Competitive fire

But when you're looking for reasons it went haywire on occasion, most notably in the final game when they couldn't seem to cover the tight end, you have to identify the lack of depth as a culprit -- if not the culprit.

Maybe the staff could've done a better job of trying other guys in some cases. Jadar Johnson at safety would be the most obvious instance of that. But overall, the spirit of competition wasn't totally there last year because the backups weren't good enough to challenge the starters.

And when your starters have to deal with the rare scheduling quirk of playing 10 consecutive weeks from the Notre Dame game on, there will be some negative repercussions. The physical and mental drain of such a run, during which the team as a whole is experiencing exhilaration and the resulting exhaustion it never has before, it's going to create an impact.

The experience of 2015 is why Swinney and the staff are so happy about how things have developed on that side of the ball this offseason. The presence of far more capable backups has limited the sense of security and entitlement from the starters, which figures to enhance the overall production.