By Staff Reports.
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney spoke to the media for about 45 minutes on Tuesday for his weekly press conference during the regular season.
“Well, it’s finally here. I know everybody is excited to get the season going, and I know I am. It’s exciting to get this first week here. Seems like it’s been an extra long camp for whatever reason, so really glad to get to game week.
“I’m excited to see our team play. You know, just looking forward to seeing where we are. You can only get so far from an evaluation standpoint in practice, and you know, at some point, you’ve got to go play and kind of take that next step in the evaluation of just where you are and then grow and make adjustments as you go throughout the year.
“But this is one of the best teams in the country in Georgia, and seeing how we match up against them this early in the season is going to be something that I’m anxious to see. They are very well‑coached. Coach Richt has been there forever, and he’s as good as there is in the business, that’s for sure. He has a great staff and they are very talented. They are very, very talented. They have recruited at a high level.
“So the opener is always very difficult every single year. It Really doesn’t matter whom you play. The opener is difficult because you’ve got more time to prepare for one game than you do any game the rest of the year because you’ve got all spring, all summer to prepare for this opponent.
“But the bigger challenge is just there’s so many unknowns because you don’t have any video evidence of really who this team is like you normally do when you’re playing.
“We’ll have some video evidence next week of who they are, and as you go throughout the season, you can see an identity of a team and we don’t really have that opportunity because obviously this is a new year, new team. We can look at last year and all that kind of stuff, but you never really know until you go play.
“So there’s a lot of unknowns and then when you throw in the fact that it’s a great opponent, a very talented opponent like Georgia, where they have had a lot of changes, as well, it makes it even more difficult.
“This is a huge challenge for sure. Offensively they don’t have any changes as far as their staff or necessarily what they do to our knowledge, but the biggest thing when you look at Georgia and what they do offensively, they are probably as balanced as any team in the country. They do a great job of creating balance from a play calling standpoint and it makes it difficult. It makes it difficult to defend them.
“They obviously have a new quarterback replacing Aaron Murray, but Hutson Mason played a good bit last year. He’s a senior. He’s got some confidence and he’s blessed to have some really good skill guys outside. His top two lead receivers are back. They have outstanding tight ends and then we all know what they have in the backfield. These are some big‑time NFL players who are playing in college in that backfield.
“They do a good job of mixing the run and the pass and again creating the balance that allows them to be successful.
“Defensively, they have a lot of veterans coming back, but there’s so many unknowns with them. We are going to have to do a great job in the flow of the game making good adjustments and making a really good job of communication from an offensive standpoint. They have a bunch of guys back that have played for them, but it’s an entirely different staff.
“So you think you know but you never really know until you go play again; until you get three or four games of video evidence of who they are. They have some dynamic players. Some guys up front, James DeLoach and Sterling Bailey, those guys have really played well for them. I think Leonard Floyd and Jordan Jenkins, are two of the best players in the country. I don’t think there’s any question about it.
“I think they are going to use them in a lot of different ways with their pressure packages. You’ll see those guys, leaders on the team in sacks last year, tackles for loss and that’s because they do a good job of bringing them off the edges and mixing them in with their blitz packages. Really, really good football players at the linebacker position.
“In the secondary, they have moved a lot of guys around. but they do have some veteran guys in most positions. They might start a freshman at one safety position.
“They have a junior college kid that came in that seems to be a guy that they are talking a lot about/ And then (Damian) Swann is a great, great player over at the other corner.
“So they have got a bunch of guys over there. The big thing for us is just ball security and getting them targeted, because if we are going backwards with sacks and tackles for loss, it’s a long day in Athens, that’s for sure.
“Special teams, they have a first-team All-SEC kicker in Mashall Morgan. They have two punters that they feel really, really good about, both those guys have punted a lot for them. And we all know they have speed as far as the return game goes.
“The first goal is really what it is every year. I talk about our first goal is always try to win the opener, and that’s really all it is. Hopefully we can go down there and come out of the gates and play a high level of football. I think our team has prepared well in camp. We are relatively healthy and they are excited to play, but this is again a big challenge to go down to Athens and do the things that we’ve got to do to win the game. We are looking forward to the opportunity.”
Q. Does it help that your coaching staff offensively has had the continuity the last four years?
COACH SWINNEY: Well, I think continuity is a good thing. But change is sometimes good, too. Our coaches are back but we have had some change (in personnel) and I think that brings good energy from a personnel standpoint. It’s good that we are all on the same page and we are able to quickly get going from an installation standpoint because we do have a lot of veterans on both sides of the ball.
I think offensively, we have 20 of our top 26 or seniors or juniors and sophomores, and I think 22 of our top 26 on defense are seniors and juniors and sophomores, and then all of our coaches are together. So that’s a positive. We are going to need that experience. We are going to need that continuity, if you will, in a game like this, because again, they are just a bunch of unknowns.
I wish I could tell you that I know exactly what they are going to do, but we don’t. We are going to have to do a great job of doing what we do and adjusting to wrinkles and what their game plan is going to be once we get into the game.
Q. Is there any value in looking at the film of Florida State defense from last year in terms of what the defensive coordinator might do?
COACH SWINNEY: Oh, yeah, it’s what you do as a coach. Any time you have coaching changes and things like that, you go and study everything. But they didn’t all come from Florida State. Coach Pruitt came from Florida State. I’ve known Jeremy forever. But he brought a coach from over here and he brought a over from here over. So they all collectively have their thoughts and ideas.
Kevin Sherrer played for me. He was one of my players when I was coaching at Alabama, and heck, he was the d‑coordinator at South Alabama. So he’s got his things and Jeremy has his things he wants to do. That’s what coaches do. They come collectively; Chad Morris didn’t just come in here and have all the answers. He Had a bunch of coaches that collectively put things together and that’s what you do.
So there’s always some unknowns from that standpoint. But we absolutely watched all the Florida State film, trying to just get a feel for schematic ideas.
Q. You have Martin Jenkins starting at cornerback, and Cordrea had been there spring and summer. What went into the decision? Is this a one-week thing?
COACH SWINNEY: Martin was out this spring (injury). He was not participating in spring but had a great summer. You know, he’s a fifth-year senior, veteran guy, and Cordrea was the starter coming out of spring and the starter going into camp, and is really going to be a great player for us. He’s going to be a great player this year.
We just felt like Martin earned the opportunity to be the starter. I am not surprised. Again, here is a fifth‑year senior that’s really tough‑minded and very focused on the details. He’s got a lot of knowledge, a lot of water under the bridge and he’s a really good player. He’s healthy for the first time in a long time. You know, he earned it.
Q. Is he 100 percent healthy?
COACH SWINNEY: Yeah. Looks great.
Q. Any nerves from Cole Stoudt with the excitement building up for his first game as a starter?
COACH SWINNEY: I’d like to sense some nerves from Cole. Cole is just kind of like that all the time (indicating flatline). You all deal with him, and you all know how he is. He’s just kind of the same guy. Doesn’t really matter.
I remember when Tajh got knocked out against Boston College when Cole was a freshman. I remember the conspiracy that Tajh was out for the year and everybody was lying after that game. Everybody thought he was like deeply injured.
But I remember Cole coming in; it was his freshman year and here is a true freshman, and we’re in a tough ballgame here. We’ve got a ways to go. He just, said all right, let’s go. But that’s Cole. That’s just his demeanor. That’s his personality, and guys have to be who they are.
I think he’s very confident because he’s prepared very well. And I think he’s confident because when he has had opportunities to play, he’s played well. You know, how does he do Saturday night, we’re all going to find out. But as far as him walking around, nervous or anything like that, I don’t sense that from him.
Q. What main key do you see in Cole having a good game on Saturday?
COACH SWINNEY: Take care of the ball. Play within the system. Be a decision maker; be a good decision maker like we need him to be. That’s critical. That’s the key thing. Because if we’re giving these guys a short field, that’s probably a long night.
Q. Is there an ideal time for Deshaun Watson to play? Do you have a scripted time in place or is it just going to be ‑‑
COACH SWINNEY: I’m going to tell you exactly when it is, right now. (smile). The perfect time is when we put him in. That’s the perfect time. When we put him in, that’s the perfect time to put him in.
Q. I know you say that it’s the opener and the opener is always important. Is there any additional importance put on the fact that this is a marquis game, and when we are talking about the college football playoffs, to get there, when you look back on it, this might be one of the games that either includes a team or eliminates a team?
COACH SWINNEY: Who knows. You have no idea. You may think you’re playing a marquis game you and win it, and then that team lace an egg the rest of the year. I mean, you have no idea.
All you can do is just get ready for that game and every game, treat every game as a marquis game when you’re trying to think about the bigger picture from that standpoint. Every game is huge and every game will count when it’s all said and done. Not just this one.
I mean, God forbid we go down there and lose the game, but if we do, Georgia is not in the playoff, and we are not out of it. It’s a long season. It’s a long way to go, and vice versa. But we win the game, let’s don’t punch our ticket to Dallas just yet. We’ve got a long way to go and a long season.
Every game is critical. You just look at our conference play. I mean last year, you had 11 winning teams; 11 teams that went to Bowl games. I mean, it’s a challenge to go through your schedule.
And so when you start thinking about, this affects that, you’ve got to just play that game, put everything you’ve got into it, and whatever results you get, learn and grow from it and move on to the next one.
Q. Do you think the playoff system will encourage more Georgia/Clemson kind of matchups?
COACH SWINNEY: I think so, because you’re dealing with human beings, and I think that ultimately, it’s going to skew a little bit more towards what you see in the basketball tournament. It’s a big deal with the basketball tournament. You see some of these teams that are 22‑5 or whatever, and they don’t get in. But this team over here that’s 19‑7, they get in. Well, I mean, their schedule of play is a big part of it.
And so yeah, I think so. Personally I wish we played Georgia and South Carolina every year. It would just make life easy.