4 Things We Learned After a Week of Interview

1: Clemson is hungry:

This probably goes without saying, but this Clemson team has a distinctive appearance—focus. They are focused on not ending the 2021 season with a loss. In fact, super-senior linebacker James Skalski stated that not wanting to end his career with a loss was the No. 1 reason that he chose to return for a sixth year. I am not saying that I would bet on this team to win the entire thing, there are way too many variables, but I am saying I haven't seen a team this focused since 2018—when the Power Rangers returned to avenge a loss in the semifinals,

2: D.J. Uiagalelei is poised and already a better interview than Trevor Lawrence

Maybe it is because he is young and naive and honest, but Uiagalelei is a better interview than Lawrence was.

Lawrence was polished and professional and a true, genuine person, but Uiagalelei is all of the above with a dash of unfiltered enthusiasm built-in.. A lot of the players look for excuses to not show up to the media availabilities, I cannot tell you how many accidents and exams happen to fall on Monday and Tuesday. But Uiagalelei seems to genuinely appreciate and enjoy the media—and that is refreshing.

3: Someone is lying:

There is ZERO love between Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and FSU head coach Mike Norvell after last year's cancellation game at FSU.

According to Swinney, the Tigers took nine extra buses to Tallahassee to account for distancing if their symptomatic player did, in fact, test positive. Clemson will have their rematch in Death Valley on October 30th, and FSU spoke at ACC Kickoff for the first time since 2020 about the cancellation and impending matchup for the first time since 2019.

When asked if he'd talked to Swinney about his comments, Norvell gave a reluctant "not really."

While Norvell denies having spoken to Swinney, Swinney recalls things different.

"Yeah, I've talk to him about that. We flew in same time yesterday. So we actually got a car. It's totally fine," Swinney said. "We've been on the phone together conference calls together, committee together, talk to a bunch of times. I have no issue."

4: Dave Doeren still hates laptops:

NC State head coach Dave Doeren apparently still cannot stand technology.

“I’d like to know why there was a laptop on Clemson’s sideline that people were looking at, too,” Doeren said in 2017, following his team's loss to Clemson. “I’d like that to be investigated. Maybe they weren’t doing anything, but I was told it’s illegal to have technology on the sideline. So I’d like to know that as well.”

The statement prompted Swinney to respond.

“I did investigate,” Swinney said. “I did. I followed instructions to do some investigation, and I did. It turns out there was just a major crisis going on. There was a young guy trying to help a team in need, and I think, trying to be helpful in the situation. They were trying to get in touch with Amazon. We had a crisis. We were in dire need of towels, alright. We were trying to get one of them drones to come in and drop some towels on the sideline and it just didn’t work out."

Now, four years later, we learned that Doeren may still have an issue with laptops. At the ACC Kickoff, Doeren was asked about virtual learning and how last season was so difficult, his response is in line for someone who doesn't like laptops.

"Well, I didn't even know what virtual learning was 18 months ago, right," Doeren said.

Maybe he can come to terms that computers are not bad and will not take over the world—unless we are already living in the matrix?

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