By Eric Sprott (Contact / Staff Bio)
March 11, 2008 - 12:15 a.m. EST

CLEMSON — With the weather a little more spring-like than during its first outing, the Clemson football team went through its second practice of the spring on Monday afternoon.

Practice got underway last Saturday for the Tigers as temperatures measured in the 30s and 40s, with high wind making conditions worse, and head coach Tommy Bowden said the atmosphere was better on Monday thanks to the veteran players leading the way.

“There’s a good enthusiasm right now,” he said. “You’ve got a lot of older guys, and I talked to them after practice. If they just stay humble and aspire for great things, I think they’ll have a chance to accomplish for some pretty good things.”

Part of that enthusiasm revolves around the Tigers’ increased emphasis on special teams, with assistant coach Andre' Powell taking over as the first special teams coordinator during the Bowden era.

It’s a necessary change of pace for the Tigers, whose special teams hampered them severely in losses to Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech, but Bowden is having to adjust to the added sessions in practice.

“I kind of like what we’re doing with kicking so far,” he said. “It’s a little bit different and a little bit more, but I’m probably going to do this for at least half the spring and see how much progress we make.”

McElrathbey will not return. As was announced at last Saturday’s practice, running back Ray Ray McElrathbey will not return to the team this fall, but will retain his undergraduate scholarship through August when he is expected to graduate.

The rising red-shirt junior rose to fame in 2006 when he took legal custody of his 11-year old brother Fahmarr, and appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in addition to winning the FedEx/Football Writers Association Courage Award and the Keith Jackson Award of Excellence.

After missing last season with a torn ACL he suffered in the preseason, McElrathbey has two years of eligibility remaining, and could transfer to another school to continue his football career.

If not, he will have the option to be a graduate assistant in the Clemson athletic department, which would cover his cost of attendance in graduate school.

There has been a few eyebrows raised about the situation among fans concerning the circumstances of his departure, but Bowden denied further comment.

Title trophy smashed. The Crystal Waterford Trophy for the Tigers’ 1981 national championship was accidentally smashed by a photographer last Saturday at the WestZone at Memorial Stadium.

This, however, was not the trophy Clemson received the night of its 22-15 victory over Nebraska on Jan. 2, 1982. Like other schools around the country, Clemson had this trophy made several years ago for display purposes in recruiting, as today’s BCS championships are awarded the recognizable trophy.

The trophy was insured, and will be replaced in the near future.

Spiller head to Nationals. Clemson running back C.J. Spiller will miss practice for the rest of the week to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark on Friday and Saturday.

Expectations will be high for Spiller at the event, as he ran the year’s national-best 60-meter dash with a time of 6.58 seconds last month.