Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said Monday that despite a 1-3 start to a season that began with championship aspirations, he has seen no quit in his players and is confident they will finish strong.
After a 34-21 home loss to Syracuse on Saturday, Swinney said the Tigers had “probably one of the best team meetings” he has ever attended Monday.
“We’re not going to win the national championship this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t win the season,” Swinney said. “Doesn’t mean we can’t finish well and doesn’t mean that we can’t enjoy the journey.”
Clemson, the heavy preseason favorite to win the ACC championship, lost its opener to LSU before also losing to Georgia Tech and Syracuse. In their only win this season, the Tigers needed a comeback to beat Troy in Week 2. The Tigers have an open date this week before playing at North Carolina on Oct. 4.
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Asked to diagnose why Clemson has struggled, Swinney pointed to a few factors: Clemson has not played complementary football, quarterback Cade Klubnik and the offense have struggled to move the ball, and the Tigers do not have everybody on the same page.
Asked whether he would consider any in-season staff changes, Swinney said no. He also reiterated Klubnik will remain his starting quarterback.
Klubnik has gone 89-of-148 for 996 yards, 6 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He is completing a career-low 60% of his passes.
“It’s a frustrating thing because we are a talented football team,” Swinney said. “We have underachieved, and that falls on me. I feel like I let a lot of people down, especially these seniors, but we’ve all got a job, and there’s accountability for all of us.
“All we can do right now is completely flush it, bury it, and focus on what’s in front of us and the opportunities that we still have. I don’t have any doubt these guys will respond.”
Swinney also said he does not anticipate players taking redshirts or entering the transfer portal midseason.
“There’s already been a lot of positives that have come from a really crappy situation in a really disappointing time,” Swinney said. “But I haven’t seen that.”
Swinney repeatedly talked about leaning on his faith, saying, “I know God never says oops.”
“This is a tough time, but a lot of great days [are] ahead,” Swinney said. “Tough times make you appreciate the good ones even more. There’ll be a lot of good ones, and I don’t have any doubt this will make us all better.
“There’s no quit in these guys. There’s no quit in this staff.”
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