Dabo Swinney previews Furman, QB situation in first news conference

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CLEMSON -- Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media Tuesday as part of his weekly news conference. It was Swinney's first presser of the 2018 college football season, as the coach previewed his team's upcoming matchup versus FCS opponent Furman.

The following is an edited transcript of Tuesday's presser.

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OPENING STATEMENTS: “We have a standard and it doesn’t change whether you’re playing a 1-AA opponent or an opponent in the national championship. That’s how you develop consistency. How we play is based on how we prepare, effort, focus, attention to detail. People say this is a game we should win. Furman has beaten Clemson 10 times. 10. So it’s not like they’ve beaten Clemson once. The skies parted. I don’t know when the last one was, but it has happened. Those ten times, Clemson was probably supposed to win. Supposed to doesn’t get it done. You better show up every week. Openers are always tough. This will be tough for us.

“They have 10 of 11 starters back on defense who are juniors and seniors. They’re a veteran team with a lot of experience. All of their defensive linemen are back. They have a good group that knows what they’re doing.

“Offensively, to be honest with you it’s stressful to watch them. They do a great job. Shifts and motions, option offense, traditional spread looks, etc. They really stress you and do a great job with their play action game. They can expose you in a heartbeat. They threw the ball 20 times a game last year, but averaged 17 yards a catch. It’s built off of their option principles. This will be a challenge. Each opener is tough because you have not played. It’s easy to see why they’ve had the success they’ve had.

“At the end of the day it’s a special time. The season starts now for a lot of people, especially our fans. For us, it started in January. It’s off-season, it’s mat drills, self-evaluation, spring practice, it’s exit interviews, it’s transformation, summer grind, fall camp … just a lot of boxes that are checked. But it all builds up to this moment. We have 12 opportunities that we’re guaranteed. It’s just exciting to know that it’s finally here.”

Q: You said last week the quarterback competition wasn’t as clear cut as it was last year. How close is it now?

SWINNEY: “I haven’t had a chance to talk to y’all yet. Last year it wasn’t close. It really wasn’t. This year it’s different. Now, we have a proven guy, a guy who started 14 games and won a conference title. People get better and improve. I don’t care where you start. Kelly Bryant has had a tremendous year of prep. I’ve had a front row seat. Bring a guy in here like Trevor Lawrence who is off the charts from a talent standpoint, but you don’t know until you coach them. Trevor demonstrated this spring that he’s one of these unique guys. He wasn’t overwhelmed. He made a lot of mistakes.

"Kelly was the clear winner in the spring. I’ll tell you, I’m really proud of Kelly because you have to have thick skin when you play quarterback and have so many people with their opinions and agendas. They don’t watch practice. Even if they do, they don’t know what they’re watching. I’ve just been proud of him with how he’s handled things. He’s had an awesome camp. Three scrimmages he was 23 of 32, 300 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. He didn’t always get first-team reps, but did a great job. He just came out on top from a grade standpoint. At some point you have to go play.

“The flip side is Trevor did exactly what we thought he’d do. He came back more in control of what was going on. His knowledge base was better. He’s a very gifted guy. He’s 6-6, 216 pounds. He’s just in a good place mentally. The game has slowed down for him. He’s had a really good command and a great camp. Kelly was just the most consistent. He has earned the opportunity to start, because someone has to run out there first. No one has given him anything. But Trevor has earned the opportunity to play and compete. I’m excited about it.

"The best case scenario is that they both play well. It’s sad that some people may pull for someone not to play well. We should pull for these guys to play great. That’s the way it should be. The best thing is that they’re in control of that. I’ve never had a camp with this kind of quarterback play. I’m talking about Chase Brice, too. It’s a good situation. When they run out there, they’re Tigers. We’re going to play more than four defensive linemen, more than one running back. We’ve got eight, nine, ten receivers who deserve to play. . At quarterback, that’s just where we are right now.

“I cannot say enough about Kelly … in this day and age. And he pulls for Trevor. Trevor looks like Hollywood, but he’s not any of that. He loves his teammates. Chase is the same way. It’s just awesome. If something changes, we’ll all see it. It’s not like practice. Y’all get to watch the games. Everyone will have a front row seat. Kelly doesn’t have a 12-game contract. Trevor doesn’t have a 12-game contract to continue to deserve to play. You’re not entitled to play. It doesn’t work that way. I don’t have a lifetime contract. I have to prove that I should be the head coach. I have to earn that. That’s life. These guys all understand that. Man … let’s go to work.”

Q: How will you get Chase Brice snaps?

SWINNEY: “We will have a plan for the first two because that’s where we are, just as we do with the two-deep at all the positions. We have three-deep at some positions and four-deep. We will do things to track reps and touches. We definitely want to get Chase as much experience as we can. He’s going to be a great player here. Someone has to walk out there first. Don’t say he’s not a good player because he’s third team. He’s a very good player. Tavien Feaster is third team right now but he’s pretty good. Pretty good. It’s a good situation.”

Q: How do you expect Feaster to respond?

SWINNEY: “He missed a good bit of camp. He had a scope on his knee. He had an awesome summer. Hey, just go play well. They’re going to all play.”

Q: Richard Yeargin decided to hang up his pads earlier this month. Talk about your depth outside now.

SWINNEY: “It doesn’t affect our depth. He didn’t practice really all of camp. You hate it. He’s cleared to go but he’s not quite mentally ready. He sees a bigger picture. He’s had to deal with things most people don’t have to go through. We support him and his decision. We have good depth there. We have a lot of guys who will get opportunities to play.”

Q: It wasn’t long ago that you were up here standing up talking about little ol’ Clemson. Now a lot of people pick Clemson to win the conference. Difference for you as a coach from a motivational standpoint, as your guys have never known anything but success now?

SWINNEY: “It’s different than it was in 2009 and 2010 and probably going into 2011. We’ve been pretty good since. We’re the second winningest team over the last eight years. I guess it’s just taken people longer to figure it out. We’re doing what we’ve always done here. We’ve been in the top 10 44, 45 weeks in a row. That’s a long time that these guys have been dealing with all the so-called being the target. It’s nothing new for us.”

Q: When you have guys like Christian, Austin and Clelin come back, does that in some way become a motivating factor for the rest of your team knowing that these guys could be getting paid now?

SWINNEY: “I think everyone’s motivating factors are different. They’re certainly great examples. They’ve been huge role models for this team. They’re the epitome of being all in. These are guys who are graduating. They’re special people. It says a lot about their experience here, their love of Clemson. Every individual has to make up their mind on what’s best for them.”

Q: You used the term differentiate with Adam Choice several weeks ago. Is he a key piece, a complementary piece? What’s his role right now?

SWINNEY: “He’s second on the depth chart because that’s what he earned. We grade everything. If the grades don’t matter, why do we waste time doing it? It doesn’t matter if you’re a senior or a freshman. It doesn’t matter that Christian Wilkins started last year. He’s continued to earn it this summer. He’s earned it on and off the field. That’s just the way it shook out. Feaster went in at No. 1, but got banged up, missed some time and then Travis Etienne is just so much improved. Adam has just had an awesome camp. And Feaster came on at the end. It’s just where we are right now. We have to line them up somehow. I wasn’t really counting on Lyn-J Dixon coming in. Boy, has he been a pleasant surprise. He’s ahead of ET this time last year. He’s got more confidence in what we’re doing. Those guys will all have big moments.”

Q: Do you give your players advice on how to drown out noise?

SWINNEY: “Sure. All the time. You have to have thick skin in this deal. You’re going to have criticism, no matter what you do. A third of the people will always hate you. I walk in a room and they don’t know me but I’ve got a logo on, and people hate me. I could move somewhere tomorrow and have a different logo on and a third of those people would hate me. That’s just the way it is. If you get caught up in that stuff, you have no chance to be consistent. You’ll be wishy washy and moody when you depend on other people’s approval.”

Q: Has Jackson Carman been what you thought he was?

SWINNEY: “He wasn’t when he got here. He was - man - 370-ish, but amazing. Athletically, yes he was. He could still move pretty dang good and his endurance was good, but he couldn’t bend as well. His composition wasn’t very good. He had an unbelievable spring and summer and a great fall camp. He’s very smart. He’s played guard, tackle and that’s unusual. He’s just a mountain of a man. He’s just in such good shape and he’s still a puppy. He’s going to be a monster when coach B gets done with him. Yes, where he is right now that’s where I thought he’d be. But he didn’t come in that way. That’s kudos to our strength and conditioning and to his work ethic.”

Q: BT Potter is your kickoff guy. Was it because Greg Huegel wasn’t able to compete for that spot at that time or did Potter just win it?

SWINNEY: “He won it. I don’t know how he generates that kind of power with that body. It’s amazing. He just won it. Easy decision. It wasn’t close. Hopefully he doesn’t shank one right out of the gate. He’s a weapon. He beat out a senior.”

Q: Have you had many different conversations about red-shirts this month because of the new rule?

SWINNEY: “We’ve had more conversation about it because of the rule change, but as I told our folks around here our process won’t change. We know who we want to play and who deserves to play. Who must definitely red-shirt? Who are those people? We have one guy on the bubble, so we know our groups. We’ll talk about it some this week. What I love about it is these guys have to stay much more engaged now. I ask my position coaches what their red-shirt plan is at their position.”

Q: Do you have a plan on how early you want Trevor to get in?

SWINNEY: “Yes. We’ll have a plan. I’ll let Brandon Streeter handle that. I trust him to manage that. If I see a need to change it, I will. Every position coach has a plan when you play multiple guys. It’s just unusual that this is where we are at quarterback.”

Q: Elaborate on Garrett Williams’ off-season.

SWINNEY: “He had a great spring and a great camp. He was a guy we stole a year back from last year and that really helped him. It really made a difference. It has carried over into the summer. Obviously Milan got banged up last week and hopefully he’ll be able to go this week. That’s just a reflection of the work Garrett has put in.”

Q: Is there a level that we haven’t seen from Dexter Lawrence?

SWINNEY: “Oh man, no question. There’s that in all of those guys. There is a level in Christian Wilkins, Kendall Joseph and Kelly Bryant you haven’t seen. The best is yet to come. There’s a better version of Clemson or Coach Swinney you haven’t seen. I don’t want us to ever feel like we’ve arrived. Everyone has another level. You should get better as you go. He was awesome as a freshman and made all conference last year but he wasn’t 100-percent. He’s just knowledge. He’s experienced. Those guys came back to improve, with unfinished business.”

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