CLEMSON FOOTBALL

From Netflix and Chill to Georgia's defense: Best Clemson quotes at ACC Kickoff
Swinney speaks with media at the ACC Kickoff. (ACC photo)

From Netflix and Chill to Georgia's defense: Best Clemson quotes at ACC Kickoff


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CHARLOTTE, NC – The ACC Football Kickoff has ended, and Clemson was the last school to take center stage in the event. There are plenty of quotes to pass along and here are a few of the best from the final few hours.

For the record, we know that head coach Dabo Swinney, left guard Matt Bockhorst, and linebacker James Skalski are quote machines and they were their usual fantastic selves. But quarterback DJ Uiagalelei was the new star, showing an ease and poise in front of the cameras that belied his youth.

One media member was asking him to choose between two things – like day games and night games – and then she asked him if he preferred “Netflix and Chill” or a “night out.” He gave her a strange look, then wisely said a night out. Welcome to media days.

Uiagalelei was so at ease and so comfortable that one media member asked him if anything ever bothers him. Uiagalelei paused, and then smiled and said, “Yeah sometimes I worry about homework.”

He also said he started watching film on the Georgia defense – the Tigers and Bulldogs open the season in Charlotte on Sept. 4th – back during the spring. He said he believes you can never watch enough film.

ACC Kickoff Quotable

Bockhorst on Georgia being the next great SEC defense

“If SEC defenses are so good then why did we put 44 up on Alabama in the Championship game? You can quote me on that. Georgia has a great defensive line, but everyday in practice we go up against our guys. They're some of the best in the country and make us better everyday. Very excited to go up against the Georgia defense to open the season."

Uiagalelei on his similarities to Trevor Lawrence

“Some things I feel like are definitely unique, I think I'm a little bit bigger, heavier than Trevor. About 250 pounds. That might be something a little bit more unique. Trevor does a lot of great things. But I feel like our games are a little bit similar. I like to throw the deep ball a lot. I like to see how far I can throw it in a game. That might be one big thing. I feel like for the most part there's not a lot of differences, but we just both like to play football.”

Skalski on the accumulation of rings he has

"If we win any more rings this year, I'm going to have to double stack them. Or try and get them sized for my toes, but I don't know if they would fit on my feet. I guess we'll see."

Skalski on his role model

"Personally, I love Ray Lewis. In today's NFL I like Bobby Wagner and Fred Warner. Notice I'm picking out the six foot guys. I love the way they fly around the field and the way they prepare their body and minds for a game."

Uiagalelei on his Bojangles deal

“Bojangles is definitely a recent discovery. California, we don't have Bojangles down there. I remember one thing coming down here to the South, one thing I definitely learned is Jesus is number one here, then it goes football, and then it goes down people love Bojangles down here (smiling).

“My approach with the NIL is that I don't want -- I signed with a marketing agency, VaynerSports, with AJ Vaynerchuk and Gary V. The whole idea of that was to make sure my goal is I want to be a student-athlete. So school comes first. I want to graduate. I want to be a football player second. I want to make sure all my focus is on those two. In my off time I can have people worry about my branding, NIL and stuff like that. That's how I'm treating the NIL.”

Dabo Swinney on NIL

“I don't see it changing a whole lot as far as what we do. The goal of our program is graduating young men, developing great men, equipping them with tools for life, making sure they have a good experience and win a championship. It's been that way since 2009. I don't see that changing one bit.

This is just another one of those tools that we have to help, come alongside and equip them with. We've been doing P.A.W. Journey for 12 years. P.A.W. Journey is a curriculum, and it has been for a long time. We've been doing financial literacy, agent education, all these things, for 12 years.

There's a couple other pieces we need to add to that. We are. We've got internal teams, external teams. We've made it as easy as we can possibly make it. The biggest thing is help 'em, educate 'em, equip 'em, help them navigate any opportunities that some of them may have.

Like I said, the goal, the target has not changed at all. I think, kind of like a bowling alley right here, we all know what we're trying to do as a program, we kind of got to be the bumpers so that we can make sure they hit the target.

These are young people. This is a different dynamic. Easy for maybe some of them to lose focus on maybe the long-term and get distracted maybe by the short-term. So our job is educate, equip, help them navigate, making sure they have every resource they could possibly need, make sure we hit the long-term target that we're all after.”

Skalski on what he wants to see out of the Clemson defense this season

“It's the same every year. It's play good team defense, be in the top five in most of the categories. But for me this year, I just want to see all three levels playing together. I think last year was just a little dysfunctional at times. I think we have all the things we need to glue it all together and have a great defense.”

Skalski on opening against Georgia

“I mean, I'm very excited. It truly is the last one, so... I got to go out with a bang (smiling). We usually end our regular season in Charlotte. It's a pretty cool experience getting to play a team the caliber of Georgia in a place luckily we're familiar with. It's exciting.

“We're happy we get that caliber of opponent so that we can hopefully prove some people wrong.”

Uiagalelei smiles during a breakout session

Bockhorst on adding another game with Playoff expansion

“I would say I definitely share Coach Swinney's sentiment, that I don't necessarily feel comfortable adding another game. I think if we're going to talk about expansion of the playoff, we also need to consider shortening the regular season.

“As an offensive lineman, when you start getting up to 14, 15 games, that's quite a few snaps. Given the situation we were presented with last year with lack of depth, the snaps add up quickly. That's some wear and tear on your body that's hard to describe.

“I’m not here to get anyone's pity, but it's much easier said than done. That's where I stand.”

Bockhorst on the most memorable snap of his career

“I'm going to go ahead and couple those as the same one. When we played Alabama in San Francisco for the national championship, the 2018 season, John Simpson's helmet got knocked off in I believe the first or second quarter. Let's just say I did not anticipate to actually play in that game. I go out, run my happy butt out there, first quarter of the national championship game, line up against future top five pick, Quinnen Williams. Safe to say I did not run the play correctly. I came out the next play (laughter).

“That's how she rolls sometimes.”

Uiagalelei on his quarterback role models

"I like Cam Newton because of his size. I also really like Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes because of their playmaking ability and arm strength. My favorite quarterback of all time is Jeremiah Masoli who played at Oregon and at Ole Miss for a little bit."

Dabo on any advantage UGA may have with Derion Kendrick's transfer

“He’s a great player. It’s a tough challenge because he’s another great one. I love DK. I’m pulling for him to hopefully have a great year. Hopefully have a whole great season except for one game. DK is a young man I love deeply. Sometimes there needs to be a change for both sides. I don’t know if anybody’s been divorced or anything like that -- sometimes it’s best to go a different path. I’m happy he’s at a good place and a great program and he’ll be coached well there. I just want to see him finish well. It’s no different than...you’ll see more and more of (situations like this) with the transfer portal like it is. It’s no different than the NFL. Tom Brady’s got to play the Patriots this year. Hopefully, DK doesn’t have quite the intel that Tom Brady may have, but his familiarity is a plus for him but we’re familiar with him too.”

*David Hood, Brandon Rink, and Zachary Wagner contributed to this report.

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