If Clemson is going to make the College Football Playoff for a fifth straight year and play for another national championship, then the work starts right now.

It does not start in August during fall camp. It did not start in the spring.

Teams need those elements to be coached. However, when it comes to winning championships, something the Clemson Football program has grown accustomed to for nearly a decade now, winning championships begins in the summer when no one is watching, and everything is driven by the players.

“We have a lot do and a lot of it is going to have to be player driven,” Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said after spring practice ended. “We are going to give them the information, but some of them will have to take ownership about what they do. That is our job to be very truthful and honest of where those guys are and give them the information and the plan to go execute and transform, as we say, and come back a better version of themselves in August.”

Swinney says the Tigers are a long away from being a game-ready team, but he liked what he saw from his players in the spring. He saw young guys like freshmen wide receivers Frank Ladson and Joseph Ngata emerge as additional playmakers on offense. He liked what he saw out of freshman defensive tackle Tyler Davis and the playmaking ability of freshman cornerback Sheridan Jones.

The Clemson coach was also pleased with what he saw out of the defensive line, an area on the team that must replace four All-Americans.

He also liked the leadership he saw from quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who is now expected to lead the Tigers, as opposed to just falling in line behind guys like Christian Wilkins, Clelin Ferrell and Hunter Renfrow last year.

Other players, such as corner A.J. Terrell, safety K’Von Wallace, linebacker Isaiah Simmons, wide receiver Tee Higgins and right guard Gage Cervenka also stepped up and provided leadership. It will be up to those guys that have to continue to lead as the Tigers enter the last month of summer workouts before starting camp at the end of July.

What the Tigers do over the next four weeks will go a long way in determining if the 2019 football season ends the same way the 2018 season did.

“I think we have a chance,” Swinney said. “We got everything we need to be a successful team, but there is still a lot of work to do.”