Clemson Football Practice Brief

Aug. 22, 2001

Clemson, S.C. — Clemson Head Coach Tommy Bowden announced the new alignment for his wide receiver position on Wednesday after a two-and-a-half hour workout on the practice fields behind the Jervey Athletic Center. The moves were the result of Kevin Youngblood’s season ending broken leg, an injury he suffered in practice on Tuesday.

Bowden said he has moved Jackie Robinson from the Y wide receiver to Youngblood’s X position. Roscoe Crosby has moved into the starting slot at Robinson’s former Y position. Graduate student Matt Bailey and red-shirt freshman Derrick Hamilton make up the other starting wide receiver slots when Clemson uses a four-wide receiver position.

“Jackie Robinson is a veteran who can play every position,” said Bowden. “That is really the only move we can make. He will move into Kevin Youngblood’s position and Roscoe Crosby will move into Jackie’s old position. Roscoe had been Jackie’s backup. Roscoe caught two touchdown passes in the scrimmage on Tuesday and has shown improvement. As time goes on he has understood alignment. I am not reluctant to start a first-year freshman at wide receiver. I started four first-year freshmen when I was the wide receivers coach at Auburn.”

Youngblood had a titanium rod placed in his broken leg. The operation was termed successful by team physician Dr. Byron Harder. The surgery was performed late Tuesday night and Youngblood was resting comfortably on Wednesday. Many of his teammates went to visit him in the hospital on Wednesday evening.

Clemson Defensive Coordinator Reggie Herring also had surgery on Wednesday. He suffered a torn Achilles tendon at the scrimmage last Saturday. True to his nature, Herring was at practice Wednesday afternoon, coaching from a golf cart. “He came back to the office an hour before practice,” said Bowden. “He had the surgery early in the morning so he could come to practice. That was pretty amazing. I’ve never had a coach work a practice on morphine before, ” said Bowden with a smile.

Gary Byrd and T.J. Watkins were back at practice on Wednesday after missing some time due to sprained knees. Derrick Brantley, another starting offensive lineman, missed the practice with a sprained knee. Morgan Woodward, the starting tight end, also missed time due to a sprained knee. Rodney Thomas was out with a groin injury and Khaleed Vaughn missed the workout with a neck injury. Starting running back Travis Zachery suffered a sprained ankle late in the practice. All the injuries are not serious.

The Tigers return to practice on Thursday afternoon.