Swinney: Our guys know how to win (with video)

Head coach Dabo Swinney, as much as he likes to say that each year is a new year and each team is a new team, the tradition of winning is something that he believes carries over year in and year out

CHAPEL HILL, NC—The Clemson Tigers are 25-4 in one score games—a feat that is incredible—and that record was aided by the Tigers' one-point victory over the North Carolina Tar Heels Saturday.

But for head coach Dabo Swinney, as much as he likes to say that each year is a new year and each team is a new team, believes the tradition of winning is something that he believes carries over year in and year out.

"Yeah, absolutely. Our guys know how to win, we know how to win, and that's our culture. We were built for games like that," Swinney said. "And North Carolina is going get there, Mack (Brown) will get them there. That'll be a game he can use to teach and inspire and motivate, because they ran with us, they played with us, they played their hearts out. Again, probably out played us."

While the fans and media may be caught up in margin of victory and gaining "style points" for beating up on lesser teams, Swinney believes it is all about winning the game that is in front of you.

"But again, at the end of day, you don't get style points about winning. And our guys have learned how to win," Swinney said. "And they've learned how to win close games, they've learned how to win big games. Last year, like I said, we were a team that went to the playoffs, and won one game by 27, another one by 28. And it was the same team that ... We barely beat Syracuse. We probably had another game or so in there.

"We barely beat Texas A&M, remember? What's wrong with us? Ain't nothing wrong with this. We're just college football. We just try to get better, just one week at a time. And you try to find a win. That's what we did."

But the Tiger faithful should not believe for a second that, while the Tigers are happy with their win, they are satisfied with their performance. They will go back to work Monday with a lot of coachable video—full of both good and bad—and a lot to improve on, but that is what excites Swinney.

"But we got a lot we got to improve. But I like the guys we've got, wouldn't trade them for anybody," Swinney said. "We got a good group of committed young people in that locker room. They care. And when you have people that care, you get better, we'll get better."