CLEMSON -- Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney met with members of the media Thursday at his weekly news conference, his first of the 2022 football season.
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Swinney provided updates on numerous players as well as looked ahead to Labor Day night's conference opponent - Coastal Division member and longtime rival Georgia Tech.
The Tigers, a 21-point favorite, have won seven consecutive games over the Yellow Jackets.
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The following is an abbreviated transcript of Thursday's late-a.m. presser.
INJURY UPDATE: “Adam Randall is full speed. He’s on the scout team this week and next. That’s the last little check for him. He will be out this week. Xavier Thomas is doing great as well. He will also be out this week.”
Q: How is Tre’ Williams?
SWINNEY: He’s good. He’s ready to go.”
Q: Last year turned into a real dogfight with Ga. Tech. The fact that it was so close last year, does that give your players some renewed respect for Tech going into this one?
SWINNEY: “Heck yeah. We have respect for anyone we play, especially anyone in our conference. We were fortunate to win this game last year. We have to do some things better. We have some opportunities we have to capitalize on. They will be as excited as we are about this game. We have to go execute and earn it on the field.”
Q: I know this is a ridiculously high bar, but how does this defensive line depth compare to the ones you’ve had here before?
SWINNEY: “On paper it reminds me of our 2014 defensive line. People talk about 2018 but we were young that year. You have to have some luck along the way to win a national championship. We had some guys who played every game that year, but we were still young and inexperienced.
"Our 2014 d-tackle group, Deshawn Williams is with the Broncos. Grady Jarrett and D.J. Reader and ... Dan Brooks was hysterical. Grady was the only guy we knew who was going to start. I never worried about who was playing. We had Shaq and Vic, two first-rounders. The makeup of our D-line reminds me more of what we had in 2014 in terms of talent and depth. We can play a lot of people. We don’t have to have someone go in and play 60 snaps. We will get Xavier Thomas back soon.
“That 2014 defense led the nation in every statistical category. They earned it. I still have a picture of that defense in my office. I can’t mention this group in the same breath yet because they haven’t done anything yet. They have the opportunity to hopefully do something special this year.”
Q: Is your goal to give your top three running backs comparable carries early?
SWINNEY: “No, we won’t go into a game that way. We just have to pay attention to the flow of the game. Somebody may get hot and you have to see that. The goal is to lean on all of those guys. There’s not a single situation where I don’t trust all three of those guys. They’re all unique. They’re all going to have big moments for us. They just have to go play. Sometimes the game dictates things as far as rhythm and possession. We’re fortunate to have Will Shipley, Kobe Pace and Phil Mafah. They’re all selfless and support each other. Shipley and Mafah are roommates. It’s a tight group.”
Q: Mitch Hyatt was your first true freshman to start on the offensive line. What's Blake Miller done to this point to achieve the same?
SWINNEY: “Same thing Mitch did except he’s bigger, stronger and longer. Similar demeanor. Mitch was maybe 290 when he came in. Blake is a giant and he’s one of the strongest kids on the team. It’s amazing to see a high school kid come in like that. He had the ability to go through some installation. Mentally he took to it like a fish to water, just like Mitch. He has earned it. It’s created some opportunity. He and Collin Sadler are both talented freshmen who will help us this year.”
Q: What’s one thing you can’t wait to see Monday night?
SWINNEY: “Offensive line. I want to see them play. It’s a great group. It’s been a great off-season. Will Putnam, moving him in the spring was awesome. He’s 314 pounds. Walker Parks this time last year was getting ready to get his first start. He’s unbelievably committed and passionate. Marcus Tate was a freshman last year and wasn’t ready to start. J-MAC is J-MAC. He’s a special guy. Those two juniors in there are doing a great job in Putnam and Parks. I like the makeup of the group and then the depth that we have. We have eight or nine guys I wouldn’t have a problem playing at any point. They have to go do it. It’s hard to practice at Clemson if you’re an offensive lineman, so you better be ready.”
Q: You mentioned Dietrick Pennington could have started last year. He is not on the two-deep depth chart currently.
SWINNEY: “I wouldn’t worry about all that. It’s more of a reflection of where Bryn Tucker is. We have that redshirt/sophomore group and they have all taken a big step. Dietrick just has to compete. Physically, he’s getting close. We were watching him run last night in practice. He’s going to be special. He missed all of last year and he was coming. We felt like he had a chance to be a starter. He came off an ACL, he’s a big man and missed the spring. He’s progressing very well and has a bright future.”
Q: Have you seen so much from your O-line group that you just didn’t see the value of going to the portal in the spring?
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SWINNEY: “Coming out of the spring, we were really encouraged about the guys we have on our roster. We felt like with Mason Trotter out, the veteran guy we could find, the right fit, a graduate or a multi-year starter, we would consider it. There were two kids that we offered. We just didn’t get them. There was no one else that fit what we were looking for. We would have taken one of the two we offered. That was really it in the whole portal. We know what we are looking for.”
Q: What do you look for in a coach? I saw a quote in an article about Tony Elliott and it talked about his lack of experience coaching running backs when you hired him.
SWINNEY: “You win with people and you lose with them, too. I have competed at the highest level in this game. It comes back to chemistry and culture and a group of people working together. It’s overlooked whether it’s business or a team. You need to identify the right people. When I hired Tony Elliott, he had never coached running back a day in his life. I told him I was hiring him because of who he was.
"I experienced that when I got hired at 30 years old. I couldn’t get a coaching job and the paycheck was running out in June. I had student loans and a mortgage. Next thing you know, Rich Wingo calls me. I went to meet with them and didn’t really want to take the job. I’ll never forget talking to Rich. I was qualified and had an MBA, a business degree but I had only coached. I told him I knew nothing about building shopping centers. He was sitting there trying to create this vision for me. He said, ‘Dabo, I’m hiring you because you have the character, integrity, aptitude and you show up. The other stuff? I’ll teach you that.”
“Same thing with Tony Elliott. He was in charge. He had never called a play a day in his life. I hired him and later promoted him because of who he is. Even the Bible talks about that. Two can accomplish more than one. There is synergy when you get the right people.”
Q: Will B.T. Potter be a game-day decision at punter?
SWINNEY: “Aidan Swanson will start.”
Q: Do you feel like there will be less pressure on D.J. Uiagalelei this year, especially if he can run more effectively?
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SWINNEY: “We just have to be better around him. We just have to be better. We have to be healthier. If we’re healthier, we will be better and then he will be better. I feel great about the supporting cast, starting with the guys up front. If they will play like they’ve practiced, we will certainly be much better.”
Q: How is your situation with D.J. and Cade Klubnik in terms of getting Cade some early work?
SWINNEY: “It’s more like D.J. and Trevor. We wanted to get D.J. some opportunities within the flow of a game and that’s what we did. I see the same situation now. D.J. is our starter, but we want to get Cade as many opportunities as we can. It will be within the flow of a game and the flow of the season. The three quarterbacks who have taken the majority of the reps in camp have done a great job. D.J. has been great, Cade has been awesome and so has Hunter Johnson. I am confident in all of those guys. D.J. is graduating in December. It’s important to get Cade ready to roll.”
Q: How well has Cade adjusted to just the speed of the college game?
SWINNEY: “It has been seamless. I see the same things in him I saw in Trevor and Deshaun. And D.J. They all came in midyear. You saw the commitment, work ethic and attention to details. Cade has come in and has been so similar to all of those guys. The game is not too fast for him. He’s a rookie. I compare him more to Deshaun because they’re so similar physically and how they’re built. Cade is probably faster.”
Q: Do you feel better about E.J. Williams and Beaux Collins being ready at this point?
SWINNEY: “Oh yeah. They’ve been rocking and rolling over the last couple of weeks. We have a lot of depth there. We’re just in a different place there at receiver. Joe Ngata has been outstanding. Hopefully he’ll play like he practices. We have nine, ten guys that we feel good about being able to go play. We have about eight guys who can play at a high level.”
Q: How do you think your athletes have benefited from NIL opportunities?
SWINNEY: “It’s been great for us. It really has. I know there are a lot of unintended consequences to come about. Hopefully they will smooth out somewhere down the road. There are some crazy things other places have dealt with. We just haven’t. I’m on year 20 here. I would hate to be starting out and trying to manage everything as you try to build a program.
“NIL has been great for our guys. We have a couple of great collectives out there that I think align with who we are as a program. It’s great to see our guys serving the community and giving back and have an opportunity to make some money. As college football has changed, we have addressed those things … support staff, nutrition, unlimited snacks. Used to be, you gave them a cracker with peanut butter and you were going to jail.
"We just built a 100 yards of wellness. You look at our medical resources and trainers, applied sciences, our strength room, everything. Want to do community service, you go to Paw Journey. We have addressed all of these areas. The purpose of our program has never changed. We want to build great men through the game and equip them. NIL has just been another area that needed to be addressed. It’s not the focal point, but it’s important. The training room is not the focal point, but you better have a good training room. I hired an NIL coordinator, C.D. Davies, something I spent a lot of time on. I doubt anyone in the country has an NIL coordinator as qualified as the one we have. We have a guy who has been a CEO for Citibank. My job is to give our guys every resource they need to be successful. We want to educate them, train them and protect them. It’s a great opportunity. C.D. has been amazing.
“The main thing in college athletics is education. We already know that 98-percent of players won’t play in the NFL, so if we don’t keep education as the main thing, we’ll have a lot of guys not equipped and in the ditch. I’m very well qualified to speak on this. I would love to see us further incentivize graduation. The more we can incentivize graduation, the better it will be for people playing this game. The bigger issue is tampering with the transfer portal because there is no barrier. There aren’t many people going to the portal without a plan. So how did they get a plan?”
Q: Your thoughts on the giant video board in Death Valley?
SWINNEY: “I got a text from Graham Neff this morning. Looked like they were working on it last night, lowering the new Tiger. I have seen it and we have scrimmaged over there a few times. It’s awesome. What we did with our wellness area is a game-changer for us. What’s going on with that, NIL, what’s going on at the stadium, the lighting stuff … it’s all really good. They’re starting on Lot 5, so they’re going to rip out the bottom of the West Zone. They’re going to redo that locker room. It’ll be a place where people visit Tiger Walk year-round. We’re going to capture all captains in the history of Clemson football. There are a lot of cool things going on that I am excited about.
"As I have said, there has never been a better time to be a Tiger.”
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