Streeter says Dabo Swinney, players being involved in plays give offense confidence

DJ Uiagalelei and the Clemson offense are playing with confidence.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Oct 03 14:42:16 GMT-04:00 2022

CLEMSON – Clemson’s offense is gaining confidence at the right time, and part of that confidence comes from the fact that the players have input into what is being run.

The Tigers defeated NC State 30-20 last Saturday, and even though the offense didn’t score a ton of points or break 400 yards, it scored when it had to against one of the nation’s best defenses. The final touchdown was scored when head coach Dabo Swinney scripted a play during the last timeout – quarterback DJ Uiagalelei faked a handoff to the running back and ran a naked bootleg for a score.

Offensive coordinator Brandon Streeter told the media Monday that the entire unit is working together, and that unity breeds confidence.

“And it's given me a lot of confidence because it's important that during games we're communicating and it's not just the coaches communicating, it's the players,” Streeter said. “Communicating to the coaches what they see. And obviously, we can't run everything, but there are a lot of times that they see some things that we might not have seen or thought about, and it might just be a little tweak here or there that can make a difference in a game. Those suggestions are very critical because I trust those guys. I trust those guys out there on the field and they're giving a lot of good feedback. So that's helped a lot.”

Streeter said the players are sometimes able to glimpse something a coach might have missed in the heat of the game.

“I think it's something that I think gives them confidence in the coaching staff when you can ask for suggestions from them and it makes them more involved,” Streeter said. “And whether they're guys that are playing on the field or guys, we have a lot of guys on the sidelines that are watching a lot of things, whether it's the quarterbacks watching certain things, tight ends watching things, any position they're watching too. And so, when they give us those suggestions, it's something that we're definitely considering and adapting into that offensive scheme. So, it makes it fun and it makes it neat for everybody to be involved in other ways, not just being out on the field, but just being on the sideline and giving us some of those thoughts, too.”

Those suggestions even come from Swinney.

“Yeah, there's no doubt he's a big part of this thing, he's always been a big part of it and things that he believes in and things that he sees as a head coach in a different perspective,” Streeter said. “So there's definitely suggestions and thoughts throughout the game that we do and it's been a big help in a lot of different ways of his suggestions and things that he believes in has really helped us in a lot of ways, too.”