These days life is easy for Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. He is not receiving nearly as much hate mail as in previous years, and he can go get a haircut around town anytime he wants.
“It’s great. The fun is in the winning,” Swinney said on Tuesday as he previewed Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. game against NC State.
The third-ranked Tigers (7-0, 4-0 ACC) are having fun and they are winning too. Clemson is fresh of its 58-0 annihilation off Miami, in which it gained 567 yards and held the Hurricanes to 146 yards. It marked the program’s 10th straight win overall, and 35th straight against an unranked opponent.
Clemson’s 10-game winning streak is the program’s longest since the 1983 and ’84 seasons.
“Win, and everything is good, but I also understand how quick that turns on you,” Swinney said.
It turned on Swinney and the Tigers in 2011, when seventh-ranked Clemson gave up 27 unanswered points in the second quarter during a 37-13 loss at Carter-Finely Stadium. It’s the only time in the previous 11 meetings Clemson lost to NC State.
The Wolfpack (5-2, 1-2 ACC) forced four turnovers and had six sacks against the eventual ACC Champion.
“We had three straight turnovers in the second quarter, inside our own 25. That is a recipe to get beat,” Swinney said. “If we go up there and do that, that’s what will happen. But 2011 has nothing to do with this group, this team, for either side. This is all about this game on Saturday and we are just focused on playing our best game.”
Clemson is also focused on staying hungry. It’s the hunger that has vaulted them to No. 3 in the country, and it’s that hunger that is going to keep them there.
“You stay humbled, you stay hungry, and you stay focused. I’m never satisfied. I want to be the best,” Swinney said. “We have been really, really close. I want this program to be on top so it is just a daily grind to try and get better each and every day.
“You keep your foot on the pedal. That’s what we do. Put it in the left lane and go. Don’t look back. Whatever happens along the way, you learn from it and grow from it, good or bad and keep moving.”
And since they started doing that, winning is really all the Tigers have been doing, and that makes everything else easier.
“Well, it’s easier to go get a haircut,” Swinney said jokingly. “I don’t get as much bad mail. It’s great.”