Clemson OC Tony Elliott 'hurt' by comments from fans after loss to Georgia

CLEMSON — Social media was filled with unhappy Clemson fans over the weekend after the Tigers struggled offensively in a 10-3 loss to Georgia Saturday night.

Tony Elliott heard from some of them directly after his unit managed only 180 yards of total offense against the Bulldogs. Clemson also scored its fewest points in the Dabo Swinney era with 3.

“I’ve already got the Twitter fingers sending me hate mail telling me that I suck and I need to be fired. I need to go back to Michelin. And things of that nature,” Elliott said during interviews Monday. “And it hurts. It hurts for a couple of reasons. It hurts because I know how much work this offensive staff and these players have put in. I know how committed they are to this program.”

Elliott wasn’t going out of his way to check his social media mentions, but when he logged onto Twitter and Instagram for recruiting purposes over the weekend, he just so happened to see them.

“I get a notification. I go to the notification and it’s like, ‘Go back to Michelin.’ Or somebody sends me a message on Instagram. I don’t know if it’s a recruit or family member or something and I open it up,” Elliott explained. “But I understand their frustration and the only thing I can say to them and anybody out there about this group of young men is they work their tails off. They take pride in what they do.”

Clemson was shut out for three quarters before finally getting on the board Saturday night with a field goal in the fourth quarter.

The lone touchdown of the game came on a pick-six from Tigers quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei. It ended up being the difference in the top-5 showdown.

Uiagalelei took the blame for the loss Saturday night, but there were several factors at play.

Elliott felt like the effort was there but the execution was not.

“Nobody wants to go out on national TV and not play their best. So that’s what hurts. I know the fans are passionate. I understand how passionate our fans are and what the expectation is here,” Elliott said. “So I hurt for them because they’re upset that we didn’t perform well, because I know what it means to them.”

While Saturday’s loss was disappointing, Elliott also wants everyone to understand that it’s a long season and he expects the offense to grow and improve as the year goes along.

The first opportunity for the Tigers to bounce back comes Saturday at 5 p.m. against S.C. State in the home opener.

Elliott is excited to see the offense bounce back.

“There’s a feeling of hurt, but we can’t wallow in our pity,” he said. “We obviously didn’t intend to not have our best and be out of rhythm and out of sync. But they’re gonna work. They’re gonna grind. And it’s going to be exciting to see how they grow together down the stretch.”