Head coach Dabo Swinney held his weekly press conference to discuss top-ranked Clemson’s upcoming trip to Syracuse. Head basketball coach Brad Brownell held his season-opening press conference just before Swinney on Tuesday as well, and they were also joined by defensive coordinator Brent Venables and a number of players.
Here is what we heard:
Brownell and the basketball team are excited about playing in Greenville.
“The shine hasn’t worn off for them yet. It feels like an ACC tournament venue,” Brownell said. “It’s our job to play well enough to keep everyone else excited.”
Swinney looks forward to heading up to New York to play Syracuse this Saturday.
“I’m really proud of our team and how they competed last weekend in a hard fought battle. To be 9-0 for only the third time in the history of this school is really a great accomplishment for these guys. For us, it’s just back on the road heading up to Syracuse. This is a trip that our guys look forward to,” Swinney said.
However, Swinney noted that the Carrier Dome can be difficult to play in, and that Syracuse has given talented teams a hard time on their home turf.
“It’s a great place to play a ball game. It is a good experience. We know we’re going to have to play well. They are 3-2 at home. They’re a tough team and have a tough crowd. They had a close loss to LSU and then a 3-point loss to Pittsburgh at home. We need to continue to do what we do and get our self mentally and physically ready to play our best game of the season. They have had some injuries and we aren’t sure which quarterback is going to play. We are just going to focus on ourselves and try to continue to get better,” Swinney said.
Swinney had high praise for a lot of people in his press conference, including head coach of the Buffalo Bills. Rex Ryan started off his press conference this morning wearing a Clemson helmet, and Swinney showed his appreciation.
“I didn’t know that was going to happen. He’s crazy. He is hilarious. I love Rex Ryan because whether you like him or don’t like him, he is who he is. How you perceive him, that’s how he is. He’s a real guy and he’s passionate about what he does,” Swinney said.
Swinney also had great things to say about Clemson University’s president, Jim Clements.
“We have the best President in America. He’s amazing. His personality has rubbed off on me. He’s one of the most genuine, energetic, and with-it people. He’s just a normal guy,” he said.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables, who Swinney regarded as the best defensive coordinator in the nation in his press conference, mentioned that Syracuse does a great job with their kicking game, so Clemson needs to be extremely focused.
“They’ve got every trick known to man in their kicking game, on-side kicks, fake punts, fake field goals and they’ve all worked,” Venables said. “They’ve worked against us and so they better be on high-alert, and we need to play really, really well going up to their place,” Venables said.
On Monday, Tony Elliott announced that this would be running back Zac Brooks’ last season of college football. Brooks said on Tuesday that he hopes to make it in the NFL, but he has an exciting future planed out in interior design for when he is done playing football. He plans to play football for as long as he has the opportunity to do so after college, and he is thankful for everything football has taught him.
“Football is life really, if you really dissect it. The lessons you learn in football carry over to life and the decisions that you have to make. The growth that you have in football, that I’ve had, it’s just really helped me throughout life and just growing up and becoming a man,” Brooks said.