Dabo Swinney says preseason expectations don’t matter, Clemson ‘not entitled to win’
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Following a 24-21 loss to Georgia Tech on Saturday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said his Tigers are climbing uphill and “the wind’s definitely in our face.”
Swinney and the 12th-ranked Tigers entered the season ranked No. 4 in the preseason poll. They lost to LSU at home in their opener, 17-10. They trailed Troy 16-3 at home last week. With a second loss in 3 games, it’s entirely possible Clemson could fall out of next week’s AP poll altogether.
The Tigers haven’t looked anything like what many expected to see.
Asked how he squares Clemson’s reality with Clemson’s perceived potential, Swinney shrugged.
“It doesn’t matter,” he told reporters after the game. “It’s all about what you do. It’s not about what people predict or what people say, it’s about what you do. And we have not performed to our capabilities. How about let’s give LSU some credit? How about we give Georgia Tech some credit? These are good teams. We’re not entitled to win just because people predict us to be great and have high expectations.”
Swinney said he knows there will be negativity swirling around his program. He said that’s part of the “world we created at Clemson” with all the success throughout his tenure.
Clemson, Swinney says, can still make a run at an ACC title. He referenced his first season in 2009 when Clemson opened 2-3 — with a 3-point road loss at Georgia Tech — but won 6 straight to secure a spot in the ACC title game.
“We are not where we worked to be. We’re not where we expected to be. We’ve got to own that. I’ve got to own that,” Swinney said. “But, again, it’s not all bad either.”
Swinney claimed Clemson is 1-2 with both of its losses coming down to the final play. “It’s just that simple,” he said. Clemson had a fourth-and-4 with 59 seconds left against LSU in the opener that it failed to convert, but the Tigers also had the entire fourth quarter to find a tying score against LSU.
Clemson outgained Georgia Tech on Saturday, but mistakes from all sides doomed the Tigers.
“It’s my job to find a way to make those couple plays. That’s my job, and I take responsibility for that,” Swinney said. “That’s where we are, that’s our reality.
“It’s not the start that we wanted, but we’ve got to stay together and we’ve got to fight our way out.”
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
