Recently, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney received some backlash for chewing out kicker B.T. Potter after the sophomore missed a 24-yard field in last week’s win over Florida State.

Some have said this way of coaching can be discouraging, but Clemson wide receiver Amari Rodgers says Swinney being tough on his players just shows he cares.

“Yeah, it’s great. You don’t want a coach that is going to be soft on you or easy all the time,” Rodgers said on Tuesday. “You want a coach that’s going to be tough on you and that’s going to coach you. If you’re not being coached, then he doesn’t care about you. If you’re being coached that means he cares and wants to see do well.

“Us players want to be coached and yell at if we do something wrong. If we don’t know, we will keep messing up. We can’t fix it if we aren’t coached. We grow from it and appreciate it.”

After only gaining just 12 yards against North Carolina in Week 5, Rodgers recorded 44 yards on five receptions and scored his first rushing touchdown on a 29-yard scoring run in the win over Florida State. The improvement over a mere two weeks was not only due to preparation, but to Swinney’s challenge to the team to perform at a higher standard.

“Coach Swinney definitely challenged us. He said last time we were on the road, we didn’t play well,” Rodgers said. “I feel like it’s in the back of our minds. At the end of the day, we just have to do what we do at home or on the road. We prepare the right way in practice. If we go out there and play mistake free and make big plays, I feel like we are going to be just fine.”

Clemson will take on Louisville Saturday at noon at Cardinals Stadium in Louisville, Kentucky.

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