Clemson OC Tony Elliott 'hurt' by 'Twitter fingers' following loss to Georgia
Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott has received more than his fair share of hateful comments on Twitter after a 10-3 loss to Georgia on Saturday. Elliott said the comments hurt, but he recognizes that the offense needs to perform better.
“It’s tough because you get embarrassed on national TV,” Elliot said. “I’ve already got the Twitter fingers and hate mail telling me that I suck and need to be fired. I need to go back to Michelin. It hurts. It hurts because I know how much work this offensive staff and these players have put in. Nobody wants to go out on national TV and not play their best. I know our fans are passionate. I understand what the expectation is here. So I hurt for them because they’re upset that we didn’t perform well.
“So yeah, there’s a feeling of hurt but we can’t wallow in our pity. We’ve got to change our perspective. These guys are gonna respond and I’m excited to see the growth that’s gonna take place.”
If it were up to Elliott, he wouldn’t bother with Twitter. But his job makes it a necessity and he gets a notification every time someone responds to him.
“I don’t go to Twitter, but I’ve got to do it for recruiting,” he said. “I get a notification and it’s like ‘Go back to Michelin.’ Or somebody sends me a direct message on Instagram and I don’t know if it’s a recruit or their family and I open it up and …”
Elliott let out a big chuckle after that. He quickly grew serious again and reiterated he is aware of what the expectation is for Clemson and that he fell short of that.
The Tigers offense struggled to get anything going against the Bulldogs defense, which finished the day with seven sacks. Sophomore quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei completed just 51% of his passes and the offense managed a mere 2 yards rushing.
No offensive touchdowns Saturday
The game’s only touchdown of the game came after Uiagalelei threw an interception that Georgia defensive back Christopher Smith returned 74 yards for a score.
“I understand (the fans’) frustration,” Elliott said. “The only thing that I can express to them and anyone out there is that this group of young men work their tails off. They take pride in what they do. We’re not perfect. We obviously didn’t intend to not play our best and be out of rhythm, but they’re gonna work. They’re gonna grind and it’s gonna be exciting to see how they grow together down the stretch.”
The offense will next get a chance to shine when the Tigers take on South Carolina State at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday. Elliott is confident this lesson will make Clemson better, and soon the Twitter haters will be silent.
“Adversity is good,” Elliot said. “When all of us think about our lives, the most growth comes after an adverse moment. This is going to be a great learning opportunity for our staff. D.J., we all know his character. He had a bad night. You’ve got a football team that cares. The biggest thing that we’ve got to do as an offense is just focus on the little things. The details. That’s the thing about offensive football. It’s chemistry. It’s cohesion. It’s all 11 on the same page. And we were off on Saturday. But we’ve got a good group of young men and I’m excited to see where this group finishes up.”