Muse not worried about the criticism

Senior safety Tanner Muse took the stage Wednesday at the ACC Kickoff, and while he appreciates Swinney's praise for the secondary, he made a point that there are 11 players that have to play together for a defense to be successful.

CLEMSON — On Tuesday afternoon, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney shocked the media in attendance at the Tigers' annual media outing.

Swinney's shocking revelation did not have anything to do with a quarterback battle, as was the case last season. It also did not have anything to do with a player being suspended. Instead, it had to do with the position group he expects to be the surprise of the 2019 team, the linebackers and secondary.

Not only does he believe that this group will be the surprise group on the team, he went a step further, saying that he thinks that this may be the best group he has had in his 11 years as head coach.

"I mean I personally think that this could be as good a back seven as we've had," Swinney said. "I just really am excited about the personnel that we have. We'll have a little younger depth at linebacker, but I think we're athletic.

"I think we got guys that can run, guys that know how to play the game, and it's going to be a really good group," he said. "But Isaiah (Simmons) and (James) Skalski and Chad (Smith) — that's a pretty good starting point to go out there. And Skalski's one of those guys that the football world, y'all know who he is, but the football world didn't really know who Skalski is, but if he stays healthy they will."

One member of that secondary, senior safety Tanner Muse, took the stage Wednesday at the ACC Kickoff, and while he said he appreciates Swinney's praise for the secondary, he made a point that there are 11 players that have to play together for a defense to be successful.

"Makes me feel pretty good," Muse said. "We've had some good back sevens in the past. For him to say that ... me being one of the seniors, a part of, that I feel very privileged and honored. But it doesn't stop there. We have 11 guys on the field, so that seven has to really lead the other four to be able to all work together as a cohesive unit.

"If you have one bad player on the field, it can end up in a touchdown. It really doesn't matter about what group's the best, as long as that defense is tip-top shape, all the bolts are tightened, then we'll be just fine."

Muse chose to return for his senior season citing "unfinished business."

"I had a really successful year, but I just felt like I didn't hit on everything I should have hit on," he said. "I got a lot of work to do in my game. I got a lot of things that I can get better at."

There is little doubt that part of that feeling came after the South Carolina game last season.

Following the game, which saw the Gamecocks throw for more than 500 yards, the Tigers secondary, and Muse specifically, came under fire from a small, but vocal, faction of the fanbase.

“I think that when you look at that game and you see what happened, a lot of the mistakes were caused by some of us trying to do too much and not trusting each other to do their job,” Muse said after the game. “I mean, we were embarrassed that night, and that feeling is not something that you get over in one game or a few games. That kind of performance stays with you for a while.”

On Wednesday, Muse was again asked about the criticism the Tigers faced last season, and he wasted little time setting the record straight.

"We got a bunch of things said about us after the South Carolina game," Muse said. "I thought we really proved ourselves against Pittsburgh. I think we kept them under 100 yards passing, which is unheard of in a championship-type game. That was really satisfying as a team. 

"Building that into the playoffs, doing what we did, a lot of guys coming out, having their come-out party, like Nolan Turner making that pick against Notre Dame. That was huge for him, being a confidence booster, putting different packages in. We really had all four of our safeties out on the field at the same time."

But for Muse and the Tigers' secondary, after having a successful postseason and silencing the doubters, the key for them this season will be to keep the proverbial chip on their shoulder, Muse said.

"That's just a big thing for us, just being able to have pride in our unit, just understanding that it's not about what the outside media is talking about," he said. "It's about what we have in our team, how we have our players, coaches, how we feel about each other. If there's a problem there, we're going to handle it. Outside stuff, really doesn't bother us. We know what we're about, how we do things."