Clemson Football: Dabo Swinney says Tigers know little about GT

Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney met with the media Monday morning to preview the Tigers’ upcoming match up with Georgia Tech.

The Clemson football team will open up the 2019 season with a home game against Georgia Tech on Thursday night.

The match up will be the first live game to be broadcasted on the newly-launched ACC Network.

Here’s some of the notes coming out of Dabo Swinney’s season-opening press conference.

• Georgia Tech is an unknown

Dabo Swinney stressed the fact that the Clemson football coaches don’t know much of what to expect when it comes to Georgia Tech. He said that the Yellow Jackets have a brand new staff and there’s just not any film on them. They’ve watched film from last year, but that isn’t going to help them this year.

He said that he has seen the ‘above the line’ concept that Georgia Tech Coach Geoff Collins has introduced when it comes to depth charts. Swinney said that it’s clear the Yellow Jackets have a lot of talent and that they have a bunch of guys they are confident can play at a high level.

Swinney also said opening up with an ACC opponent is huge for Clemson football because of the goal to win the conference.

• Injury Updates

Swinney said that everyone is good to go as far as injuries are concerned, other than Amari Rodgers and freshman LB Bryton Constantin.

He said that Rodgers is progressing well as he continues to rehab from a torn ACL in the spring, but that he’ll definitely be out this week. Constantin, the freshman LB, is expected to miss the majority of this season and redshirt as he rehabs a torn ACL.

Swinney said that Frank Ladson Jr. is back in practice and is ready for the season-opener. Ladson had a minor surgery for an irritation in his knee earlier in fall camp.

• Logan Cash withdraws from school

Logan Cash, a true-freshman, was expected to miss this season as he had surgery earlier this year. Swinney told the media Monday that the freshman had chosen to withdraw from school and move on. Cash could potentially enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, but it’s unknown at this time what he will choose to do.

• Glowing Reviews of players

Swinney gave glowing reviews of several players, including Trevor Lawrence, Jackson Carman, Nyles Pinckney, Jaelyn Lay and Tyler Davis.

Swinney continued to hype up his excitement for these players and the fall camps that they had. He also mentioned freshman TE Davis Allen as a “natural” at the position.

• The word of the year is ‘Purpose’

Last year, Swinney’s word of the year was ‘JOY.’ This year, he said the word ‘Purpose.’ He said he knows his purpose as a man is to glorify God and to equip young men and his staff to find their purpose.

For the Clemson football program, he said the ‘purpose’ is to grow great citizens and develop great football players and win a championship.

Overall, Swinney did a great job playing up Georgia Tech. He had nothing but good things to say about the Yellow jackets and even though there’s definitely a talent gap, you wouldn’t know it when listening to Swinney. He’s a great motivator and does an excellent job preparing his team for both the individual game and the entirety of the season.