CLEMSON | The biggest Clemson-related revelation of the weekend might've been that Dabo Swinney is having fun.
Yeah, it sounds weird to be surprised at such a thing. Because the guy has made his entire coaching being about enjoying the moment.
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But it's a lot easier to dance and experience joy when you're on an actual joy ride.
This season as a whole has been the inverse. You could say it's been the most difficult year of his coaching tenure and you probably wouldn't be exaggerating much.
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The heaping amount of injuries, combined with the heaping amount of work to be done for this offense to get back to what it's accustomed to, has made it inordinately stressful and grueling.
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It takes a lot to bring Swinney to the point where he's transparently down. But he's been to that point at times this year as he's expressed acceptance that this is just one of those offenses, one of those teams, and one of those seasons that's just going to be defined by struggle.
Yet we've also seen him, in the midst of mistakes and breakdowns that make him want to punch a wall, recognizing the importance of positivity in the moment as he smiles and encourages players after they do something well.
"We've had some heartbreakers, but I'm having fun," he said last night. "I'm having fun with these guys."
For this 6-3 team, the fun is in the limping and the winning. Nowhere was that story told better than with DJ Uiagalelei hobbling across the goal line for the go-ahead touchdown.
In any other year, it might be appropriate for Clemson's fans to look over at the other side and wonder what might've happened had Malik Cunningham not aggravated his ankle injury.
That sequence was a major turning point in the game largely because Cunningham was the best player on the field and it matters when that type of weapon misses time and then isn't what he was when he returns.
This time, in this moment, it feels right for Clemson and its faithful to not have to apologize for anything. Because if we're going to talk about injuries and hypotheticals, you'd better pack a lunch because Clemson's list feels longer than anyone else's.
Two years ago, the Tigers went to Louisville and were able to dispense of early-game drama by tearing off for a 45-10 win. A year earlier, the end of the Bobby Petrino era was near and Clemson fans were wondering what books they might have to bring to pass the time after the Tigers went up big (they won 77-16).
This year, six of their ACC games have been one-possession games at the end. And a 27-17 loss at Pitt wasn't far from that as the offense might've made things interesting had the defense been able to get off the field in the final eight minutes.
Most fans loved the certainty that there'd be no suspense in most ACC games they played. They luxuriated in making fun of Florida State's bored, shirtless professor by bringing their own reading material to Death Valley.
But there was nonetheless an undercurrent of boredom, complaints about paying all that money to see something preordained.
And while it would be crazy to think Swinney prefers this white-knuckle route over a scorched-earth tour, it's totally fair for him to point out that nothing is guaranteed. To emphasize the point that, if and when Clemson does return to its dominating ways, maybe everyone in these parts will learn to savor it more and not be so quick to get bored with it.
"Welp, it's a little different," he said last night with a smile. "We've blown a lot of people out for a lot of years -- everybody complains about that. So hopefully everybody's staying engaged for the last minute. We're keeping everybody's attention, that's for sure.
"It's going to make us better. It's going to make us better. It's hard to win. Man, it's hard to win."
While it's totally reasonable to scrutinize some aspects of a team that seems to always make things hard for itself, it also has to be pointed out that this team is getting better. And that's a hard thing to do as your injury list gets longer.
"Most of all, they care," Swinney said. "They care, and they believe. They just don't flinch. We talk about it all the time: Don't be affected by the scoreboard. Just keep playing, keep believing. We've been talking about that for 13 years around here. This is a group that's really growing up. I love this team, just like I love all my teams.
"We're just going to keep getting better, keep growing. You see them offensive linemen growing up, and we don't have one senior out there. And we're only going to have one senior next year in (Jordan McFadden). So it's going to really pay off for us with the experiences that they're getting, the experience that all these guys are getting. It's good to see us heading in a positive direction rather than a bad direction this time of year."
Through it all, he's still having fun. And if he is, maybe others should too.
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