Joey Batson and his strength and conditioning staff at Clemson is considered one of the best in college football. Year in and year out they have had the Tigers ready for the battles, especially in the fourth quarter, they’ve seen on the football field.

This year, Batson and his staff are faced with their biggest challenger to date, the COVID-19 virus. With the Clemson campus closed, including the Allen Reeves Football Complex, the Tigers are on their own when it comes to working out and taking care of their bodies.

Well, sort of.

As one might expect, Batson is not sitting around and doing nothing during this tough time. Like the rest of Dabo Swinney’s coaching staff, he is staying in contact with the players, making sure they are getting their work done during this time of quarantine and providing alternative solutions for those players who may not have access to all the equipment they need.

“The strength and conditioning is a huge part of what we got to do,” Swinney said. “So, Joey Batson and our strength staff have been very creative with the technology as well. The biggest thing is who has access to weights.”

Swinney says most of the players have access to weights and have gone about their business in what he calls their “Plan of the Day.” For those that don’t, Batson and his team—Larry Greenlee, Paul Hogan and Adam Smotherman—have gone above and beyond in finding ways to make sure those players are getting their work in, too.

“If they have access to weights then we have a ‘Plan of the Day’ and if they don’t have access to weights, and very few, and most of them do, but very few don’t. But we have an alternative plan, so they can get their workouts done,” Swinney said. “Our strength coaches have done a great job of videoing and using the technology to demonstrate what that alternative plan may be. Whether it is filling up a bucket full of dirt, sand or whatever, to get your core workout done for the day.

“So, it has been really good. Guys have kind of had fun with that. Guys have been sending video back-and-forth of their workouts and what they are doing. I think we are in a good place there.”

From a nutrition standpoint, Swinney reports Paul Harrington, Clemson Football’s director of Nutrition, has provided good meal plans to the players to insure they are eating properly during this time as well.

“I am so proud of our team. We have a conscious team. That is one of the reasons we win,” Swinney said. “We have a team that is conscious. They care, and for the most part, there is a ton of accountability all throughout our team and great leadership. When you have leadership and accountability, to go along with talent, you got a chance to be really good.”

Swinney says the Tigers are not using COVID-19 as an excuse to back away from their motto.

“This team has a unique challenge, but as we say for us, ‘Best is the Standard.’ Best is the standard all the time, not when it is just convenient for that to be the case,” he said. “We are going to adapted to the best of our ability to find a way to make Clemson better at this time. That is the challenge we have all accepted, players and coaches.”

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