Boston College coach says Tigers are elite, but beatable on any given Saturday

Steve Addazio loves the competition that Clemson provides

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Jul 20, 2019, 8:01 AM

CHARLOTTE, NC – Boston College head coach Steve Addazio isn’t given to hyperbole, so when he gives an opinion on the other teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference, it pays to listen.

Addazio told the media this week at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte that Clemson’s 2018 team was elite and “head and shoulders” better than anyone else in the country, and he feels like the ACC is the elite conference in college football.

“Listen, they're an elite program. Two national titles themselves,” Addazio said. “We've had three national titles from the ACC in the last five years, which goes to show you that this is, in my opinion, and I think I'm qualified to make the statement because I've coached in most of these conferences, this is the elite conference in college football.

“You have three national titles in five years coming from this side of the division, one from Florida State and two from Clemson. Clemson is an elite program. I watched the playoff game, the national title game, all the games in between leading up to that.”

Addazio said Clemson’s 2018 team was better – by far – than any other team in the country.

“We can all agree that team was elite, head and shoulders above everybody else. Wasn't even close,” Addazio said. “So we play them every year. We played them last year. We've played them, I don't like to talk, it's not like darts, but we've played well against Clemson.

“I respect Dabo, everything he's done, not just in his program, but what he's done for college football and our conference. It will be an extremely challenging game.”

The Tigers currently own an eight-game winning streak against the Eagles and have also won 10 out of 11, but Addazio says his team has been close to beating Clemson and that any team can beat another in today’s landscape.

“What do you have to do to beat Clemson? Play your A-game, take care of the football, be able to run the football, find a way to disrupt them on offense,” Addazio said. “Those are easier things said than done. Very hard to do against them.

“They are recruiting at a very high level. But every team in college football is beatable now, every team on any given day. What we have to focus on is what we have to do to be the very best football team we can be. I think we're a physical team. I think that's a good way to start with physical toughness. We have play-makers. We just have to make sure when you play a team like a Clemson, you have to be playing your A-game. I would say that's not exactly earth-shattering commentary.”

Addazio said his team won’t back down from anybody.

“I've been in this too long, seen a lot of great teams. That's why you play the game every Saturday, man. You hat it up, play it,” Addazio said. “You play it hard for four quarters. In any level of football, college football, we got good players, they got good players. Let it all hang out and see where you end up in the end.

“But that's an elite football team and I'm glad they're in our conference.”