Dabo Swinney responds to Trevor Lawrence jab over motivation tactics

For what feels like the first time since Trevor Lawrence was last under center, Clemson enters the 2025 college football season with legitimate national championship expectations. It’s been a long four seasons at Clemson since Lawrence become the No. 1 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft to the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In fact, after losing three total games combined between 2018-20 with Lawrence at QB, the Tigers have lost at least three games in each of the last four seasons. That includes last year’s 10-4 record while returning to the College Football Playoff for the first time since Lawrence’s final season as the 2024 ACC Champions.

But with senior Heisman Trophy contender Cade Klubnik back at quarterback as part of a Clemson roster that’s absolutely loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, the 2025 Tigers are expected to once again open the regular season as a preseason Top 10 team.

Given those lofty expectations, the onus is often on the head coach to keep his team focused and their eyes on the prize — in this case a national championship. Thankfully, as Lawrence explained on a recent appearance on the Pardon My Take podcast with Big Cat and PFT Commenter, the Tigers have the perfect person to do just that in longtime head coach Dabo Swinney.

“He’s not a huge Xs and Os guy, but he’s a motivator (with) vision. Like our team meetings would be so long, but honestly he kept our attention and was a great motivator,” Lawrence said earlier this month on the Pardon My Take podcast. “He would make you believe you could do anything. It didn’t matter who we were playing, we were like, ‘We’re going to kill these dudes.’ … He was awesome. I still talk to him once a month.”

But it’s what Lawrence said later in the podcast, while discussing the 2018 national championship upset of a top-ranked Alabama, that really got the best reaction from Swinney.

“He always made us feel like the underdog, no matter what. It was like we haven’t lost all season and he made us think that everyone thinks that we suck,” Lawrence added later. “So it was like, ‘Ok, we’re going to show all these people.’ We could be playing Georgia Southern earlier in the season, and it was the same thing.”

When told of his former quarterback’s comments last week, Swinney doubled over in laughter about his unique motivational skills.

“So, I’ve got to humble these guys a little bit, is that what you’re saying? Can we get that for the team meeting here at 3:30? I’ll just let Trevor do it: ‘Y’all suck!’” Swinney joked. “Somebody send me a link to that so I can give him a shoutout. Oh man, I love Trevor.”

Swinney’s ability to motivate his team regardless of circumstances certainly factored into Clemson’s ability to win two College Football Playoff national championships in 2016 and 2018 — the later being Lawrence’s freshman season.

And if the Tigers are going to once again hoist the CFP national championship trophy at the end of the 2025 season, it’s going to take another masterclass in motivation from Swinney.