Dabo Swinney defends Clemson Football program amid criticism

CLEMSON — Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media Tuesday at his weekly news conference. Swinney again discussed his team’s loss to Georgia Tech while also looking ahead to preparation for Saturday’s opponent – Syracuse.

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The Tigers (1-2, 0-1) will host the Orange (2-1, 0-0) on Saturday at noon. Clemson is a 17.5-point favorite over the Orange at BetMGM.

The following is an edited transcript of Tuesday’s presser.

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Opening Statements

“Excited to have another opportunity this week. We have not had the start that we had hoped for to this point, but it’s just the first quarter … we have a lot of football and opportunity left. We’ll kick off the second quarter this week. We’re still looking for four quarters of complementary football. We just haven’t put it together. That’s what it will take for us to get back on track. Let’s see if we can find a way to win a game. We’re just trying to play our best game. We’re trying to learn and grow from mistakes. We know that we can do better.

“For us, there is a lot of disappointment. They don’t call off the season after the first quarter. We have our backs against the wall. We have put ourselves in a hole. We just need one more play, one more stop. I love how our guys have responded so far this week. I love our team and our staff, it’s a good group of people who are together.

“It doesn’t get any easier. Syracuse is undefeated in the league. We have a loss in the league so we have zero room for error. Syracuse is coming in here off of two good wins, one in overtime. They’re a tough team, well-coached … Fran Brown is a guy I have a lot of respect for. His guys are physical as crap on both sides of the ball. They fly around and will get after you.

“Offensively, they’re another challenge. They play with tempo and will snap the ball 80+ times. They’re huge up front. I think they’re third in the country in passing offense. They get off the bus throwing the ball. It doesn’t mean they don’t run the ball, though. Their back is a 235-pounder like Phil Mafah, a big, thick, guy. Every run they have is an RPO. Whether it’s in empty or tight sets, their quarterback is a really good player. It’s a big challenge for our defense. They’ll move the pocket all over the place. We have to find a way to affect the quarterback. It’s just that simple. He can beat you.

“Defensively, they’ve done a nice job with their scheme. They’re very aggressive. They get after you up front. They fly to the ball. These guys are around the ball. They have a bunch of dudes around the ball who play hard. They have good skill on the back end. They have a really good front. One guy, No. 8, I think it’s his eighth year in college. They’re big inside. They have good corners.

“This is a good team. They have probably the best punter in our league. It’ll be a challenge for us. We’re looking forward to it. We need to compete our butts off.”

Question: Elyjah Thurmon, was that a practice injury?

SWINNEY: “Yes. He’s day to day. We’ll release a status report on all of these guys on Thursday.”

Question: You mentioned one play away and the simple stuff you’re not doing. How much is on the players and how much is on the coaches?

SWINNEY: “There’s accountability for everyone. This isn’t middle school football. Everyone has to be better.”

Question: As you’re evaluating your team so far, how much do you look at the learning curve of your defense to this point?

SWINNEY: “The first two games, we were good enough to win. We stunk in Atlanta. But how about we give Haynes King some credit. How about we give Georgia Tech some credit. We knew going in, he was special. When they needed it most, they got it done. That game, we didn’t get it done defensively. We haven’t had Khalil Barnes. He’s one of our best players. No excuse. We’ve got plenty. It’s 21 points. We have to score points. It’s down to one play but there’s one play I could change on defense where we could win the game.

“We have to get the offense rolling. I think Tom has done a great job, but there’s newness. They have to drive the car for awhile. We were good enough in the first two games. The rest is on the offense. We have a long way to go. We play good people. We haven’t come close to playing our best football and we have two losses that have come down to the last play against good teams. We have to do a better job of things that we can control.

“This is going to be a good football team. Because we have players who care. Let’s go find a way to win a game and play the season out. The reality is we’ve had one bad season here. That was 2010. That’s just fact. We won six games that year. We had five losses by six points or less and one of those was to the national champion. We lost another one to Florida State that year on a last-second field goal and it was a long field goal that would have been good from 70.

“Listen, I know everyone is frustrated, but 17 years we have had one bad season. The worst season we’ve had in 14 years is nine wins and it happened one time. It’s not that we haven’t had bad moments. I’d say this is a low and a bad moment. We’ve been in this situation many times. We’re a great program because we have always responded. How many ADs would sign up for the worst season in 14 years being 9-4?

“This season isn’t written yet. What’s so bad about our program? How many programs in college football would sign up to have nine wins as their worst season in 14 years? We may suck this year and lay a freaking egg, but I don’t think so. The reason I think we’re the best program in college football is because we’ve always battled and responded. We have a consistency and a will to win and a fight. We’re the model in all of college football. Our players fight to the end. That’s why we’re here. We’re not perfect. We’ve had lots of adversity. I’ve got faith because I’ve lived it and seen us pull through. I’ve got faith in the storm.

“We could go schedule East University and everyone is all happy and peachy right now, but we want to win at the highest level around here. It’s part of the process. We missed two games and I give those teams credit. They earned it. Let’s go forward and let’s let the story be written.”

Question: Does it take away from your continuity when you’re substituting as much as you are up front (defensively)?

SWINNEY: “We’ve rotated forever around here. We had the best defense in the country and did that. We played five ends and five defensive tackles every game. We played all those games. We were No. 1 in the country that year and rotated all year. We gave up 17 points to LSU and we gave up seven points to Troy and that was good enough to win. Where we have to be better defensively is third down. We have to get off the field a little bit more.

“Who do you not want us to play? We’re going to play the guys who deserve to play. We don’t play anyone who doesn’t rotate defensive linemen. Guys (depth players) have to play. We have to develop some depth at a critical position.”

Question: Is the effort there?

SWINNEY: “Yes. Guys battled their butts off. We have a loaf tape and we don’t see many but it’s something where we hold people accountable. It’s a group thing. It’s rare, though. These guys have battled their butts off.”

Question: You’ve said repeatedly that you’ve been soft on the perimeter (defensively). Is that a concern going into this weekend?

SWINNEY: “Yes. For sure. We haven’t set the edge well enough in the screen game. We haven’t defeated some blocks well enough. We have to do a better job of that in space. That’s definitely a concern.”

Question: Is the criticism you’re seeing getting personal to you?

SWINNEY: “No. I don’t let anything in. That’s a gift that I have. I know it’s bad. I get all the text messages and people are praying for you. That’s how I know it’s bad (out there). I don’t read it. I promise you, I don’t. When it’s bad, I don’t read nothing. Eddie Robinson told me that one time. I was a GA at Alabama. Eddie Robinson walks in my office and he sits down, just me and him. He just wanted to know who I was. He was in town visiting coach (Gene) Stallings. He said, ‘Let me tell you something, when it’s bad, don’t read nothing. Don’t read the papers.’

“I’m human. The cool thing is that I’ve had a lot of coaches in this conference and other conferences who have reached out and encouraged me. And I’ve really appreciated that.

“Why would I not have faith? This ain’t the worst thing that’s happened to me in my life and it won’t be. Criticism and all that … I get it. And it’s warranted because people care. I get all that. I spent 13 years at Alabama. I had thick skin when I showed up here from Alabama. No one wants to win more than we do. But no, it doesn’t affect me. It’s just part of it. At the end of the day, man, when you have a lot of success, people want to tear you down and see you fail to make themselves look better or promote some narrative. I love it all … the good and bad.

“As a Christian, I love the Lord. My identity is not the scoreboard or a football coach. I may not always be happy but I always have my joy. I’ve had enough praise and hate to last three lifetimes. My life is built on a foundation of Christ. That’s where my peace comes from. If you don’t have that, it’s hard to understand that. That’s just how I’m built. I just know that adversity is a part of life. I’ve always chosen to turn the pain into purpose. Everything goes back to my purpose in life. I don’t work to a record and my identity isn’t tied to a scoreboard. We’ve had a lot of success here, though. And it hasn’t always been perfect.

“I thrive in the battle, honestly. I have my whole life. Perspective is important. If they won’t me gone, they can send me on my way. If they’re tired of winning, they can send me on my way. I won’t stop. I’m 55. I’ll go somewhere else and win. I ain’t going to the beach. We’ve won this league eight of the last 10 years. Is that good? I’ve got a long memory in case y’all don’t know. This is a program that’s built to last. If you don’t believe in us after we lost just two games, you weren’t all in anyway. Hate to disappoint all the haters out there, but I have a long way to go, boys.”

Question: When you say they want you gone, are you talking about …

SWINNEY: “Whomever. Whomever.”

Question: You mentioned the word perception. There seems to be a perception that Adam Randall isn’t a running back and that Clemson doesn’t have a running back. How do you evaluate him and compare him to a traditional back?

SWINNEY: “I think he has been one of the bright spots for us. He just needs to play and keep going. He really did a good job in the Troy game and did a nice job last week. We just need to get rolling there. I’ve been pleased with Adam. It’s not all bad. He’s been one of the bright spots.”

Question: How much of your job is instilling confidence in your players right now?

SWINNEY: “It’s a huge part. Lose one game around here and everyone is stupid, we stink and everyone wants to fire your coaches. Instilling confidence is always a huge part of it.”

Question: How do you feel Garrett Riley has done so far?

SWINNEY: “None of us have done a great job thus far. Ultimately we are responsible for results. We have to score points. Not just Garrett but we all have to be better. It starts with coaches. We have to score and we’re missing a lot of opportunities. We have to take some pressure off the defense. We’re not anywhere near what we can be and should be on offense.”

Question: You still have a policy of your public commitments not taking visits to other schools?

SWINNEY: “Yes. And I don’t bring committed kids in here, too. That’s between us and a recruit.

“We’re not talking recruiting in this press conference.”

Question: You talk about the rat poison before the season and guys possibly getting full of themselves. How much of it is complicated because of large amounts of money (being paid to players)?

SWINNEY: “I think sometimes expectations can become the focus vs. the process. For this particular group, they have never dealt with that. All they’ve dealt with is that they’re terrible up until this year. It’s a part of building back to the top of the mountain. It’s no different than when I got the job. It’s not easy. It’s not perfect. We’re going to win it again. Everyone laughed at me in 2008 when I said we’d win a national championship again.

“We’ll get there again. We will.”

Question: Is some of it this year’s team learning how to win?

SWINNEY: “Yes. Yes. That’s part of what we do as teachers and our plan to win. What are you doing when no one is watching? All of it matters when you’re trying to win at the highest level. You have to teach it all the time because you have new people. But we’ve always gotten better and always responded. We’ve taught and made corrections. You don’t keep a job at this level for 17 years if you don’t do something right. You go back to the core things, the basics and fundamentals. The main thing is you have to have the right people. These are great young men and they care. They’re talented. We’ll get it going.”

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Question: What’s the key to getting Nolan Hauser back on track?

SWINNEY: “He’s kind of leaving his shoulder. He’s pushed them out to the right. They’re 50 yarders but we expect him to make those. Those were critical. It changes things. It came down to three points the other day.

“A lot of things can impact the game. Everyone just has to do their job with more consistency. These guys have to learn how to win, in particular close games. One score games are hard and we lead the nation in those over the last 14 years. The reason we’ve won so much around here is that we’ve won the close games. Coach Stallings always told me, ‘Men, it’ll be three or four plays between winning and losing. Make sure you play every play like that play.’ We have to be better in understanding that every play is the play. We have to finish.”

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