During his Tuesday press conference, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney shrugged off concerns regarding fan and donor apathy.

Swinney was directly asked if he worries at all about fan and donor apathy or people checking out at this point in the season, with the Tigers owning a disappointing 4-3 overall record and 2-2 mark in ACC play.

Coming off a tough 20-16 home loss to Virginia Tech last Saturday, Swinney deflected the question, saying that his focus is fully on what he can control.

Rather than worrying about outside noise or what fans and donors think, Swinney says his immediate attention is locked in on preparing his team to try to beat Florida State on Saturday in Tallahassee, Fla. (7 p.m., ACC Network).

“I’m just worried about having a great Tuesday practice. That’s it,” Swinney said. “Have a good Tuesday practice, let’s go try to win a game. That’s all I can worry about and focus on.”

Swinney remains confident in his roster’s talent but took responsibility for the program’s losses on the field, while also giving credit to the teams the Tigers have faced.

“We have really talented players. We should have a better record than what we have right now, and that’s on me,” Swinney said. “Now, I’m not going to say we should be undefeated. We’ve played good teams. But I think we should have a better record right now. But we’re a good team.”

As Swinney works through the challenges of the present campaign, he reiterated that he’s optimistic about the direction of the program and what the future holds.

“We’re building this thing back to the top the right way, and there will be a lot of great days ahead,” Swinney said. “But we’ve got a few growing pains we’re going through right now.”

“We may not get to the top of the mountain this year,” Swinney added, “but we’re going to get this thing back where it needs to be.”