Everything Dabo Swinney said about South Carolina, Palmetto Bowl

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney addressed the media on Tuesday ahead of Saturday’s rivalry contest with the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Below is an edited transcript of Swinney’s comments on the Palmetto Bowl.

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Opening Statement…

“Well, excited the week’s finally here. This is always a fun week. You get the rivalry game, you know, back on the national stage, and that’s what we got this week. It’s fun to be a part of it.

I think Shane’s done an outstanding job. He and his whole staff, I mean, they’re playing with a ton of confidence, coming in here with a five-game winning streak. They’re 8-3, and really, they’re five points away from being 10-1. So it’s a really good football team.

Offensively, they’ve gotten better and better. The quarterback, as a first-year starter, has just like our guy last year, you saw Cade get better as the season went. That’s what you’ve seen with Sellers. But as good a one-two combination as you’re going to see out there with he and the running back. Really create a lot of problems running the football. They do a great job in executing their scheme. I think the OL has the same thing. They’ve had some new people this year. They’ve gotten better on this five-game winning streak as they’ve moved forward.

Playmakers have emerged. Their receivers. They had some new pieces there in the early part of the season, and those guys have really come on. I mean, 6 and 8 and 14 and 3, all those guys are making plays, big-bodied guys. So I just think they’ve done a nice job, really, schematically and just improving throughout the year. And, again, they are playing right now, to me, as well as anybody, playing with a ton of confidence and, again, executing at a high level and playing with a lot of belief.

And then defensively, I think it’s as good as we’ve seen. I mean, they’re a great defense. You know, a lot of this is pretty much mostly the same guys that we played against last year. Those guys have been around there forever inside, got one new backer in there, pretty much the same secondary guys. But them two ends are a problem. Those guys have really created some destruction on that side. The Kennard kid. he’s leading them in sacks and TFLs, and the young freshman is second, right behind him. So two very disruptive guys. They all play hard. They run to the ball. So it’s a good football team across the board.

And, you know, it should be a heck of a game. Should be a great game. And, again, it’s great for, I think, our state in this rivalry to have, it’s the highest-ranked rivalry game in college football this year. So it’s a great stage for both schools and look forward to competing in it.

On a lot LaNorris Sellers’ successes coming when plays break down…

Real dangerous. I mean, you don’t have to go back very far, but then the Missouri game, right? I mean, that game’s probably over if they sack him. I mean, I can’t remember if that was second or third down, but it would have been like third and 100. Somehow he gets out of that sack and finds an open guy, and it’s a huge play. That’s what he does. That’s today’s game, you know? I mean, if you don’t have a quarterback who can make plays like that, you’re at a disadvantage. That’s what everybody’s trying to find and recruit. And that’s kind of who he is. I mean, he can really make a lot of plays.

And obviously, their scheme is going to accentuate his skills between he and that running back. I mean, they got a lot of quarterback counter, a lot of swap zone, a lot of influence swap zone with option, kind of like what we saw last week with the dive and the tight end coming across with the bluff out to block, and then he’s pulling it at the end, squeezing it, now he’s on the edge, and he’s got an option guy. You know, it’s a lot going on. And then when he does drop back, a lot of play action off of that, a lot of boots, a lot of RPOs, a lot of screen game. But when he does drop back, if you don’t cage him up and he gets on the edge, you better cover those guys forever because he creates a lot of big plays. Again, throwing it and running it. I mean, he’s just a really good player, and he seems like a great kid. He seems like a great leader, and you can kind of see that in how the guys play around him. So, he’s a problem. He’s a real problem.

On how hard it is to get Sellers on the ground….

“Yeah, he’s 242 pounds and can really run. I mean, he’s fast. He’s big. He’s a big kid, so it’s just hard to tackle him. He doesn’t go down easy. And this is, I mean, 6’3”, 242 pounds, and can run the way he runs. Oh, and by the way, he’s got something on his right shoulder here that can rip it down the field while he’s running. I mean, it just puts a lot of pressure on you.

So, that’s why they’ve had a lot of success. They’ve got a great quarterback play and a great run game. And when you have that, you’ve got a chance to be successful when you can play good defense. That’s how we’ve won around here forever, being able to run the ball, great quarterback play, and being really good on defense. So, he’s just physically a very gifted young man, big, strong, and can break tackles. He’s got the physical strength. And he’s just gained his confidence as he’s gone through the year and he’s gained some experience. He’s not a first-year starter at this point. I mean, he’s in game 12.

On Clemson’s offensive line and health this week…

“They’ve done outstanding. We’ve won. We’re 3-0 with a hodgepodge. I mean, they’ve just all stepped up. Like I said, Blake Miller hasn’t played left tackle since high school, and all of a sudden, he’s had to go and start and play two basically full games at left tackle. It’s been good. Trent Howard has really saved us. He’s come through for us once again. I guess he’s just our November savior. It’s two years in a row that he’s had to really step up. Harris Sewell, same thing.

We came into this season really feeling great about our depth, and it’s come through for us. We needed it, because we looked at the five guys that started the season, and Sadler and Harris and Trent as guys that have all-starter experience, and that wasn’t even counting Linthicum. So it’s really saved us that type of depth because we’re not just filling.These guys have played and they’ve got experience.

Harris started some games last year, got a ton of experience. Obviously, Trent and his experience last year helped his confidence. The biggest challenge was at tackle and then especially, with, we felt really good about tackle, so we played Mason earlier in the year. Then we were down to one game, so trying to hold him to give us another good option. So they’ve done a nice job.”

On Marcus Tate’s availability and if he could play tackle…

“Oh, yeah, Marcus, absolutely. He played left tackle, right tackle, left guard, right guard. I trust Marcus totally. I mean, he would have been our first move had he been available. He was at Virginia Tech when Tristan (Leigh) went down. He would have been out there, and boom, we would have put Harris in there, but didn’t have him.

On Tristan Leigh (left tackle’s) health…

“Tristan and Marcus are trending in a good spot, but, you know, as we sit right here today, I feel pretty good about them, but Tuesdays, Wednesday practices, I mean, you got to go practice, and especially those guys because they’ve been out a couple games. So we’ve got to really go compete today, and so hopefully we can get through these next couple practices and be ready to go, but they’ve got to go do it these next couple days, but trending in a good spot.”

On linebacker Wade Woodaz’s health…

“He’s better, same thing. He’s just gotten better and better. It was really, really bad, but it just took a long time to loosen up to where he could even walk, and then how it drained in his leg. It just set him back with all the fluid and stuff, but he actually was able to practice yesterday, and he should get better each day. He should be getting a little bit better as he’s able to run around now and move around, but still not 100 percent, but he was able to practice.”

On the South Carolina/Clemson rivalry…

“I mean, I was in the Alabama-Auburn game. I was a player or coach in 13 of those, but I grew up in the state. So my first 18 years of life, you know, from the time I could even know what was going on, you know, it was Roll Tide and you had to pick a side. It was a very heated rivalry and you just lived and died with it, you know, every year and just hated to go back to school if you lost and, you know, and you couldn’t wait to go if you won. That’s just kind of how I grew up. And then all of a sudden I’m a part of it. And that was just a real dream come true for me to play in those games, to coach in those games.

It’s fun when you win. It’s it’s brutally painful when you lose. But man, it’s awesome to be in the fight. It’s awesome to be a part of it and to know what that experience feels like. And so that that rivalry is very similar, but different as well. When I came to Clemson, I’ve said this many times, I didn’t really know what to expect. Obviously, I’d never lived anywhere but Alabama. I was 33 when I moved here and I’d never lived anywhere but Alabama. That’s all I knew. And when I came up here, I figured out pretty quick that, OK, well, this is just like being back at home, because when I was at Alabama and you’re recruiting that state, just like here, you’re recruiting this. There’s no pro sports. It’s all about high school football and college football. And you’re either one or the other. And it’s just and you hear about it every day and it affects everything. Everything, families, you name it.

And when I came up here and I put a Clemson shirt on and people don’t even know who the heck I am, they don’t know anything about me. And I’d go to my first school, you know, on my recruiting area. And man. Oh, it’s Clemson. They don’t even know me. You know, they just see the logo. Well, I’m like, well, this is going to be just like back at home. And because that and then you go to other places and it’s like, oh, my God, Clemson’s here. Same thing. They don’t know me, but they’re excited because I’m wearing a Clemson logo. So I just think that was very natural for me when I came up here to be a part of it. Very natural. No pro sports.

But there is an intensity in this game that is that is, I think, unique. I mean, it really is. So, you know, we’re not in the same conference. Alabama, Auburn’s in the same conference. They were in the same division forever, right? But it’s it’s bragging rights. That’s what it comes down to. But it means a lot to the people in this state. And you live with it. Every game is personal, you know. You know, but I’ve never had many people walk up to me in a grocery store and say, you know, hey, I can’t believe you lost Pittsburgh, you know, or whatever. But you lose to the Gamecocks. You go here every day and vice versa. And that’s just the way it is. So that’s all right. It’s a rivalry game, and it goes back a long time. It’s one of the oldest out there. I thought it was my it’s my 22nd season at Clemson, but it’s my 21st Clemson, South Carolina game because we didn’t play in 20. Got a lot of a lot of great moments. Got some bad ones, too. We lost to them five times in a row one time. That was a brutal stretch. You know, we were a good team. We were a good team. They were a good team. So you’ve just got to keep battling. We’ve been able to win some as of late, and hopefully we can find a way to win it this week.

And this week is national implications. And I think that’s probably the other difference. The Alabama-Auburn game in my background always had a little bit more of national implications than this game has had from a national standpoint. But that’s different this year. This is the game that’s got a lot of national implications. You know, that one down there is just going to be bragging rights. So this on’e got a lot of national noise to it. So should be an awesome environment and two really good teams that have had really good years that all want to win. We’ve got to find a way to get it done.”

On how he handles those implications with his team/remind them about getting knocked out in 2022…

“They sure did. Sure did. You’ve got to do the things it takes to win. That’s what you focus on. You don’t focus on outcomes. You focus on what you’ve got to do to get those outcomes. And if you go back to that game two years ago, you know, we’re one hundred and forty-four and four when we have a lead into the fourth quarter since 2011.

Well, and you go, what were those four you lost? Well, it’s a national championship. Was one of them in 2015. One of them was this game. One of those four was this game right here. We had a fumbled punt return. We had a fumbled kick return, lost two possessions and you end up getting beat by one point.

So, hey, man, that’s you got to do what winning requires. That’s what I always tell these guys. I mean, we got ta plan to win. And if you look at the times that we’ve that we’ve won, you can even like the five game stretch that we lost five in a row, turnover margin was 15 to three. Well, that’s a recipe of getting beat. Fifteen turnovers to their three. You know, I mean, we lost 13. We were better than them in 13. We had six turnovers. Six and still had a chance to win. That’s the famous, you know, Spurrier call. You know, when he called me like, I don’t know why y’all turn that ball over against us. You know, I don’t ever get to turn it over. I don’t know why. I’m like, no crap. I don’t know why either. So that was one of my the famous moment Sunday call from Spurrier. But that’s been the key.

To win games like this, you’ve got to win the turnover margin. It’s what it comes down to. That’s what championship football comes down to. And you got to win the line of scrimmage. You got to be able to stop the run. You got to be able to run the football because that’s how you create explosives. That’s how you minimize explosives. And then you got to find a way to make a difference in special teams. And if you look at the game last year, that’s how we won last year. You know, we won the special teams. We made a bunch of field goals. We ran the ball effectively and we were able to stop the run. Again, we scored on defense. That’s really what you talk about. You talk about what you have to do to win. They all know all the outcome stuff and what the game means. You don’t have to tell them that. We’ve got to get a good plan and we got to focus on what it takes to win. Good execution, being on the same page, communication, playing with the type of effort, intensity and aggressiveness that it requires to do the type of execution that you need, everybody doing their job.

On embracing pressure as a privilege…

“I’ve always said that. I mean, listen, this is what we signed. This is normal for me. I mean, this is I’ve been doing this a long time. Again, I’ve been in 13 Alabama-Auburn games. Trust me, I know what that feels like to win and lose. And then I’m on 21st Clemson-South Carolina game. I know what it I know what it feels like. So I love it. I love being in the fight. I love the fact that y’all are going to write horrible things about us on Sunday if we stink this up. That’s OK. Comes with it. It’s what we what we signed up for. And I love the fact that we may not even play goo, but we find a way to win. It’s a rivalry game.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for how hard all these kids work, hard all these coaches work. I know how it impacts people’s lives. People lose jobs with games like this, right? Like, you know, this is just the way it is. I love that. I’ve always said that I try to get our guys, don’t don’t ever let the the pressure of the moment be greater than the pleasure of the moment. Like, this is fun. We’re getting to play football at the highest level. And I love that. It is a privilege for sure to experience the highs and the lows of a game like this.”

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