WATCH: Notes/Quotes and VIDEO of Dabo Swinney's Tuesday News Conference
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CLEMSON -- Tuesday morning Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media during his weekly news conference, this time to preview his team's matchup with Syracuse.
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The Tigers, a 46.5-point favorite over the Orange, will face Syracuse on Saturday in Death Valley. The game, a noon kickoff, will be televised by the ACC Network.
The following is a brief, edited transcript of Tuesday's presser.
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-- On Travis Etienne's draft stock: "I think he has helped himself immensely. The NFL values those great backs, those complete backs. There is nothing he can't do. He is a complete player. He is a game-changer. Look around the league and see those great ones, they are highly valued."
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-- The progress of Taisun: "He looked good. He is still a little sore from the surgery part, but that will get better each day. They have something that will protect it. Hopefully he will be ready to roll here soon once he gets over the soreness part. It's fortunate that it was his left hand. D.J. is a lot better. Hopefully he will be available and ready to go on Saturday."
-- The defense's continued dominance despite losing players every year: "Y'all have heard me say many times that football is a developmental program. We really are. Most of the time our guys come in here and they put the work in. It's not just defense. It's offense, too. I think it speaks to our philosophy as a program. It also speaks to how we recruit."
-- On comparing and contrasting Trevor Lawrence and Deshaun Watson: "They're more similar than they are different. They're similar in every regard with the exception of Trevor being 6'6. Deshaun is not that. He's probably 6'3, maybe not quite 6'3. They can both make every throw. Trevor might have a bigger arm, but you're splitting hairs. They're both creative.
"They're both great leaders. They carry themselves with a great, humble spirit. They're great teammates. They're both grinders and love to prepare. I didn't know if I would ever coach another guy like Deshaun who loved to prepare and was so focused. And Trevor is the exact same. Trevor is graduating in 2.5 years, maybe three years. Deshaun did the same. They're so focused on what they want to do in life. Trevor does not get the credit for his athleticism. There's nothing Deshaun does athletically that Trevor cannot do. You saw that in the bowl game last year against Ohio State. He can run. Both can run. Hey, Trevor has long hair and Deshaun has short hair."
-- You said last weekend that Trevor makes everyone around him better. Specifically, what does that look like with this team? "He is the most talented guy but he is the hardest worker. He will be one of the last guys off the practice field. He loves to be coached. It just sets the standard. He is so focused. When he is not in, he's not jacking around at the water cooler. He's watching the guy who is in. Everything he does, people pay attention to.
"He sets a great example. It's his work ethic, it's how he grinds. It sets the tone for everyone else. It's his ability and it makes everyone better. He has the ability to extend plays and escape, which creates opportunities for other players. He brings out the best in everyone. It starts every single day through his humility, his attitude, his work ethic, his mindset."
-- The 2017 game against Syracuse, how did that affect your season then? "It didn't really affect the rest of the season. We just went back to work. We didn't sit around and dwell on a loss and we don't sit around and dwell on a win. It challenged our backups. Our starting quarterback got hurt. We weren't quite ready to play at the level we needed to play at. We just weren't ready to go. We didn't respect the opponent the way we needed to. It caught us.
"They just won the game, flat out out-played us and earned it. It brought more focus to some details, more of a sense of urgency with our backup players and we got to work. We still went to the playoffs and got beat by Alabama. We were better than Syracuse on paper but we were not better that day. Anybody can beat anybody on any given day. Just some pain along the way. How you handle those things makes you better."
-- You've had 26 straight wins against ACC opponents since your last loss to Syracuse. Talk about that streak of dominance: "We don't look at it that way. It is a best of one every week. Blessed is the man who never stops starting. You start over every week, you start over every season. You have to have a mindset of respect for what it takes to prepare. You have to respect your routine. It takes good players and coaches but a lot of teams have good players and coaches. It takes a mentality and culture and a mindset. It takes a daily focus.
"Win the day. Be great where your feet are. And hey, have some fun along the way, too. All those things have been a factor for us. It's not something we talk about. Hey, let's go start a streak next week. We talk about competitive stamina. It's fun to win. The fun is in the winning but the real joy and thrill come from having a chance to win again. To me that's what drives the best of the best. That is what we get excited about every week. It's loving what you do and loving who you do it with. All of those things are on display every week."
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