Swinney on Brent Key: “Brent has been great. We’ve spent a lot of time together. He’s a Birmingham boy so we’re both from the same neck of the woods. I just think he’s done a great job. He loves that place and he has put his personality into it. They are a physical football team and he believes in running the football. I think he has done a really really good job. He’s recruiting well and put a really good staff together. Have a lot of respect for Brent. Has a good personality and good perspective.”
Dabo Swinney on the fans after the delay: “It was sparse but those (fans) that were there were awesome. They really made a difference down the stretch.”
Dabo Swinney: “Yall never believe me even though I always tell yall the truth. Except for Kornblut, I never tell him the truth.”
Dabo Swinney: “We better be on point this Saturday. This will be a battle.”
Dabo Swinney: “Our execution is not what it needs to be. It’s just not.”
Dabo Swinney: “If we continue to play like this we don’t win many games. We’ve got to get into a rhythm on offense. We’ve got to get better as coaches.”
Dabo Swinney: “Who you play matters. Some of these teams out there don’t break a sweat till October. We’ve always played people and it doesn’t always go great.”
Q: Is the most surprised you’ve been that over the years that camp performance hasn’t translated over to the games? A: “No, dealt with it before. I feel like I’m living 2016 all over again honestly. In fact I went back and looked at my notes after the Troy game and it was like I could have walked into the team meeting with the same comments. Different reasons but same comments.”
Dabo Swinney on the new injury reports: “I guess it’s for gambling? I think that’s what the purpose of it is?”
Dabo Swinney says they will put an injury report out on Thursday.
Dabo Swinney: “Guys are playing hard and we’ve played two teams where the ball is coming out quick and neither team is holding onto the ball.”
Q: How do you feel like this team is handling the emotional and emotional side after these first two games? A: “Great. I thought you saw a lot of that Saturday. Again, don’t want to take anything away from Troy. They are tough and have good players. I think you saw the grit and the heart of this team. I think you learned a lot about the mentality of this team.”
Swinney: “You have to fight every week to get better and compete.”
Dabo Swinney: “Every conference game is a playoff game.”
Q: Has Cade been as much of a factor with his legs as you envisioned? Swinney A: “No, he hasn’t. He’s been too much of a factor with his legs. He scrambles when he doesn’t need to scramble. That’s what he did early in his career. He runs out of the pocket for no reason and he didn’t do that at all in camp.”
Dabo Swinney: “It’s not about as much as adjustments as it is executing what we have coached them to do. Getting 11 guys to do their job is really what this comes down to. The biggest thing Saturday was calming everyone down. It was a weird deal. We felt like we were down 35-0.”
Dabo Swinney on Adam Randall: “Some precision in his footwork. Some timing, some basic stuff. He’s done well in practice but he has to stick to that when he gets in the game.”
Dabo Swinney was asked about his team’s identity thus far: “Right now it’s not very good. It’s early though, we will see but we have a long way to go.”
Swinney was asked about eye discipline playing Georgia Tech. “Eye discipline is critical. It’s always critical regardless of style of play. These guys pretty much every snap there’s a shift, there’s a motion, there’s some type of jet and by nature of their scheme, it’s QB power, QB counter, with RPO built into it, they just control them based on reaction.”
Dabo Swinney: “It’s also a rivalry game. Clemson vs GT is one of the older ones that’s been going on for a long time and it’s always fun to be a part of this game. Been a lot of great ones over the years and we look forward to going down and having a great competition.”
Dabo Swinney: “Defensively they aren’t giving up a ton of big plays. They do a nice job of executing their defense and being where they are supposed to be. They are active up front; thick and stout up front.”
Dabo Swinney: “They’ve done a nice job with some guys they have brought in on the perimeter as well.”
Dabo Swinney on Georgia Tech: “This is a big game for both teams. Excited about the opportunity. Brent has done an amazing job down there and this is a tough, physical football team. That QB is a warrior and I have a ton of respect for him as a player.”