Swinney: There is no carryover

Don't ask head coach Dabo Swinney about his team's impressive accomplishments and winning streak because, according to Swinney this team has not done anything.

CLEMSON— The Clemson Tigers own the nation's longest winning streak in college football after they finished the 2018 season 15-0.

And the list of accomplishments do not stop there.

Clemson enters the season riding a streak of eight-consecutive 10-win seasons, tied for the fourth-longest streak in FBS history. Clemson is 97-15 dating back to the first 10-win season in that stretch in 2011. 

The Tigers have exceeded their preseason Coaches Poll ranking every year since 2011 and have exceeded their preseason AP Poll ranking in seven of those eight seasons, with the lone exception coming in 2013 when Clemson both started and finished the season at No. 8. Clemson’s unprecedented eight-year streak of finishing better than its preseason ranking in the Coaches Poll will come to an end by default in 2019, as the Tigers open the inaugural 2019 poll at No. 1.

But don't ask head coach Dabo Swinney about his team's impressive accomplishments and winning streak because, according to Swinney this team has not done anything. 

"We got a bunch of guys on this team that haven't won a game too. So, it kind of balances itself out," Swinney said. "That's what we do, that's a part of our culture here and that's why we've been so consistent. Somebody asked me at the media days, 'Oh man, how are you going to handle it now? Y'all are the hunted.' And I'm like, well, it's just kind business as usual. We've had eight 10-plus win seasons in a row, every time we show up to play that other team wants to beat us. That's not anything new this year.

"For us, we have a process that we believe in, that we go through each year, and it doesn't start now—it started back in January, we're just entering a new phase of the journey for this team. Again, our program has won 15 in a row. People want to talk about streaks, this team ain't won one. They ain't won a game. Haven't played a game, haven't won a game."

Swinney believes that a main factor in the success that his program has experienced over the last eight seasons is a direct result of the belief that they truly do start over each and every season.

"There is no carryover. But I think the best part of our program has been the buy-in to that year after year after year, and it's allowed us to be very consistent and one of the more consistent teams in the country," Swinney said."We start over, we don't assume anything. We've got to be unbelievable teachers this year. I do think we've recruited well, but we've got to be able to connect, teach and we've got to be able to develop well. 

"This team, it's our job to go meet them. We've got a lot of guys who have a long way to go."

For Swinney, the difference in the 2018 team and the 2019 team can be summed up with a couple of numbers: 80 and 60.

This year's team features 80 freshmen and sophomores, compared to last season when the Tigers had 60 juniors and seniors on their team. Those numbers may scare a lot of people, but for Swinney it is part of the challenge that he loves so much.

"Last year's team, I could walk out of my office and I would meet them right there—that's where they were with that team, right out of the gate," Swinney said. "This team, I've got to walk out of my office and I've got to walk all the way to the indoor facility. We've got to meet them where they are. 

"There's a different gap from a coaching and a teaching standpoint, so we've got to do an unbelievable job as a staff in getting this group together. The challenge is the same, you've got to have that change and that character, but this team, I think the biggest thing is: Can we develop that chemistry?"