By Will Vandervort
CLEMSON — Every week Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney talks to his team about the price they have to pay in order to be a great team. Are they making the full commitment to themselves, their teammates and the program?
Swinney does not have to worry about that anymore. Last Monday, he brought in a sign and placed it to his left as he addressed the team. The sign reads “I am willing to pay the price that greatness requires.”
When the meeting was done, Swinney asked everyone to put their signature on the sign, but to only use their Hancock if they were 100 percent committed to pay the price that it took to be great.
“We talk about the price that you have to pay to be great at something,” Swinney said Tuesday. “When you sign your name to something, it should have some meaning. We’re just trying to hold everybody accountable for paying the price.
“We’re on a quest to be the best. We’ve been talking about that since day one. But we’ll only be as good as the total commitment of everybody in the room.”
Clemson players say the sign was a good reminder to them not to let complacency sink in like it did last year when the Tigers roared to an 8-0 start before dropping four of their last six games.
“That’s what has happened here in the past,” quarterback Tajh Boyd said. “This is a reminder that what you do at all times affects this team – off the field, on the field or whatever. That’s what we need to be dedicated to in the classroom and things of that nature.
“It is and ongoing process for us. That was a great reminder of where we need to be and what we need to accomplish.”
The 13th-ranked Tigers will have to be fully committed when they host Virginia Tech this Saturday at noon in Death Valley. The Hokies (4-3, 2-1 ACC) are coming off a 41-20 victory over Duke after rallying from 20 points down last Saturday. Duke had won four straight games prior to that.
“If you watched (the Duke game), I think you saw what Virginia Tech is really made of,” Swinney said. “They got down 20-0 at Homecoming and then they probably played their best ball all year. This is a team, in my opinion, that has probably been the bell cow of this league the last several years.
“I know everybody talks about how they haven’t been great this year, or as consistent, but they’re Virginia Tech.”
Regardless, Swinney wants Clemson to still be the Clemson team that has shown improvement each week in its 5-1 start to the season. But he also wants to see his team tighten some things up, especially on offense where Clemson has committed four turnovers the last two games.
“It’s the small things,” Boyd said. “We have been doing some good things and have found ways to overcome certain obstacles, but I feel like the things we have made mistakes on could have made things a lot smoother.
“We have had turnovers the last couple of games and we do not want that to be an ongoing thing.”
The Tigers (5-1, 2-1) also don’t want to make the same mistakes that caused them to slide to 3-3 in the second half of the regular season.
“Hopefully, I can just base it on what I’ve seen out of them, but they’ve shown good leadership,” Swinney said. “They’ve got a lot of pride. They’ve responded to every situation. They’ve found ways to win. Everybody wants to get that first win.
“They’ve responded with every challenge to this point. Whether it’s playing well in the first half or not playing well in the second half. It’s going to be one of them, and it’s a choice what we’re going to be in this second half (of the season). Confidence-wise, on the national scene, here at Clemson, there’s a lot out in front of us.”
Now they just have to be committed to finish it.