Dabo Swinney uses 2008 opener vs. Alabama to make point about potential surprises vs. Duke

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has long held the opinion that openers are the toughest games to prepare for because there are so many unknowns.

He expanded upon that belief during his press conference on Thursday and used an old matchup against Alabama as an example.

Clemson opened the 2008 season against the Crimson Tide in Atlanta, with Swinney an assistant at the time. Alabama had its way with the Tigers that night, pounding Clemson 34-10.

One of the players who was a difference maker for Alabama that night was Terrence Cody, who was playing in his first game in an Alabama uniform after transferring in from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. Swinney and the Clemson staff had no idea who he was heading into the game.

“There’s always new players on both teams, you know. Newcomers. I remember we opened up one year… well, it was the year I got the job, as a matter of fact. Roll Tide, right? It was Alabama,” Swinney said. “We played them in the opener and they had a guy named Terrence Cody – we didn’t have any idea who that guy was. We had no clue. But by the end of the first quarter, ‘Hey, Google.com, who is this guy?’ He destroyed us, and went on to, I think, destroy everybody that year. So yea, there’s always unknowns and you kind of figure it out as you go.”

Cody had four tackles that night, including a tackle for loss on Clemson’s third play from scrimmage.

Swinney used that example to explain that you truly don’t know what kind of talent the opposing team has entering an opener.

Sure, you can watch film of returning players. But there are also freshmen and transfers who come in and contribute immediately.

“They probably know more about us,” Swinney said of Duke. “They’ve got some guys in their two-deep that we really haven’t seen at Duke. We don’t have a bunch of those guys. I mean Tyler Brown would be one. They’ve seen Adam [Randall]. They got a glimpse of Cole [Turner] last year. They’ve seen Antonio [Williams], seen our backs. They haven’t seen Tristan [Leigh] much… they’ve seen all them d-linemen.

“But yea… I think it’s not as much about who we’re playing as just excited to see us play and see what we can do and how they take it when the lights get bright. It’s different.”

Swinney and Clemson will open the season on Monday when they play Duke in Durham. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m.