Dabo Swinney addresses keys to coaching through adversity

At this point in the season, Clemson (4-4) is not guaranteed a bowl game with four weeks remaining in the regular season.

Two of the Tigers’ upcoming matchups, this weekend against Notre Dame and Week 12 vs. North Carolina, are expected losses on paper. After Georgia Tech took down the Tar Heels last week, that game is far from guaranteed and the season finale against South Carolina poses a unique hurdle as well.

It goes without saying, Dabo Swinney has his hands full at this point in the season.

“Sometimes [my players] listen more when you have adversity. And honestly, we haven’t had much adversity around here in the last 13 years,” Swinney said on Tuesday. “Losing a National Championship is not adversity, we’ve won seven out of the eight ACC titles. Nobody feels sorry for the Tigers. We’ve been to six Final Fours. We got a couple of national championships over the past seven years.

“Even though you have some disappointment, and maybe a little failure along the way, we haven’t had much adversity, like true adversity. “

Losses against Duke, who has been ranked for the most part this season, and Florida State, a College Football Playoff contender, saw the Tigers begin the season 4-2, but consecutive one-score losses against Miami and NC State, respectively, have firmly slotted Clemson as a mid-tier ACC team at this point in the season.

“Sometimes it’s healthy to have a little pruning season if you will. Cut the crape myrtles back a little bit,” Swinney continued. “This is a healthy tree. Even healthy trees need to be pruned. This healthy tree has produced a lot of good fruit around here. A lot. I’ve seen Clemson University change. I’ve seen lots of things change. I’ve seen lives change. I’ve seen a million wins. I’ve seen a lot of things.

“This is a very healthy tree that’s produced a bunch of great fruit. But even healthy trees need to be pruned so that you can bloom back even better and produce more fruit. And that’s what we’ll do. That’s kind of where we are because sometimes things happen that you can’t explain. Sometimes you get breaks, sometimes you don’t.”

The entire outlook of Clemson’s season changes with a win against Notre Dame this weekend. The Tigers are underdogs at home, but that’s exactly what Swinney wants in order to get the most out of his players against the Irish.