Clemson’s ‘never been better, confident Dabo states
CLEMSON, S.C.– Clemson has not made it to the College Football Playoff the last 2 seasons, prompting some outside the program to question where the Tigers are headed.But coach Dabo Swinney stays adamant that his program has never been much better, and will be one of the groups competing for an area in the playoff this season, he told ESPN.com during a wide-ranging interview in his office on Monday.
“Individuals, they require stories and it’s a story if Clemson went to 6 playoffs in a row and after that didn’t make it. What’s wrong with them,” Swinney asked. “There’s nothing incorrect with Clemson. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with our program. In truth, I would argue, honestly, our program has never ever been better.”
When asked why he feels that way, Swinney states, “our individuals, the kids on this lineup, the skill, our coaches, our support personnel, our administration, our facilities, our connection. I’m better now than I have actually ever been as a head coach. It’s not even close, where I am now to where I remained in ’13, when we won our first BCS game. Never been better.”
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Swinney, going into his 16th year as Clemson head coach, made perhaps the splashiest move of the college football offseason when he decided to employ TCU offending organizer Garrett Riley to get his offense back on track. Clemson has actually not played up to its own standards on offense, starting in 2021, when DJ Uiagalelei had a hard time as the starter.After offending organizer Tony Elliott left to become Virginia coach, Swinney promoted quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter to offending coordinator.Though Clemson improved– acquiring 40 more backyards per game than the previous year– the Tigers were still not close to the requirement they had come to expect and ranked No. 47 in the nation in overall offense. Uiagalelei struggled at times, and after that freshman Cade Klubnik took over for the ACC national championship and Orange Bowl.But it was that Orange Bowl efficiency in which Clemson ran over 100 plays but scored only 14 points in a loss to Tennessee that had Swinney re-evaluate what to do about the offense. He called USC coach Lincoln Riley to discuss a list of prospects and inquired about his brother, Garrett, who had assisted transform the TCU offense and quarterback Max Duggan into a Heisman Trophy finalist.”I informed Lincoln,’I’m not truthfully I’m truly not exactly sure I’m going to make a change,” Swinney stated.”However I simply want to do the due diligence. Truthfully, I most likely would have persevered if it wasn’t for Garrett.” Swinney talked to Garrett Riley the day after TCU lost the championship game game to Georgia
. Within days, he was hired at Clemson, a somewhat surprising relocation thinking about Swinney had just promoted Streeter just one year earlier and spoke about his loyalty to his assistant coaches in providing them chances for growth and job promo.”We improved, however still not to what I believe we require to be, what we have actually been for a long time,”Swinney stated.” There’s a great deal of reasons for that. Brandon Streeter is an astounding coach, but I needed the position. Sometimes you need a different voice. “I wouldn’t alter anything. In 2015 when I worked with Brandon, he deserved it, and he made it. So no remorses on that. If it goes a couple
plays here or there, we most likely don’t have a change. That’s the truth of our world. “That truth, of course, likewise indicates questions when a group that has made an unbelievable playoff kept up excellence at quarterback no longer looks
the part. Swinney explained his choice to make this change as “the correct time for the ideal man.”With Uiagalelei moving and Klubnik now taking control of at quarterback, the timing fit. Up until now in the early part of spring football, Swinney has actually been pleased with what he has actually
seen from Riley. “With Garrett, he was the voice, the energy and the self-confidence that we required in the space,”Swinney stated.”It’s been actually, really excellent reset, I think for everyone.
“Some could argue this is a comparable situation to 2011, when Swinney hired Chad Morris to help move the offense forward. That hire assisted introduce the age of Clemson football numerous have actually come to acknowledge– with 6 straight playoff appearances and a standard that has now reset expectations about what it indicates to have a successful program.Clemson won 10 games in 2021; Then last season the Tigers won 11 games and the ACC championship. However still, there were plenty of naysayers outside the program who saw as the offense had a hard time to find its familiar footing.”We weren’t good enough in
21 to go to the last 4, and there’s no crime because,”Swinney said. “Then we return this year and win our league for the eighth time in 11 years. The more success you have, the more you need to truly work to keep point of view, because individuals lose their minds. It’s not that you’re ducking a concern or hiding. Often you’re just unsatisfactory. “Swinney mentions they were a couple of plays away from being a playoff group in 2015, after losing a fourth-quarter lead in a loss to South Carolina. He believes this year’s group, with veterans returning throughout the board– including Klubnik, running back Will Shipley, linebackers Barrett Carter and Jeremiah Trotter Jr. and a stacked defensive line– will remain in the mix for a playoff spot as soon as again.”This is a team that will have an opportunity, which’s all you can request for,”Swinney said. “If you’ve got a possibility and you have the right work principles and the best spirit to you, then you can cope with the result that includes it. I don’t evaluate our groups by championships. I have actually never done that. That’s a miserable
way to set about your life.”For me, it’s more about who are they? What’s the dedication? What’s the chemistry? What’s our management. I loved last year’s group. We won the league. We got better, however we didn’t quite get where we wanted to go. We’ve worked hard, and I do think this group this year will have shot.”