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CLEMSON -- Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media Tuesday morning, this time to look ahead to next Saturday's opponent - Pitt.
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The No. 4-ranked Tigers (7-1, 6-1) are a 24.5-point favorite over the Panthers (5-4, 4-4) in a game that will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and be televised by ESPN.
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The following is an abbreviated, edited transcript of Swinney's Tuesday presser.
OPENING STATEMENTS: "Pitt is a good team. They were ranked really high early in the season. When you watch them, you see why. They could easily be a 7-2, 8-1 team. They had two, one-point losses. They are first in tackles for loss and second in sacks. They play the game the way it should be played. We will have our hands full.
"Defensive line-wise, they are really good. They have two of the best ends we will see all year. They're in your face. You see a lot of tight coverage. They're built to stop the run and will always outnumber you. They're well-coached and understand their scheme.
"Offensively, everything starts with their quarterback. He is a veteran, he is savvy and understands what they are doing. They are an 11/10-personnel team. They make you have to defend the run, but they're throwing the ball down the field - deep posts, climb routes, everything. Their quarterback is a good runner. A lot of their biggest plays have come off of his runs. They're probably the fastest team we have played because of their tempo. We have to do a great job from a communications standpoint defensively. It's probably the deepest receiver group we have seen. They had a backup in last week and he had 15 catches."
Q: You were on the ACC's coaches subcommittee for the virus earlier this year. Did you see anything then that might have led to what transpired last Saturday in Tallahassee?
SWINNEY: "You'll have to take that up with the league. I know what the rules are. I know what they were anyway. We met the standard to play. All of a sudden what was supposed to cancel a game changed last Saturday. You'll have to ask someone else other than me."
Q: If you met the standard, what motivation would Florida State have to cancel?
SWINNEY: "I have no idea. They say what they said. We say what we say. We obviously don't agree. That's why it was clearly stated that the medical groups did not agree. I trust our medical team. I said it should be a forfeit because we met the standard to play. We even offered to play Sunday and Monday. Our medical group was 1,000-percent on board with us playing. I have no reason not to trust our people here. They have done an amazing job here."
Q: Do you have any reaction to Mike Norvell's comments from yesterday?
SWINNEY: "We're not doctors. I am not trying to be a doctor. I just listen to the doctors. I'm not worried about what they say down in Tallahassee, that's for sure. I've been in this league for 18 years and a head coach here for 12 years. They've had three head coaches in four years. I'm not going to worry about advice from Tallahassee."
Q: Any thought to changing protocols based on how FSU reacted?
SWINNEY: "All we can do is follow the guidelines as we have done. I just coach the team. I don't come up with the guidelines. We just follow what has been in place like we have all year."
Q: Have you had conversations with senior guys who may want to come back (using an extra year of eligibility)?
SWINNEY: "I have and I expect several of them to come back and I am super excited to have them come back. Some have already made that decision. We have a few who aren't 100-percent. They're kind of leaning toward coming back. We will go ahead and honor them like we did with Christian Wilkins. That's another one of those silver linings for some of these guys, an opportunity to better position themselves for the next level.
"There's no crunch this year. None of them count against you. As far as moving forward, whomever is on the roster this year will eventually have that choice. I do think there is some conversation on not having to count those guys until this roster graduates out of here. To me it's more of the 2022 class that will be more affected right now, just looking at our roster. I still think it was the right thing to do."
Q: This could be Trevor's last home game. How has he raised the bar for how you play?
SWINNEY: "Tajh Boyd was a great player here. He left here with 32 wins. He laid a great foundation. Deshaun took us to that next level. Trevor has come in and has taken us to our first undefeated season, first 15-0 team, I should say. He has done an awesome job. You want to feel like you made the place better and he has done that. Their leadership, character, will to win, their belief of Clemson, all the things that we expect ... they had all of it."
Q: An update on Jamie Skalski and Frank Ladson?
SWINNEY: "Can't confirm whether they will play this week at this time. Last week we were trending in a good direction. We are hopeful we will get some guys back. We have had some extended time off. We'll see. They're all day to day."
Q: How would you describe the mindset of your team right now after what transpired this past weekend?
SWINNEY: "They're great. It's what we do. We had a great practice last night. They had a good day Sunday. We will have a great Tuesday practice today. They're just excited about playing football. It's easy to turn on the tape and have a lot of respect for the bunch that's coming in here. What happened last weekend was last weekend. Y'all keep asking questions (about FSU) and I don't have to answer them but I want to be accurate and truthful."
Q: Have you considered giving D.J. Uiagalelei a series here and there during crunch time?
SWINNEY: "I'm not going to get into anything like that or how we may manage a game, not at this point. Those are all TBD."
Q: The first playoff ranking comes out tonight. Do you worry about being out of sight, out of mind the last several weeks, impacting the committee?
SWINNEY: "We have played eight games. We have played more games than most teams will play all year. I think that's their job ... to evaluate the whole season. We have had one loss to the No. 2 team in the country in double overtime at their place. It doesn't matter now. They can put us where they want to put us. For us, we need to get to the ACC Championship game. To do that, we have to beat Pitt. If we can stay on course, we control our destiny. We have to earn our way there."
Q: Defensive players were saying right after they got the news in Tallahassee, Brent Venables already had them working on Pitt film. Is that just another example of the windshield mentality you have here?
SWINNEY: "We were all sitting in a huge tent with video screens. We were going to be sitting there awhile because we were trying to find pilots. We just flipped it over to the next opponent. We got a head start on these guys for sure."
Q: Have you heard anything from Pitt on their Covid situation for this week?
SWINNEY: "I have not."
Q: Any update on the Florida State game makeup?
SWINNEY: "I have no idea. That's in the rear view mirror. Dan Radakovich can handle all of that stuff. I'm focused on Tuesday practice and Pitt."
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