Associated Press
April 24, 2008 - 12:15 a.m. EST

CLEMSON — Clemson coach Tommy Bowden sees one welcome change this fall — it will be his Tigers instead of himself in the crosshairs.

“It’ll be a lot better because the bull’s-eye won’t be on me,” Bowden said Tuesday. “That’ll be a different angle.”

Bowden received a contract extension after last year’s 9-4 season that ties him to the university through 2014. The enormous expectations are still there for Clemson, which has several stars back and should be among the early favorites to win the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“We’ve finished second in the division the past three years and we have some people coming back from last year’s team,” Bowden said. “Based on last year’s accomplishments, some people are picking us.”

And with good reason. Quarterback Cullen Harper, the running duo of James Davis and C.J. Spiller, receiver Aaron Kelly and defensive lineman Dorrell Scott have all returned. The lone standout to go was defensive end Phillip Merling. But Bowden’s got a decent option to replace him — incoming freshman Da’Quan Bowers who some services rated as the country’s top recruit.

“I’m anxious, naturally, to see how the team will respond,” Bowden said. “Hopefully, they can understand like coaches that it’s the ranking at the end of the season that’s most important.”

Bowden is confident his team will respond well to the pressure. Harper, Davis and Kelly are all seniors and head up one of the Tigers’ strongest group of upperclassmen in recent memory.

Harper set records as a junior and settled a position that figured to be in flux between himself and heralded recruit Willy Korn.

Davis and Spiller, the team’s “Thunder and Lightning” duo, looked like they were done with junior Davis declaring for the NFL draft. About a week later, Davis decided to stay for his senior year. He has a chance to be Clemson’s first rusher with three straight 1,000-yard seasons.

Spiller showed his electrifying skill in Clemson’s Chick-fil-A Bowl overtime loss to Auburn with an 83-yard TD run.

Kelly set records with his 88 receptions and 11 touchdown grabs last year.

Bowden knows they all understand how to take that next step from second place to a spot in the ACC’s title game. Last season’s shot at the league championship slipped away by the width of Kelly’s fingers last fall as the receiver failed to haul in a catchable TD pass at the end of Clemson’s 20-17 loss to Boston College last November.

However, Kelly rebounded the next week with two critical catches on Clemson’s game-winning drive in a 23-21 win over rival South Carolina.

Bowden spent much of spring practice looking to shore up his two biggest concerns — linebackers and the offensive line.

The Tigers lost two senior linebackers in Nick Watkins, the team’s top tackler, and Tramaine Billie. Also, Antonio Clay withdrew from school last winter. His return is uncertain. Watkins was the Tigers’ top tackler last fall.

Along the offensive line, Bowden needs to replace four starters from a year ago for the second straight season. While the Tigers had the depth from 2006 to plug in last fall, there aren’t as many experienced performers to call on this year to fill in for seniors Barry Richardson, Chris McDuffie, Brandon Pilgrim and Christian Capote.

Still, Bowden thinks “we got the right pegs in the right slots. Now how much they mature over the summer and how ready they are to play Alabama, I don’t know.”

The Tigers open up against the Crimson Tide at the Georgia Dome on Aug. 30.

“The biggest thing we got out of spring is that we came out relatively injury free,” Bowden said.

There were five players who had minor operations right after Clemson’s annual Orange-and-White game. Bowden expected all of them to be ready when fall camp opens in August.

Freshman linebacker Brandon Maye, junior receiver Tyler Grisham and junior tight end Akeem Robinson had knee operations. Freshman offensive tackle Chris Hairston had a shoulder operation. Freshman fullback/tight end Chad Diehl had ankle surgery. Clemson does not identify which ankle, shoulder or knee is affected, athletic spokesman Tim Bourret said.