Swinney: 'I Dream Big'
Back in 2010, if Dabo Swinney had been told that in a few seasons, his program would appear in three national championship games, claim two titles and be in position to win a third — and its fourth in school history — the Tigers’ head coach would not have been surprised.
In fact, despite all of Clemson’s accolades since Swinney took over midway through the 2008 season, the Tigers were a bit off from the lofty vision he had for the team.
“I said in 2010, after a six-win season, we're fixing to have the winningest decade in Clemson history,” Swinney said. “I dream big. Actually, we're a little short. I dreamed a little bit bigger. We missed a couple, but we've had a great run. It's been an unbelievable decade.”
Swinney said No. 3 Clemson's performance on the field can be attributed to coaches and players always being focused on the future.
“We've stayed committed to the purpose of our program, and it's been a great decade,” he said. “But as I told them, we've got a windshield mentality in our program. That's why we're consistent. It is always about what's next.”
On the opposite end of the spectrum, No. 1 LSU, Clemson's opponent in the national title game Jan. 13 in New Orleans, hasn’t been to the dance in the College Football Playoff era. Unlike Clemson, none of LSU’s players have experienced that atmosphere. LSU won the BCS National Championship Game in 2007 against the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Swinney said he didn’t necessarily think Clemson had an advantage having played in the title game in recent years.
“No. I mean, it’s always good to have experience, but we won the national championship with a true freshman quarterback last year,” he said. “That was supposedly a disadvantage for us, a guy who hadn’t been there. So I don’t buy any of that stuff.”
Clemson still has a lot of younger players on its team, he said.
“I love having experienced guys that can lead, but we’re a really young team,” Swinney said. “We’ve got, again, 80 of our 120 are freshmen and sophomores. So they haven’t been in four out of the last five national championships. Our program has, so from a program standpoint, I think that it definitely – from a preparation and those type of things and the seniors that we do have – these guys, these fifth-year guys, have been here for four out of the last five. So, they have a good clear visual, but we don’t have many of those guys. We’ve just got a few.
“So it’s fun. But that doesn’t give us any type of edge or anything like that. It comes down to who these two teams are and who plays the best on that night, those four quarters, and finds a way to get it done.”
Senior linebacker Chad Smith, who has participated in all of the Tigers’ recent national title runs, said that while having the experience of competing in the playoffs was important for players, the team will prepare for LSU the same way it does each team throughout the season.
“Being able to draw back from their experience and how they approached that game is going to be important for the young guys because we have such a young team, to be able to rely on those older guys and how they go about their preparation,” Smith said.
“And really it doesn’t change,” he added. “We treat it just like any other game. Yeah, it’s the biggest game on the biggest stage, but we wouldn’t have been able to get there if it wasn’t for our preparation in the previous games. So we’ve just got to approach it the same, with the same focus, with the same intensity that we prepared for each and every game and go out there and execute what we have game-planned.”
Sophomore quarterback Trevor Lawrence echoed those sentiments.
“I know LSU is going to put together a great game plan, and they’re going to be ready,” Lawrence said. “Even though they haven’t played in a national championship, they’re not thinking about that.”
“Just knowing that you’ve been there before helps a little bit, especially with me,” Lawrence added. “... I know what I’m kind of going into and the stage and know the lights are a little bit brighter. It’s a big stage, but knowing we’ve been there before definitely does help a little bit.”
