Dabo Swinney: It was awesome to see Jeremiah Trotter Jr.'s 'fiery' postgame speech

Clemson‘s season got off to a rough start, with two losses in the first month. It hasn’t gotten a whole lot better since, with a loss to Miami the team’s third of the campaign. One person who thinks the results are unacceptable? Linebacker Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

The talented junior had a message for his team in the post-game locker room.

“He was very poised,” head coach Dabo Swinney said. “I mean he was fiery, but very poised and matter of fact and right on point.”

Swinney didn’t go in depth on the message Trotter had for the team, but at 4-3 it was likely a circle-the-wagons type moment and a call for the team to get back to its standards on a daily basis.

The Clemson head coach was all too thrilled to see one of his players take up that mantle following a particularly tough defeat in double overtime.

“I think sometimes those are the positives of getting into adverse situations,” Swinney said. “Sometimes, for some people it brings the worst out in them, and others it brings the best out of them. It was really good to see Trotter really just kind of assert himself that way. It was awesome.”

The hard part for Clemson is that there are still some very tough games on the schedule. The Tigers still need two more wins to claim bowl eligibility and that may not be as sure a thing as you might expect.

There are road games against NC State and South Carolina, as well as home dates with currently ranked Notre Dame and North Carolina teams. Georgia Tech rounds out the slate.

Will Trotter’s speech galvanize the team? It just might.

“He’s not a guy that says a whole lot. He’s a lead by example guy, one of the most respected guys on the team,” Swinney said. “But it was pretty awesome. It’s the most I’ve heard him say since he’s been here. He’s just about his business all the time. You don’t ever have to worry about that guy. He is a grinder, a worker, he’s coachable. He loves it. Lead by example. Knows everything.”

Say this: The speech for Trotter was definitely out of the ordinary.

“That was probably out of his comfort zone but probably one of the better plays he’s made since he’s been at Clemson,” Swinney said. “It’s really cool to see.”