Swinney talks about Parker's decision to return

Swinney said the he thought the lure of Clemson and Death Valley had a lot to do with Parker’s decision.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Jul 21 17:05:14 GMT-04:00 2010

CLEMSON – Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said that the news that quarterback Kyle Parker was returning for the 2010 football season created quite a buzz around the Clemson campus – and even with some former players as well.

A happy Swinney met with the media in the West End Zone Wednesday afternoon to talk about Parker’s announcement, and said that it even prompted a call from C.J. Spiller.

“I am awfully excited about the news about Kyle Parker,” Swinney said. “It is a great situation that has created a lot of buzz, and there are a lot of people talking about it. I actually just hung up with C.J. Spiller, and he is all fired up about Kyle coming back, and it got me to thinking. Since C.J. has yet to sign his contract, and it wasn’t fair that he wasn’t invited to the Heisman Trophy ceremonies, he should have another year of eligibility and we’ll bring him back for another year.”

Swinney said that he watered his lawn, washed his car and cleaned out his garage late Tuesday night as he waited for the call from the Parkers, but once he got the call just after midnight and actually talked to Kyle, he was pleased with how determined Kyle sounded.

“Kyle seems to really be at peace with his decision,” Swinney said. “There was a peace in his voice, and you could tell he had his jaw set and that there was a resolve in his voice. He said ‘let’s go play some football.’ You have to give a lot of credit to the Parkers, they were first class in the way they handled this. I have never had to deal with a situation like this before, but they did a good job of keeping me in the loop.”

He also added that he thought that the lure of Clemson and Death Valley had a lot to do with Parker’s decision.

“Kyle never told me that he didn’t want to play football,” Swinney said. “He still has the opportunity to lead the Tigers in Death Valley, and rub the rock and run down the hill, and what an opportunity that it. When it came down to it, he just stuck to his guns and didn’t waiver on what he felt like it would take for him to walk away from his teammates and Clemson and all that comes with it.”

Clemson offensive coordinator Billy Napier said he has been waiting on the Parker decision before beginning his offensive installation, and he’s glad to have a “proven winner” back at an important position.

“This is a huge step in the right direction,” Napier said. “This puts our team in the best position to be successful. No matter what you say, you can’t coach experience, and that cat has been out there and played 14 games and he is a proven winner. He has been productive as a player and our players have respect for that. We have to move forward now that this decision has been made. We have to get our focus back in a hurry. This takes the handcuffs off as far as the creativity-part early in camp. There will be no limits in what we can ask these guys to do.”

Clemson offensive lineman Dalton Freeman said he fully expected Parker to leave, but he was relieved when he heard the news.

“This is a guy who has been out there on the field with us,” Freeman said. “He knows the offensive line, and we’ve played in big games with him. He has taken us to an ACC Championship Game. You can’t replace that. I am just excited to have him back.”

Senior wide receiver Xavier Dye said that Parker’s return shouldn’t change expectations, however.

“We had the same goals no matter who the quarterback was going to be,” Dye said. “This is good from a standpoint that we don’t have to start over, or rebuild something. Kyle is a proven quarterback and that can only help us. But the expectation should be the same no matter what.”