Swinney on Klubnik, Garrett Riley, missed opportunities and Troy

CLEMSON — Late Tuesday morning Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney again met with members of the media during his weekly news conference, this time to take a look ahead to Saturday’s opponent – Troy (1-0, while also addressing his team’s loss to LSU last Saturday in Death Valley.

BECOME A TIGERILLUSTRATED.com SUBSCRIBER!

The Tigers (0-1) will host Troy on Saturday in a game that will kick off at 3:30 p.m. ET. The game will air on the ACC Network. Clemson is a 33.5-point favorite at BetMGM.

The following is an edited transcript of Swinney’s Tuesday presser.

Opening Statements

“We’re getting into week two here and creating a routine as far as normal prep. We’re excited about being back at home. We’re disappointed with our outcome last week. We saw a lot of things on tape that I know leads to winning games. Hopefully we’ll have a beautiful day in the valley on Saturday.

“I have always had a lot of respect for Troy, growing up in Alabama. When I think of Troy, I think of a university that has some amazing tradition. They have won national championships. As they invested and advanced their program, their facilities, they’ve seen a lot of support. They have had some great football players and coaches come through that program. I have a ton of respect for the program and the university. This is our third time playing them. Our last time in 2016 it was 30-24. In 2011, we played them and we were down at the half. Everyone was booing and saying some bad things to me going off the field.

“Coach Parker has done a nice job there. I have talked to him a few times. I don’t know him well. I think he was an interim at Purdue at one point. He’s had a great track record and background.

“They’re different. In years past they have had four and five wide. That’s not what you see now. They’ll have more personnel groupings than any team we play. They’re going to show you a million formations. They run the football. It’s an old school approach. They’ve gone from one extreme to another. So it’s a challenge. You better want to tackle. If you don’t want to tackle in this game, you better go ahead and pull your hamstring. It’s going to be a physical game. It’s how they play the game. Their back leads the nation in rushing after week one.

“On the other side, they’re similar as far as their philosophy. They’ll be multiple with their fronts. We have to be disciplined. They have guys all over the place. We do have one game tape on them. They have some guys who can run, some guys who come off the edge who catch your eye. It comes back to who we are and us doing our jobs.

“In particular for us, we have to play better offensively this week. LSU’s offense wasn’t great but it was a little better than ours. We need to grow our team and take a big jump forward this week. I’m excited about the opportunity.”

QUESTION: Update on Khalil Barnes and Antonio Williams? Still day to day?

SWINNEY: “Yep. Yep. Khalil, same injury but a little different spot. Same area.”

QUESTION: What do conversations between you and Garrett Riley look like now?

SWINNEY: “We talk about a lot. We watch the tape. We have to make the plays that are there. Easy stuff. Nothing complicated. We didn’t do the routine stuff well. The biggest issue in that game is that our best player didn’t play well. No. 2 will respond, though. I promise you. We talk about the tape and how we get better. A lot of good things but we didn’t do enough to win. I’m proud of how they competed but we didn’t get the result that we wanted.

“I have more confirmation than doubt. I know more about my team than I did a week ago. I know what we’re going to be.”

QUESTION: How has Cade responded to what you’ve told him?

SWINNEY: “Great. You can’t hide it. It’s complicated. Simple read, simple progression, running out of the pocket … he just didn’t play well. I didn’t have to tell him. He knew. He knows the game. He’ll respond. He’ll bounce back. A lot of football. It’s the opener. It was a tough opponent. Sometimes your best player can have a bad day. He’s not a freshman. He’ll respond. If our biggest issue is our best player didn’t play well, we’ll be alright.”

QUESTION: Does it make you rethink opening with a big opponent?

SWINNEY: “No. No. Heck no. I’ve got confirmation now. I know what I’m looking at. It’s what I do for a living. I have confirmation of what this team will be. We played tough and physical defensively. We have to clean up some penalties.

“If we make one of those touchdowns, a field goal, it’s a three-point game at the end. The last play is wide open to tie the game. Wide open. Cade just took off running. It’s disappointing. Wesco had two big misses. Big. We had T.J. Moore who had a big miss. And we’ll make those plays. We didn’t even try in the run game. We didn’t even give it a chance. Things get exposed early in an opener, so we have to get better. You don’t forget those things. There was a lot more good than bad. LSU didn’t play very well either. I promise you, they looked at the tape on Sunday and saw a lot left on the field. Two really good teams and both will have great years.”

QUESTION: You said that Cade didn’t play well but how much of an extra burden was it for him with there being no running game?

SWINNEY: “Garrett has to do a better job. We have to help him. And I have to do a better job of making sure it gets done.”

QUESTION: Your assessment of Stephiylan Green?

SWINNEY: “Played well. All of those guys played well. Tom Allen is a difference-maker for us. A lot of narratives in the offseason but the only one that held up was Tom Allen, that defensive line and the linebackers. Great wideouts, all these great wideouts and Heisman quarterback and all that crap? Great wideouts make plays. Those narratives didn’t hold up. The only narrative that held up was Tom Allen. The rest of them? Everybody can just start throwing mud. Say we suck again. Tell everybody we suck. Coaches suck. Cade stinks. Y’all start writing that again. Maybe y’all will write that stuff.”

QUESTION: You were satisfied with run fits?

SWINNEY: “Our guys were flying. They rushed for 2.8 yards a carry for 58 minutes of the game. They nickel and dimed us the rest of the way. You realize real quick that the margin for error isn’t high. Dudes have to be dudes. If Patrick Mahomes doesn’t play well, they’re not winning. We didn’t play well on offense. Defensively, we held up well. A lot of positives. Them linebackers … if we make the first tackle, Wade Woodaz has the guy. That was a physical group we played who had a very smart quarterback.

“We didn’t win. It’s like taking a final exam on day one of class. They got a 65 and we got a 58. Good news is we have the answers now.”

QUESTION: You guys were getting a lot of love during the off-season. Did that concern you? How did you manage that?

SWINNEY: “We always talk about that, whether they’re talking good or bad about you.”

QUESTION: What flustered Cade so much?

SWINNEY: “I don’t know. He just didn’t play well. He didn’t do the routine things well. Had I known, it wouldn’t have happened. He just got flustered.”

QUESTION: How difficult is it to replicate what you do in practice to the game?

SWINNEY: “They didn’t do anything we weren’t prepared for. But that’s why people play preseason games in the NFL. That was his first live game. I remember us playing Wake Forest in our first game one year. Trevor Lawrence took a 20-yard sack and I lost it on him. I’m like, ‘What are you doing?’ He’d been wearing a purple jersey all off-season and hadn’t been hit. He hadn’t gotten into the rhythm of the season.

“Cade did some good things, too. Let’s not pretend that he didn’t. If we help him out on a couple of plays, he could have overcome some things. It’s not just Cade but he’s our best player.”

QUESTION: Ronan certainly shined for you at safety, but what about the rest of your safeties?

SWINNEY: “Khalil was good until he got hurt. Ricardo Jones had a nice camp for us and was solid. Ronan was the bright spot. He missed one tackle down there on a screen. He’s violent. He’s physical and disrupts the ball. He plays unbelievably hard. Watch him on punt team. Watch him on kickoff. He is a competitor. I’m really proud of him. He won’t see anything better than that this fall. We’ll see some good teams, but that was the best. Ronan is a young player at a new position but his attributes will shine.

“Woodaz and Sammy Brown were awesome. All of them up front, Denhoff, Heldt, Burley, Peter, had a big play. Avieon and Ashton will be great players for us. Jeadyn, it was good to get him back rolling. Tink has been a good addition for us. He did some good things for us. Kylon Griffin is a steady guy. I was disappointed with him on the goal line play.”

QUESTION: What’s your relationship been like with Michael Dean Perry?

SWINNEY: “It’s been good. I’ve gotten to know him over the years. I’ve been around him a lot. I’ve only been around The Fridge a couple of times which was cool. Michael Dean has spoken to our team. He has always been a huge supporter of our program. He’s very smart and a successful businessman. He’s one of the greatest to play on any level. You turn on the tape and he was an unbelievable player at all levels. I think he made nine Pro Bowls. His daughter was here and worked for us. He’s just a great human being. It was a cool thing for him to be honored.”

QUESTION: Do you think he should be in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame?

SWINNEY: “I don’t know what the criteria is. Yes.”

QUESTION: Any reason why Jeremiah Alexander was not …

SWINNEY: “Right now Kobe is next up. He had a great camp. I’m not sure Tom and Ben thought that in the spring because Kobe was out. Tom didn’t know much about him and Kobe doesn’t always look the part, but he’s a baller. He plays beyond his attributes. I’m proud of him. He went from not in the mix with them in the spring to being the first backup in at MIKE or WILL. That’s where we were week one. Really, the whole group … Jeremiah, Jamal and Dee Crayton all had good camps. We think we have six guys who will have to help this team. It was the opener and it’s a one play game. Sammy and Wade are our two best guys right now. We feel good about our depth.”

QUESTION: Who’s behind Kobe?

SWINNEY: “Dee and Jeremiah are right there. For sure. And then Jamal is in such a better spot. He plays our true SAM position. You saw him in there the other night in a couple of packages. He has put himself in a position. He’s always been a great special teams guy. All six of them we trust and we believe they’ll have a good season for us.”

QUESTION: What did Tink do to get that starting spot at Tiger?

SWINNEY: “Turn on the tape. He won it in practice. He just earned it. He had the performance in practice everyday.”

QUESTION: Brent Venables is giving up $1 million of his salary at Oklahoma for NIL purposes. Is this the start of a trend in college football?

SWINNEY: “I have no idea.”

QUESTION: Would you do that?

SWINNEY: “I have done that. I’ve given more than that to the university. I did that a long time ago before I was making a lot of money. Hopefully I’ve given more than I’ve received in my 17 years as a head coach here. I’ve given a lot. I’ve given a lot to the community. We use this platform in a lot of ways to make a difference.”

QUESTION: Tristan Smith’s playing time?

SWINNEY: “It’s a one play game. We only had 50-something plays and had to roll with our best guys in the opener. He’ll play a ton. All of those guys will have a lot of opportunities.”

QUESTION: Your thoughts on Eziomume Saturday night?

SWINNEY: “Tough. He ran hard. He only had three opportunities. Based on what I’ve seen from camp, he’s a tough, physical runner. Gideon, his first play in there doesn’t get the job done. But he’ll be amazing. All three of those guys will have great years. Nothing has changed about how I feel about that. We didn’t do a good job of helping them. Adam Randall had one carry in the second half and that’s a failure on our part.”

QUESTION: Any concern about Antonio Williams’ hamstring injury lingering? Who are you going with if he can’t make it?

SWINNEY: “Yes, there’s always concern any time you have soft tissue injuries. I don’t think it’s severe. Tyler Brown would go in if Antonio isn’t there. Tyler played well Saturday. He should have had two touchdowns.”

QUESTION: Did it strike you during the game that you didn’t have a running back with a carry in the second half after the one carry from Adam?

SWINNEY: “I don’t know when but I knew we weren’t in rhythm. And we started pressing. We started trying to do too much. You feel like the clock is gone. It’s more on the offense but we extended some drives with the defense because of penalties, too. We had a couple of drives where we didn’t capitalize. I think sometimes you can get impatient. 22 minutes (of possession) isn’t a lot of time.”

DISCUSSION: Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on The West Zone Forum

QUESTION: Is Jay Haynes still coming along?

DISCUSSION: Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on our off-topics forum

SWINNEY: “He had a quad strain. He’s doing great with his knee. He did some sprint work and that set him back. We’ll get him back at some point.”

QUESTION: Is Walker Parks still on the road back?

SWINNEY: “Yep. Yep.”

Not a Tiger Illustrated member, Clemson fans? Join Today!

Tigerillustrated.com, established in 1999, is the No. 1 Authority On Clemson Football & Recruiting. A subscription, just $1 for our 7-day trial, is a must-have for hardcore Clemson Football fans. You won’t find more exclusive, detailed, info on Clemson football and recruiting anywhere else. We guarantee it! CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT OUR $1 SUBSCRIPTION PROMO!