During his weekly radio show Monday night, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was asked by a caller if he has offensive coordinator Garrett Riley “on a leash” or if Riley just doesn’t have his offense fully in place at Clemson yet after leading an explosive offense at TCU last season.

Swinney laughed and said Riley “is not on a short leash, that is for sure.”

“I think it is a combination, first of all you are playing different teams,” Swinney said. “We have played some pretty good teams. Duke is a good team. Florida State, they are pretty good. Syracuse was a top 10 defense in the country, scoring defense going up there. So, we have played some teams and we have put up a ton of offense in several games outside of this past one here. But he has done a heck of a job, and then he has a young quarterback.”

To that point, Swinney said there’s a difference when it comes to being the coordinator of an offense with a veteran quarterback like Riley had at TCU with Max Duggan, and a young quarterback like Clemson has with Cade Klubnik.

“Last year, the quarterback he had was a fifth-year guy, a fifth- or sixth- year player. So, he has a young guy and he has had a couple of guys out as well,” Swinney said.

“But he has done a heck of a job, and almost 500 yards against Duke and we got beat. And outgained Florida State by 100 and something yards and we got beat. We have had some turnover issues. He has put us in position to win every single game. That is for sure. Not that he is perfect and can’t do some things better. That is not what I mean. But you have to give the opponents a little bit of credit, too. But he has done a heck of a job and will continue to settle in.”

Dear Old Clemson has just added Limited Edition signed Cade Klubnik replica road signs to the online store. Get your highway 2 sign today while supplies last!