Dabo Swinney walked out of Williams-Brice Stadium with the Palmetto Trophy, a seventh win and, in his words, a fresh reminder of “how hard it is to win.” But before he talked ball, he talked about a kid named Tron.
“It's awesome. And again, happy for our fans. I got to meet a young, young man named Tron before the game, and hopefully he's smiling. I know he's maybe hospice right now, and I got a chance to meet his mom, dad, sisters, in a wheelchair when I came in here for the game, and, man, bottled up in a blanket, and it just blessed me to be able to see him.
So just want to give a shout out to Tron and tell him ‘Go Tigers,’ and hope he was able to have a smile on his face today.”
From there, Swinney pivoted to gratitude — and ownership. Clemson is headed to a bowl, but not to Charlotte.
“Just again, thankful for the win, grateful for the spirit of our team, and just grateful we can have a couple days to kind of recoup, and we got a postseason opportunity. I know everybody's disappointed that we didn't make the ACC championship game this year, and that's my fault. I didn't get it done.
You know, we’d been eight out of the last 10 years… maybe Tony can get there this year, I don’t know if they played yet, maybe Tony can get there, we can still share in it a little bit. But, you know, I didn’t get that part done.”
He even circled back to critics from that nightmare losing streak to South Carolina years ago.
“As I said earlier in the week, all those people who wrote me during that five-game losing streak that came up to me and told me, ‘Hey, I'd rather go 7–5 than 11–2,’ well, you just got your chance.
I expect some congratulatory letters somewhere along the way. Something tells me I won't get them — or you didn't really mean it. But I'm just thankful. I'm really thankful and just incredibly humbled by the effort of our team. Excited. I don't know where we're going to go, but we'll have a great time getting ready to go play somewhere.
We've had 14 years with a postseason win; we’ve got a chance for a 15th. Most of all, reset on how hard it is to win and just the joy and appreciation of it.”
Cade’s wild TD, the fourth-down debate and a punter MVP
Cade Klubnik’s fumble-stumble touchdown run became the defining offensive play of the night — and immediately took Swinney back to another quarterback who once tripped his way into the end zone.
“Touchdown run by Cade kind of reminded me of Trevor Lawrence stumbling in the end zone. We had a little boot, and it wasn’t there, and I guess somebody hit the ball or whatever. I just was like, you know, we had that bad situation at Louisville — we came away, but we hadn’t had many breaks.
So that's what I said: we were due for one, and I'll just chalk that up. And we had, you know, especially with the second drive where we had… I mean, we had Antonio, like there's nobody — the closest person is in the fifth row of the stands. And we threw it to the fifth row of the stands. And then we come right back, we've got Adam Randall wide open and we get an interception. So to me, that kind of evened it out. We got a break. But that's football.”
Late, up 20–14, Swinney faced the decision every coach dreads: long field goal to go up two scores, or trust the defense and punt.
“You're up 20–14, you've got to think. I thought about it. I did. And, you know, everybody was trying to console me on the sideline, because I really wanted to kick it, like really bad.
But everybody just felt like it was the right decision to play field position. We were playing so good defensively. I mean, we really were, and I really was confident that Jack could put it down there where we needed it. So, I mean, it really wasn’t what I wanted to do, but it was the right call. Because, again, in that situation, if you don’t make it, they could block it or you give them great field position at that point.
It’s a 20–14 game. So, you know, it worked out, and then we ended up getting the takeaway. So it was awesome.”
That trust came from a season-long belief in punter Jack Smith.
“Jack's been money all year. I mean, that guy's, you know, again, for as many negative stories written about our opponent coming into this season, he's been an MVP. He's been awesome. So I have a lot of confidence in him, and he's earned that.
The guys did a great job with the protection, and then the last one, I think they put nobody back. So that's a situation, it's just a catch-and-kick. There's not much more to it than that. And that was a big boy — he put that one down there as well. I think maybe Sammy Brown went down there and downed that one. So he was awesome.
It was definitely a tough decision, because I felt like we could make it. I really did. But sometimes, you’ve got to really just trust that we were in control. Again, defense, and also felt if we stopped them right there, they would punt it. It worked out.”
“We will win another national championship”
Asked what this season means for the state of the program, Swinney didn’t flinch.
“Anyway, the way these guys held together through adversity… how proud am I of that? I'm incredibly bullish. We are going to achieve great things. We're gonna win more championships. And why I can say that is because we've done it over and over and over again.
I think sometimes, again, we just throw things out because we've done stuff so much. I mean, we're seven playoffs in 10 years. We've been eight [ACC title games]. All of a sudden we think it's just easy to do. It’s not. It's not easy.
We will win another national championship, we'll win more conference championships, we'll win more big games. And guess what? We're gonna lose some too. You just are. I mean, it's football. I don't know that there'll be anybody undefeated this year.”
He kept coming back to culture and resilience.
“The main thing is, do you have a program? Do you have a culture? Some years things can hit just right. Some years you have some craziness, and maybe somebody doesn't play as good as you wanted to, whatever. There's a lot of things that go into football.
But what you saw this year with this team is unique. It's uncommon. It's special. It really is. They won four in a row on the road. And, you know, we didn't have the overall record and season… but again, every 7–5 ain’t the same. We're about three plays away from this being a different story, a different press conference, right? But that's football. That's our reality. We've had so much good fortune, we've had so much favor over the years, but you just do the work.
For me, I saw a lot. I don't really focus on all the other stuff. I don't focus on stuff I don't control. There's a lot of great lessons from this season for all these guys, especially about the fight. I mean, I love the game and I love the players, and that's what I focus on.”
Then came his sharpest commentary on the noise around the program.
“I love to compete, and I love to develop these players into great men. That's what I'm passionate about — to see a group of guys, when you're in a place like Clemson that's won so much and there's so much noise, especially when expectations are high and crazy situations and so much negativity, just really toxic stuff, like nasty… but they just block it out. That's not normal.
As a grown man, to know that, man, we've got a future generation of young people that are wired like that group right there. I've said many times, especially about the seniors — track them. You know, Larry's not here. I don't see him. Must’ve taken the weekend off. Where is Larry? Well, I told him to track these guys, because they're gonna do great things in life.
It's been a lot of fun to just be in the fight with them and to teach them. Man, I've grown a ton just being inspired.”
Defense flips the script on Sellers and South Carolina
Last year, LaNorris Sellers haunted Clemson. This time, the Tigers turned that pain into fuel.
“Yeah, I mean, we run for yards per carry… and that's with the one big one called back. I thought the fact that we were very efficient as the game went on, and we kind of wore them down late in the game, and we had a little more success downhill. So my hat's off to those guys.
We came in, we're kind of eight guys, and we never really had the eight. You know, we had five, we had six, and that five or six seemed like it would change a lot. But those guys got it done today, and I'm really proud of them. We've been able to develop a little bit of the younger guys as well through our season this year that I think will pay off for us.”
On defense, Swinney pointed to Wade Woodaz’s open-field stop and a front that harassed Sellers all night.
“That's a really good front they’ve got — those two ends, excellent players, those guys inside, those linebackers, zero and 17, those guys are good players. So I'm proud of our guys.
It's easy to lose confidence in a game like this. That last one, when they're driving to make it a one-score game, Wade Woodaz made a big-time play on Sellers. Then he had the pass breakup. Huge. We had several PBUs, some big plays on the ball.
That was a big-time play, open field, on Sellers. And again, we all have lived that nightmare over and over and over, especially getting ready for this game and watching the tape. I can barely watch it, to be honest with you — it was painful. But, you know, I've got a lot of respect for him. Our guys, we had a great plan, and again, they executed it outside of those two plays, which were just ‘oh my goodness’ again.
The first one was 3rd-and-long — you can't get behind the guy. They moved him out of the pocket just to buy a little more time, but we should have been there for that. And then the other one was just unbelievable — their kid just made a play, and we didn't get it. But outside of that, we really controlled the game defensively. They tried to run him on that last drive late, and our guys held up. There were a couple of big, big-time plays.
I've got a ton of respect for Sellers. I think he is special, and that 8 is a great player. They've got a good group of young guys, but I thought our guns up front took it over. Five sacks, maybe six — I think there's one maybe for debate. It was a big-time day for our defense. It probably just felt like every time they got a hand on Sellers today, they just weren't letting go after last year’s clashes.”
Ricardo Jones, the pick-six streak and a defensive identity
Freshman safety Ricardo Jones delivered the dagger with a pick-six, and Swinney used it to highlight both individual growth and a program-wide standard.
“Pain has a way of making you better. There was a lot of pain in this game last year because we led the entire game. We did not trail until, what, a minute four or something left in the game? Third-and-17. We got to him the whole game and just couldn't get him on the ground, and we had to live with that. Everybody's had to live with that all year.
So they turned the pain into purpose. And these guys, they came here to do exactly what they did, and they got it done.”
On Jones specifically:
“Ricardo is an emotional player, and he's learned how to channel that the right way. That was an area he really needed to grow. He came in here very emotional to where he could kind of get out of control, as far as out of his game. He's really matured, because you want him to have emotion in what he does — that's kind of who he is, that kind of makes him who he is — but just channeling that the right way into the type of focus and process you’ve got to have each play.
He's an instinctive player. He loves to play, he loves to practice. He loves his teammates. He's tough as they come. He knows his limitations, but he's just a very smart, instinctive player.
That was an incredible interception. His hands under the ball, like it was… it's incredible. Just really happy for him. And again, that's a tipped ball. We got the ball batted up in the air — tips are picks — and we've been trying to score. We've got a streak around here; we've scored twice on defense every year for, like, I don't know, many years — long time, 16 years or so. So that was big to get a score, because now we've got a chance to keep that going with another opportunity in the postseason.
Proud of Ricardo. He's done a nice job. Big play by Ronan too on the call. Khalil just was steady out there doing his job. And we made a change with Ashton, who kind of mirrored 8 the whole game. Once we lost A.B., we felt like that was a move we needed to make. And I thought he did a nice job — was able to get his hands on guys and disrupt.”
From Spurrier to Beamer: perspective on the rivalry and his job
The win landed on a meaningful anniversary: 17 years since Swinney’s first Palmetto Bowl victory as interim coach over Steve Spurrier.
“Seventeen years ago to the day that you beat Coach Spurrier for your first Palmetto Bowl win as the interim coach… is this one as emotional as that one was? Yep, yep. Special, you know, especially how last year went. I'm just thankful for it. I really am.
That was an amazing day, because I knew when we won that they were gonna have to give me at least a year to be the coach. And that's kind of how I've looked at it — ever since I've been on, like, a one-year contract my whole life. Just take it year by year, day by day, trying to do the best I can to represent this university.
They didn't hire a perfect person here. I'm far from perfect, but I do give my best all the time, and I'm passionate. I'm passionate about my purpose in life. I'm passionate about Clemson and just trying to be the best that we can be every year on a quest for best.
I don't always know what that's going to look like, and you just play them every week. Some years we've won championships, some years we haven't. This is one of those years we're not going to win a championship. We're not getting to the playoff. But, man, that doesn't diminish my love for the guys in that locker room and who they are as people.
I'm really proud of them, and I'm thankful that, again, the good Lord gave them a moment like this today — to just celebrate and enjoy and to get a seventh win and earn a chance to go to a bowl. We'll be going somewhere. Maybe we moved on up a little bit, and we'll get some great opportunity somewhere to go play, going to the postseason.”
There was a brief flare-up when players ran out with the trophy before Swinney pulled them back.
“The team ran out with the trophy — I seemed upset with that. What was my frustration? I just… let's just keep it in the locker room. They weren't doing anything disrespectful. I just didn't want anybody out there from a bullying perspective.”
On the looming bowl and potential opt-outs, he said he hasn’t even gone there yet.
“From a bowl-game perspective, do I expect any opt-outs? I mean, shoot, I have no idea. I don't expect anybody. We'll find out one of these days. I ain't even processing anything like that. I would be shocked, honestly, but I mean, anything's possible.”
Finally, he closed with empathy for Shane Beamer and a reminder of his own scars in this rivalry.
“I'm like the last person that’s got a lot of opinions. But I can tell you, Shane's a good football coach. He's a better person, and he cares. These are reactionary games where you can really overreact. All I can tell you is, I lost five in a row, and we were really good teams.
We had 15 turnovers to their three. That was a bad run, and it was a very… it was tough. We were a good team, and they were a good team, but we hung in there. I'm glad Clemson people didn't give up on me. That was a bad stretch, but we were winning big. We were beating Ohio State, we're beating LSU, we're beating Oklahoma, we're winning big games, doing a lot of stuff, but we just were coming up short in this game.
Like I said, I had a lot of people come up to me and say, ‘Yeah, 11–2, congrats — I'd rather go 7–5 and beat the Gamecocks.’ And that's a true story. But most of the people just hung in there, and we just… you’ve just got to keep battling. Eventually, these things, you find a way.
Again, I'm not gonna evaluate the Gamecock people. All I can tell you is Coach Beamer's a good coach and he cares. He's about the right things. Got a lot of respect.”
With that, Swinney walked away from the podium and into a locker room that had just turned a year’s worth of pain into one cathartic night — and, if he’s right, a launch point toward the next wave of Clemson championships.