Swinney still beating the ACC drum

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is not going to let anyone talk negative about his players, his team or his league

CHARLOTTE— Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney is not going to let anyone talk negative about his players, his team or his league.

In what has become a major storyline this offseason, the Tigers strength of schedule—or lack thereof—has come into question by many within the media.

Paul Finebaum, an analyst with the SEC Network, questioned the league's strength and, by proxy, that of the Tigers.

 "What the record would be if Clemson had to play an SEC schedule with road games at Alabama and LSU opposed to Wake Forest and Boston College,” Finebaum said. “Dabo is 13-5 against SEC teams. Saban is 57-5,” he added. “Which is more impressive? The SEC is the toughest conference in football. The ACC — outside of Clemson — is a clown show.”

Analyst Pete Fiutak seemed to agree, noting in a kind of backhanded compliment that while Clemson was undeniably “great,” if the team was placed in the SEC, the Tigers would be akin to Georgia; that is, a perennially competitive team, but rarely a top-echelon program.

“They might get through one (opponent) to get to a national championship,” Fiutak said. “But it’s one thing to go do what an Alabama’s done and go through LSU, Auburn, Mississippi State and the whole SEC world or else having to go through N.C. State – the Virginias of the world. It’s just a different animal.”

However, Wednesday, at the ACC Kickoff, it was Swinney's turn to take the microphone and, once again, beat the drum for the ACC.

Even after rolling through the league, with a 34-2 record over the last three seasons and defeating opponents by 20-plus points last season, Swinney is not hearing any ideas that the league is weak.

"We've had a lot of teams give us fits," Swinney said. "We've had some good wins and some games we've been able to get control of. I mean, shoot, we had three games with Louisville go down to the last play. Epic battles with NC State. I know Florida State this year was a different type of game, as they're transitioning. Unbelievable battles with Florida State, on and on and on.

Syracuse, (head coach) Dino (Babers) has just done an unbelievable job. It's a great place. It starts with him. I mean, he's put a good staff together. They have a good philosophy in place. They're well-coached. They recruit well. They develop well. You can tell that it's a relationship-driven program. He does a great job in connecting with his players. They play hard. They play hard."

While the Tigers head coach is going to beat the drum for his league, one fact remains: the Tigers are the hunted team. 

And probably will be for the foreseeable future.

"Yeah, it's kind of business as usual for us, to be honest with you. It's just what we do every year. We've had eight 10-plus winning seasons in a row, been very consistent. The reason for that is we start over. You heard these guys talk about it. Truly, we don't carry everything over. It's a new team, there's new challenges. You got to redevelop the leadership, reinstall the core values.

"That sense of urgency, we create that all the time. It's in our off-season, our strength and conditioning program, the way we practice, the way we meet and message with our team...For us, that's what we do. Then you got to continue to recruit the right people, develop your players. We've been able to consistently do that."