Dabo Swinney sounds off on preseason polls: ‘I don’t really care about that stuff’
By Adam Spencer
Published:
Dabo Swinney is no stranger to voicing his opinions on all things college football, even if those opinions are unpopular.
After Clemson checked in at No. 4 in the preseason Coaches Poll on Monday, Swinney was asked about the Tigers’ ranking.
He said he doesn’t care about any sort of preseason accolades, from All-America teams to polls to recruiting rankings (via On3 Sports):
“It’s kind of like I tell our players every year, ‘Bryan, did you get that text I sent you congratulating you on preseason All-American? Trenton, you got that text right?’” Swinney said. “And they all look at me and I’m like, ‘Good. You’ll never get that text.’ I don’t really care about that stuff. Where were we ranked last year? We finished 15th. That’s the only thing that mattered at the end of the year.
“…It’s just something to talk about right now. It doesn’t have anything to do with December or November. All that will be determined by what happens on the field, kind of like those recruiting rankings. They do that re-rank every year — somebody does it — and very seldom have we not been ranked higher four years later than we were when we signed ’em. That’s all based on performance and not potential. I think we’ve got a chance to be a good team, but we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
Can Clemson get back to the Playoff after an off year in 2021? We’ll see what the Tigers look like when games start in a few short weeks.
You can see Swinney’s full Monday media availability below:
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
