Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney looked out at the media on Tuesday with a big grin and, as usually, he had a pleasant deposition.
“I don’t think I have ever been as excited to see you guys as I am today,” he said to the crowd of media members who gathered in the WestZone for the 40-minute press conference. “I mean that with all sincerity because it means that I am finally at the Tuesday press conference … it’s game week. That’s exciting times for everybody.”
The 12th-ranked Tigers will take that excitement into Death Valley this Saturday when it opens the season at 12:30 p.m. against Wofford.
“We all love what we do, especially in the sports realm, that’s why we got into this business. Obviously, everybody has different roles, but it is finally good to get this thing going. We are ready to kick it off,” Swinney said.
Swinney says he is very anxious to see his team play someone other than themselves as he tries to further the evaluation of where they are right now as a team.
“There is only so much you can do practicing against each other with the amount of familiarity we have with each other,” he said. “You practice against each other all spring, then skills and drills all summer, all camp, and it is just hard to get a true evaluation when you don’t have another opponent.”
Though the Tigers will have an opponent this week, some might wonder if Wofford will be a true evaluation. Clemson is heavily favored to beat the Terriers, who are an FCS team.
But Swinney doesn’t feel that way. If you don’t believe him, go watch the 2011 game against Wofford. That year the Terriers were one possession away from forcing overtime.
Swinney says that starts with their head coach. He says Mike Ayers is one of the best coaches in the country, no matter the level. And because of that, Swinney knows he will have his team ready to play.
“I really cannot tell you how much respect I have for Coach Ayers,” the Clemson coach said. “He is a great football coach and is a great man. I just think the world of him as I have gotten to know him. He would win anywhere. He would win at Clemson. He would win at Alabama.”
Ayers has been at Wofford for 27 years and has won 182 games, more than any other current coach in the state of South Carolina.
“He would win anywhere,” Swinney said. “This guy would win anywhere in the country, and I really believe that. But he is an outstanding person, and is what I think is the epitome of what a coach should be.
“He represents the game. He loves his players. He loves his coaches, he is just a classic act in every regard.”
And probably like Swinney, he is all smiles now that football season is about to begin.