CLEMSON -- Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media Tuesday morning at his weekly news conference, this time to discuss his team's work during its open date as well as this week's prep for N.C. State, injuries and other topics. The No. 21-ranked Tigers (2-1) will host the Wolfpack (2-1) on Saturday at 12 p.m.
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The following is an abbreviated transcript of Swinney's Tuesday presser.
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OPENING STATEMENTS: "We are excited to get back at it this week. It has been a good opportunity to learn and apply some lessons moving forward. I'm proud of how our guys worked last week. We're ready to get back at it. It's a great opportunity for us here at home as we get into conference play. We have eight straight conference games coming up, so every week is a huge opportunity. I know our crowd will show up. I know they're eager to get back into the Valley. They were great for the Appalachian State game.
"N.C. State is a good football team. It's a big rivalry game. The Textile Bowl is still out there. It's a very experienced team we are getting ready to play. They lost their quarterback but they got Grayson McCall. Looks like he's not going to be the starter. They got a back from Duke, they got Noah Rogers, a center from Notre Dame. They're tough, physical, they challenge you, they're built to run the ball, too. They're downhill at you. This is a good team.
"Defensively they are good up front, physical and strong. They're not afraid to challenge you and come after you. They'll play a lot of drop-8 as well depending on the situation. They do a good job from a scheme standpoint. A lot of experience on defense, too. They'll be ready to play the Tigers. Dave Doeren has done an awesome job with that program."
Q: Peter Woods' status?
SWINNEY: "He's day to day. Every day that ends in Y. He's at practice. He hasn't missed a practice yet. He stayed here all weekend to work on rehab.
"We did lose Dietrick Pennington. He's got to have his ACL repaired. It wasn't fully torn. It's not going to heal back up, so they have to fix it. I hate that for that kid. Our plan is to get that year back so that he will have a couple of years. He was really starting to come on. He's in a good place mentally. It's another tough loss for us for sure.
"It swelled up on him in the Appalachian State game. We got the MRI back and again it wasn't a full tear. But it's got to be repaired.
"Also Caleb Nix had his surgery last week as well as Kobe McCloud."
Q: Talk about K.C. Concepcion because he's a guy they move around a lot.
SWINNEY: "You'll see him line up everywhere. You may see him in some wildcat situations to create some extra hats in the run game. They've done that already so I can see them doing that. They'll make sure Concepcion touches the ball. They move him around to create some mismatches. They motion him all the time. He's a good player and they do a good job of getting him touches, so you have to know where he is every single play.
"They won't come out of the game without him being involved. They have other good players. It all starts with the run game with them. They're going to challenge you and leverage the ball. How we did in that first game, we didn't leverage the ball outside in properly."
Q: How do you think Sammy Brown and Dee Crayton did against Appalachian State and how confident are you with them with Kobe out?
SWINNEY: "They're ready to go play. It's our job as coaches to help them be confident in what their job is. If they're not confident with something, what are they confident with? We have to meet them where they are. They haven't played as much football but I'm really encouraged. Wes has done a great job with them. They're ready to roll. They're talented young guys. Their best ball is still in front of them."
Q: Any concern with your offensive line with another player down now?
SWINNEY: "We do have Trent Howard back now. The off week was good for him. That's a huge shot in the arm getting him back because he can play guard and snap for us. We have more depth there than we've had there in awhile."
Q: Marcus Tate's status?
SWINNEY: "He was available for App State, but yes he's ready to go. He's ready to roll. We had Sadler available so we didn't want a guy out there for the App game who wasn't 100-percent."
Q: What have you seen with the impact of Matt Luke on your offensive line?
SWINNEY: "I think he has done an awesome job developing the chemistry in the room. They're a connected group. He's got an experienced group he's walking in there with. It's a room that has more experience and I think he has done an awesome job from a leadership standpoint. It's been really good. Those kids have bought into what he's asked them to do. He's done a great job in every aspect. He's been great in recruiting. A huge plus for us."
Q: What's it like to see Elyjah Thurmon playing with so much confidence early?
SWINNEY: "Man, he looks like a defensive lineman. He can run. He can move. We knew physically in recruiting that he was going to be in a position to help us but you never know for sure until you start coaching him. You don't want to put guys out there - especially in today's world - where they're not equipped to have success because that can really hurt a kid. But that guy, when he got here ... he could play five positions. That's how smart he is. He played center in high school. I'd be willing to bet he could play center before he leaves here.
"He's a rare kid. He could conceivably start at five different positions. He's that strong, that athletic and that smart. We don't have to have him start right now. We can bring him along and keep developing him. He's going to be a really good football player. He has all the tools."
Q: Ryan Linthicum is a guy who had to wait for several years. How rare is it now to have a guy like that with the portal?
SWINNEY: "It's rare in college football but it hasn't been rare here. We were second or third nationally in retention last year. We don't have many guys leave. We have relationships in place and we continue to create a vision for guys. The value of being where they are and developing helps. Development is huge. If you're starting over all the time, it's hard to get to that next level from a developmental standpoint."
Q: You will see C.J. Bailey this weekend. What's it like preparing for a player you know very little about?
SWINNEY: "You prepare for what they do. They won't change their whole offense. They will do what they do. They will hand that ball off to those big backs, too. It's about blocking and tackling and moving people. They won't just ask this kid to go win a game. They'll ask him to go do his job. They will tailor what they do to his strengths but they won't change what they do.
"He's a good player. When you watch him, he sparked them last weekend. I thought he got better as the game went. He brought some energy to the game. He's a tough kid. I didn't see any fear in him at all. And they were down when he came in. He handled that moment really well."
Q: They have not run the ball very effectively the first few games. Why?
SWINNEY: "A lot of things happen the first week or two. Everyone is still figuring things out. You see some weird things. You have to give the opponent credit, too. It's very close with Tennessee in the second quarter and then it's a pick six, so the game kind of got away from them. Some stats are skewed early in the season and I wouldn't pay too much attention to it. Sometimes who you play can skew things early. Believe me, these guys can run the ball. This is a team that will be able to run the ball when it's all said and done. They also create a lot of explosives through the run game. I promise you this, we better be ready to stop the run against N.C. State. If we can't, we're in for a long day."
Q: How was the tackling against App State?
SWINNEY: "Good. Better. We got better from week one. I'd like to say I saw us scoring 56 points by halftime, but I didn't. Our kids played great. We had some guys hurt, too. It's easy on offense and you can punt. When you sub a bunch of guys on defense who have been on the scout team and the opponent isn't substituting, it can be frustrating. It was an opportunity to coach some guys and let them play. Some were better than others. Some had a missed tackle or two who won't play much. I thought we did a good job in that first half with our first group."
Q: What are the problems N.C. State presents with their 3-3-5 stack?
SWINNEY: "Those three guys up front are explosive. They play violent and have a twitch to them. It's their ability to manipulate things in coverage. They create some challenges. You have to be really disciplined post-snap. They're not afraid to take some chances. They can bring a lot of pressure, twists and movement up front. If they drop eight, they want to challenge you to throw downfield so you have to have some patience and take what's there. They're just multiple. They have a little bit of everything. For us, though, it starts with running the football. And that's easier said than done because they're moving around."
Q: Do you have some extra juice on your team this week because N.C. State has taken two of the last three?
SWINNEY: "I've been in a bunch of these. We just need to win the game. We have to play this game when we kick it off Saturday. That's the only thing that matters this week."
Q: When you have an offensive explosion like you had in week two, what do you do in your open date to keep the intensity up?
SWINNEY: "We always say we play Clemson every week. That's our mindset. We try to instill that into your guys. It's not about who we play. If that matters, then you lose your consistency. We are an uncommonly consistent program because of our mindset. It wasn't an off week for us. It was just another work week. We had great preparation, great meetings and passion and practice. It was no different. We had four good work days. Instead of traveling to the hotel on Friday, they were off. Guys got some treatment, watched some football and learned from other people, some guys watched more film. I think we had a great week. Now we're in a new week."
Q: What are your viewing habits on an off-Saturday?
SWINNEY: "I'm a big Youtube TV guy now. I finally figured out how to get that app on my phone. It was awesome. I had my phone and IPAD and TV going. We had a lot of teams playing that we're going to play. I just watched ball all day long. Saw some good stuff, saw some bad stuff. Just enjoyed it."
Q: What have you seen in your backs beyond Mafah?
SWINNEY: "Not much of a rotation at this point because we've played just two games. We only had 52 snaps in the Georgia game. Obviously as we go through the season, we want to create rhythm and drives where it naturally happens because you're snapping the ball 70-80 snaps a game. I'm pleased with our guys. Jay Haynes averaged almost 10 yards a carry. Eziomume did a good job. They all got opportunities. We really like our guys in that room. It all starts with Phil, though. We'll make sure he gets what he needs."
Q: Were you surprised to see Phil break that 20 MPH barrier against App State on that long run?
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SWINNEY: "I was not. He can run, man. He's a 230-pound guy who can move. He got stronger in the off-season, too. He's got some long speed. He can finish a long run which is not easy to do. He gets stronger as he goes in a game. When he's in that open field, you better get him quick because he won't steady out. He'll accelerate. He practices that way, too."
Q: NIL and transfer portal are a focal point in college athletics, but you keep emphasizing Paw Journey a lot. How big is it for your program?
SWINNEY: "It's a foundational piece to this program. No. 1 thing is graduation. We know what we've done there. You can come look at everyone's picture on the wall. Guys have gotten their education and taken advantage of their opportunity. We've equipped them as men. It's not just about life after football, it's about right now, too. It's career opportunities later, networking, internships and creating a vision for them beyond a football field. Ultimately that is our main responsibility. Who are they going to be as men, husbands and fathers?
"It's a leadership initiative. We're trying to build great leaders and great men. That's what Paw Journey is all about. We have six guys who wake up everyday and that's all they do. Life is hard. We all know that. It doesn't get any easier. We just learn how to manage things better. It's life skills and basic stuff, too. Financial stuff, everything. NIL has been great for us because you have a hands-on opportunity to prepare them for the real world. We've always done financial literacy here and tax education. Now we have something else to teach off of.
"Kids stay here because they see the value of being a part of this program. A player becoming a Paw Journey ambassador is a big deal because you are voted on by your peers. We think Paw Journey is one of a kind. It's a curriculum. It's what we do collectively as a team. We execute the plan year in and year out and over time you see transformation in guys' lives.
"Paw Journey helps us fulfill a big part of our purpose. The world may change but our purpose here at Clemson does not change. Jeff Davis is great. He does such a great job with those players."
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Q: Do you have an update on Tyler Brown?
SWINNEY: "He's day to day. He was out there yesterday. We'll see how it goes Saturday."
