Clemson Tigers coach Dabo Swinney has spent quite a bit of time speaking with the media the past couple of days. Yesterday he confirmed that Cole Stoudt will continue to be the starting quarterback going forward and he also announced the dismissal of freshman wide receiver Kyrin Priester. But there were a number of other interesting tidbits. Here are some of Swinney’s more interesting quotes, not including the news about Stoudt and Priester.
More from Clemson Football
- Clemson Football: Q&A with Florida State experts at Chop Chat
- Clemson Football needs their biggest stars to shine against Florida State
- Clemson Football: Receiver by committee could work for the Tigers
- No reason for Clemson Football to fear a Seminole takeover
- Clemson Football: One Quick Thing – The Tigers don’t see cupcakes
During the ACC coaches teleconference, Swinney spoke at length about what he learned about his team during the Georgia game. Here is a slightly abridged version:
"Well, first of all, we’re good enough. We’ve got a talented team. I mean, we’re good enough to win in any environment against any team out there, I really believe that……But I think that the mistakes that we made are very correctible. I think seeing our quarterback go out and perform like he did, it was very encouraging. I saw some very positive things in our offensive line. Same thing defensively. We played very well for three quarters. Did not put it all together in that fourth quarter, that’s for sure."
Swinney also spoke quite a bit about the environment for Clemson home games and playing against in-state teams like South Carolina State.
"Yeah, I think so, first one, home opener, always exciting. This is a neat place here in Clemson. You have the stadium right in the middle of this little town and it’s open for business seven times a year. So regardless of who you play, it’s always a special day for the Clemson family.I do think it’s good. We try to play these games, play one of them a year from an in-state opponent. I think it’s great that we keep the money in the state and we’re able to help a team like South Carolina State financially. I think it’s great for those guys. They get a shot to go to the big boys and play at the highest level. You look last year, there was eight, nine, ten, I-AA teams that won games against Division I opponents."
Swinney discussed the state of the running game towards the end of his segment in the teleconference. He said that he was pleased with the performance of the offensive line and running backs in the first half but things fell apart in the second half due to a “rash of just mental errors and missed assignments.” Then he made a statement that is sure to make a number of Clemson fans happy:
"But Wayne Gallman and Adam Choice are two guys you’re going to see a lot more of as we move forward. But I think all four of those guys are going to be quality guys for us this year and guys that we’re going to need to get production from each and every week."
Later in the day, Swinney again met with the press and provided an update on the state of his team’s confidence (quotes courtesy of TigerNet)
"“We don’t have a lack of confidence around here. We don’t have a reason to. Because we lost to Georgia at Georgia, why would we not be confident? We’ve got to finish. We’ve just got to finish the dang game. We had 248 yards going into the fourth quarter and finished with 310. We don’t have anything to not be confident about. We have a lot to be mad and ticked off about, but there isn’t anybody not confident about after one ball game. Come on. We played a great team at their place and got beat. We deserved to get beat. Let’s do the things that we have to do to deserve to win. What we know is that we’re good enough. We don’t have a talent problem."
Finally, he commented on the end of the suspensions for David Beasley, Corey Crawford, and Garry Peters.
"“They’ve served their time. They’ve been in jail since the spring. They’re glad to be out and we’re really glad to have them back playing. Those guys’ attitudes have been great all summer, all fall camp and all spring. It is what it is. That’s three good guys that we need to play well so we can have the type of season we want to have.”"