like a leader on a team determined to compete for another title.
Etienne, a senior, was widely expected to jump to the NFL after three ultra productive seasons as Clemson's leading rusher. However, he decided he wasn't done yet in college and will try to add to his ACC record total of 56 rushing touchdowns.
Swinney told his players to be grateful for every moment on the field with their teammates given the months of not knowing what might occur or even if the season could be played as the virus continues to affect the state of South Carolina and other areas in the ACC footprint.
He was disappointed with the loss of Clemson's annual rivalry contest with South Carolina because the Gamecocks' Southeastern Conference chose a 10-game, all-conference schedule this year. But he's excited for what's out there for the Tigers.
"Seems like I've been on a million, jillion calls since March on committees and subcommittees," Swinney said. "I'm just thankful we have the opportunity."