Everything Dabo Swinney said about South Carolina following rivalry win

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke with the media following a 28-14 win in the 122nd edition of the Palmetto Bowl.

Here is everything he said about the Gamecocks in his 28 minutes with the media.

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Opening Statement

“All right. Man, just that’s that was Clemson football. That was fun, a lot of fun. Really happy for our fans, we all know how much this one means, and really happy for our team, especially our seniors, to be able to say they are undefeated down here. So we’re just happy for those guys. You know, these guys have had great preparation. That’s four road wins in a row, that’s four overall wins in a row, that’s six in a row down here, which, this is not an easy place to come play six in a row down here, and it’s our seventh week there. There it is, six, seven. So maybe there’s something to that, I don’t know, but that was a lot of fun.”

“I love just the effort of our guys, the belief of our guys. And, you know, hey, now we put ourselves in position to get to the postseason and try to get an eighth win. That’s not what we set out to do. But there’s only two other teams that have had eight wins 15 years in a row, and that’s Alabama and Georgia. So that’s quite a turnaround. In fact, this is the greatest turnaround team in Clemson history. There’s 30 teams that started 1-3 or worse. We were only the fourth to get to six. Nobody got to seven. So that wasn’t what we set up our story to be, but that’s our story, and that’s what life’s all about. It’s you know, when good things happen to you, how do you respond? And when bad things happen, how do you respond? And man, you saw a group of young people that have responded to a lot of adversity, a lot of disappointment, a lot of negativity, a lot of that stuff. They’ve stayed together. They continue to believe.

“[South Carolina is] a good football team. I mean, they should have beat Alabama. I mean, they should have won that game, and they’re two or three plays away from winning a couple more games, just, you know, one of the years didn’t quite go their way, but that’s a really dangerous football team that we just beat. And again, I got a ton of respect for Shane [Beamer] and how he does things here. This is, you know, my heart hurts for him and Emily and his family, because I know what it feels like to be on the other side of it. And this is a tough, tough game to come out on the short side of it.”

“I’m proud of our guys, and I know everybody likes to give me math lessons around here. That’s nine out of 11. Y’all was all ready for the three out of four. Y’all couldn’t wait. Y’all, let me just help that’s nine out of 11, and that’s six in a row down here. So I’m really proud of our guys and just their heart, their belief in what they set out to do, and we kind of reset our goals on the season or where we were, and they’ve accomplished those things. So really proud of, offensively we were very efficient. It’s a real shame that Adam [Randall] didn’t get credit for that last run. And what a run. It’s still on tape. I know it’s still on tape for the guys that evaluate and scout him, but what a great day overall. We were very efficient. The biggest thing offensively was when we gave up the horrible plays in the first half, they responded. And it was great to see that we scored first. We had the lead at half. We responded to some adversity, you know, on the road to kind of get back on top, coming in here at half. And really proud of that, we were making a very concerted effort to get the guys, the playmakers, the ball. And man, they came through for us.

“Cade [Klubnik], you know, had a heck of a game, missed a couple, and we had a chance to score a couple touchdowns, and we didn’t quite execute, but he made some big-time plays. Adam Randall, 102 yards, touchdown. TJ Moore, six for 101. Antonio [Williams] seven for 66. I thought Cole Turner, all three of his catches were elite catches. And Christian Bencantur had a career high, Josh Sapp had a big catch. I think we only had one sack for one yard against one of the best fronts that we’ve seen all year. So just really us to be able to protect and run the ball efficiently was a big difference in the game for us.”

“Special teams made a couple field goals. Jack was four of six inside the 20, and we were number one in the nation, coming into this in punt coverage, and they were number four in punt return yards, and they finished -3. So I just can’t say enough for Coach Gilly [Will Gilchrist], and our staff, special teams, and the job that all of our guys have done to buy into that. And then defensively, to me, that’s the story of the game. Story of the game was defense in the second half. I mean, they only had 19 plays in the half, and you felt like we’re losing about three touchdowns. I mean, it was just two of the worst plays that I’ve ever seen. But man, they responded. Four takeaways. We got a score on D, Ricardo [Jones] with two picks. Avieon [Terrell] causes a fumble. And my favorite part of that was TJ Parker was hustling to the ball and came up with it downfield. And then Ronan [Hanafin] with a big calls fumble, and Sammy coming up with it. We had, I think, five sacks, and TJ Parker tied a South Carolina-Clemson record with three sacks, [Will] Heldt had a couple big plays, just a lot of great things.

“Only 41 yards rushing. So y’all all know the story of the game last year. We read all about it for a year, but I think the stat of the game was Colin Sadler had the same amount of receiving yards that [LaNorris] Sellers had rushing. So listen, man, that’s that is unbelievable effort by our defense. Because, let me tell you, Sellers, that’s one of the best players in the country. That guy is special. He is a great football player. He’s a great kid, he’s a great player. And hold that guy to two yards rushing, unbelivable. I mean unbelivable.”

“And I just can’t say enough about Coach Allen and our defensive staff and the plan that they put together.We did everything that we needed to do. We needed to not let them get a run game going, you know, we did everything except let [Nyck Harbor] get behind us one time on cover three, and then we had some crazy play on the sideline.”

“Just really proud of the guys. Is awesome, and again, happy for our fans. I got to meet a young, young man named Tron before the game, and hopefully he’s, smiling. I know he’s I think he’s maybe hospice right now, and I got a chance to meet his mom and dad and sisters, and he was in a wheelchair when I came in here for the game, and man, bundled up in a blanket. And I jus, man, it just blessed me to be able to see him. So just want to give a shout out to Tron and tell him Go Tigers and hope he was able to have a smile on his face today. So just again, thankful for the win, grateful for the spirit of our team, and just grateful we can have a couple days to kind of recoup and got a postseason opportunity.”

On Wade Woodaz tackle on Sellers

“Huge. We had, that was other real positive things. We had several PBUs, some big plays on the ball, and that was a big time play over the field on Sellers. And again, we all have lived that nightmare over and over and over, especially getting ready for this game and watching the tape, I can hardly watch it, to be honest with you, it was painful, but, you know, just got a lot of respect for him. But our guys, we had a great plan, and again, they executed it outside of those two plays. I mean, which were just, oh my goodness.”

“The first one was 3 deep, can’t get behind them on three deep. They moved him out the pocket, which bought a little more time. ut we should have been there for that. And then the other one was just unbelievable. I mean, [Vandrevius Jacobs] just made a play, and we didn’t get him down. But outside of that, we really I thought controlled the game defensively, and they tried to run him on that last drive late, the guys held up it was a couple big, big time plays. So I’m just again, I got a ton of respect for for Sellers. I think he is special. And [Harbor is] a great player. They got a good, good group of young guys, but I thought took it over.”

17 years ago to the day that you beat Steve Spurrier for your first Palmetto Bowl as an interim coach. Is this on really close to it as emotional as that one was?

“Yep. Yep. Special. Especially how last year went. I’m just thankful for it. I really am. That was an amazing day, because I knew when we won that that they’re gonna have to give me at least a year to be the coach, and that’s kind of how I’ve looked at it ever since I’ve been on like a one year contract my whole life, and I just take it year by year, day by day, try to do the best I can to represent this university. They didn’t hire a perfect person here. I’m far from perfect, but I do give my best all the time, and I’m passionate about my purpose in life. I’m passionate about Clemson and just trying to be the best that we can be.”

“Every year we’re on a quest for best. I don’t always know what that’s going to look like, and you just play them every week. Some years we’ve won championships, and some years we have it. This is a year w’re not going to win a championship. We’re not getting to the playoff. But, man, that doesn’t that doesn’t diminish my love for the guys in that locker room. I’m really proud of them, and I’m thankful that, again, the good Lord gave them a moment like this today to just celebrate and enjoy and get a seventh win, and we’ll be going somewhere. So we maybe moved on up a little bit, and then we’ll get some great opportunity somewhere to go play.”

The team ran out to the field with the trophy, you seem upset with that. What was kind of your frustration there?

“They just want to take a picture, and I just didn’t want them to do that. I just, let’s just keep it in the locker room. They weren’t doing anything disrespectful. But I guess I just didn’t want anybody out there.”

What would your message be to South Carolina fans that maybe are a little bit dealing with impatient after five years of Shane Beamer at South Carolina?

“I mean, listen, they don’t want to hear me. I got a lot of F– u’s walking in. But, I mean, all I can tell you Shane’s good football coach, better person, and he cares. I think these are reactionary games where you can really overreact. I mean, all I can tell you is, I lost five in a row, and we were really good teams. And again, we had 15 turnovers to their three. And that was a bad run. But we were a good team, and they were a good team, but you hang in, you know, and I’m glad that Clemson people didn’t give up on me. I mean, that was a bad stretch, but we were winning big. I mean, we’re beating Ohio State, we were beating LSU, we’re beating Oklahoma, we’re winning big games. We’re doing a lot of stuff, but we just were coming up short in this game. And that was a like I said, I had a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘yYeah, yeah, I love you too, congrats. I’d rather go 7-5 and beat the Gamecocks.’ And so that’s a true story, but mostly people just hung in there and you just, you just got to keep battling. I mean, eventually these things, you find a way that, again, I’m not gonna evaluate the Gamecock people, but all I can tell you is Coach Beamer, he’s a good coach and cares he’s about the right things, and I got a lot of respect.

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