Sunday felt like a homecoming of sorts for Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney.
Swinney and the Tigers completed their first on-site practice in preparation for Friday’s Gator Bowl against Kentucky in Jacksonville, Fla. Clemson practiced for about 90 minutes at Fernandina Beach High School in Fernandina Beach, Fla.
“This is where it all started for me. Right here,” Swinney said in a video courtesy of Clemson Athletic Communications. “This was actually my recruiting area. I used to come down to Fernandina Beach all the time.”
Clemson (8-4) will practice in Fernandina Beach for the rest of the week.
The TaxSlayer Gator Bowl will represent Clemson’s 50th all-time bowl appearance, making Clemson the 12th program ever to appear in at least 50 all-time bowl games. The game will be Clemson’s 10th all-time Gator Bowl appearance, its most of any bowl in school history, as well as the most by a single program in Gator Bowl history.
“This is my twenty-ninth bowl. I played in four. This is my twenty-fifth (bowl) as a coach,” Swinney said. “The last time I was not in a bowl was in 2004 when we had the brawl, and we did not get to go.
“It is just great. It is great to go and spend some time with your team in a setting like this.”
It was not long ago the Tigers were sitting at 4-4 and people outside the program were wondering if they would even be in a bowl game. However, the coaches and players never stopped believing in themselves, even though they had No. 12 Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, No. 20 North Carolina and rival South Carolina standing in their way.
“Everybody had a decision to make, and our team chose to believe that it was still half full and kept a great attitude and kept finding a way,” Swinney said. “What we were able to do against some good teams and four really good quarterbacks in a row, the credit belongs to these players because they made a choice to finish.”
Clemson finished by beating Notre Dame, 31-23, Georgia Tech, 42-21, UNC, 31-20 and South Carolina, 16-7.
“They went from 4-4 to the Gator Bowl,” Swinney said. “This is a great opportunity to finish our season on a really positive not and try to win five in a row and carry some momentum into the offseason.”
To honor Clemson’s special senior class Dear Old Clemson is selling footballs signed by 7 of Clemson’s Avengers for only $100. These limited edition footballs are signed by Thomas, Orhorhoro, Davis, Mascoll, Henry, Murphy and Williams. Get one while supplies last.
