Swinney's Tigers Will Always Stay Humble
After winning two out of the last four national championships, six in a row against in state rival South Carolina, five straight ACC championships and five straight College Football Playoff appearances, it may be easy, even after losing the 2020 CFP National Championship to LSU by a final score of 42-25, to lack the humility required to understand the magnitude of their accomplishments.
But for Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, there will always be a humility that permeates through his program.
"It's just a part of our culture. It's everyday in what we do, stay humble, stay hungry," Swinney said. " You guys got yo show up every day with something to prove, whether you're picked to win or you've got something to prove, you're that good you better go prove it. Or if your picked to stink and you don't think you stink, well you got something to go prove."
Swinney's teams have not been "picked to stink" in the last three seasons.
In fact, the Clemson Tigers are riding a never-before-seen bevy of praise, preseason accolades and high rankings in the polls. But even though the accolades have been flowing for the Tigers over the last six season, as they are currently the preseason favorites to win the 2020 national championship and are the way-too-early No. 1 team in the nation, Swinney is still preaching that his Tigers have to start over next season.
"I think that's just a mindset that you have to have all the time, that you have something to prove and you have to start over every single year," Swinney said. "You have to start over. There's no guarantees. And so for us, it's just starts in our messaging, in how we talk to our players, when we start over in the spring. It's our strength conditioning program, how we work and grind through that and just no entitlement. You have to earn everything.
"That's how we do it in our program. That's the way it is in real life. And you know, that's the way it is on the football field."
