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Brandon Ford stood sweaty and winded after a hard morning scrimmage at Death Valley, a testament to Clemson's new offensive coordinator and his fast-paced philosophy.
Ford and his teammates have worked the past two weeks on learning the attack of new offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who wants the group to get in 80-to-85 snaps a game this season.
''You might as well say a hundred'' snaps, the Tiger tight end said with a tired grin.
That's fine with Morris, the Tulsa offensive coordinator brought in last January to perk up Clemson's sluggish attack.
The Tigers put up a school record 436 points two seasons ago to reach the conference championship game, thanks to Atlantic Coast Conference player of the year C.J. Spiller and receiver Jacoby Ford, now an NFL standout. With their 2009 stars gone, Clemson scored 124 fewer points in last fall's 6-7 record, Clemson's first losing season in 12 years.
Now, it's up to Morris to push the pace and get Clemson's offense rolling. He's done it before, taking Tulsa's attack from 35th in yardage two years ago to fifth in the Football Bowl Subdivision last fall in his only year with the Golden Hurricane.
Morris is a high-energy coach - he starts most practices with an energy drink - who most of the time likes what he sees from the Tigers.
''I would say we're probably a little ahead of schedule to be honest with you,'' Morris said Wednesday. ''I didn't think they would grasp this much and allow us to progress as fast as we have. It just shows you that they worked extremely hard during the summer.''
And with good reason.
Besides the loss of Spiller, Ford and other leaders, there appeared to be a culture of defeat that at times took hold of the locker room.
''It's something you can't let happen,'' right tackle Landon Walker said.
What little verve Clemson had seemed to vanish with an injury to tailback Andre Ellington in a 16-10 loss to Boston College last October. Ellington missed most of the final five games with a foot injury, yet still finished second on the team with 10 touchdowns.
Head coach Dabo Swinney and his players hoped to salvage some momentum with a bowl win, but lost to South Florida 31-26 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl.
Swinney recalled looking into the eyes of a hurt, angry and bewildered team after that game and promised they wouldn't feel that way again.
''I needed to make some changes,'' Swinney said.
He picked a kindred spirit in Morris. Both love to attack defenses and want to bring back a ''can't-be-stopped'' mentality to the Tigers. The two even live next to each other near campus, their families playing night-time wiffle ball games in their cul-de-sac.
''This is the direction I wanted to go, philosophy-wise,'' Swinney said. ''Regardless of what other people may say or think, I'm going to do what I believe in.''
Morris was a successful high school coach in Texas. At Lake Travis High, his last stop before Tulsa, Morris had back-to-back unbeaten state championship seasons. He learned much of his attack from Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn, who also was a former high school coach who had success in college.
The attack is based on speed, grinding away on the defense snap after snap until you're in the end zone. Morris expects to take 10-to-12 deep shots downfield as well.
Center Dalton Freeman wasn't sure what to think at first. Now, he's found a fitter group, eager to wipe away the memories of last season.
''The way we look at it, we have the ball and defense doesn't,'' Freeman said. ''With our explosiveness, we can make some big plays and put a lot of points on the board.''
That was evident during Wednesday's scrimmage, which Swinney said was the cleanest, crispest scrimmage at Clemson since he started as a receivers coach in 2003.
First-year starter Tajh Boyd was 10 of 15 for 180 yards with two touchdowns. That might've been three TDs if Boyd, a redshirt sophomore, had put a little more air under a pass into the end zone to wide open tight end Dwayne Allen, Morris said.
''We're not where we want to be yet,'' Morris said. ''But we've definitely made some big strides.''
