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Dabo Swinney ACC teleconference transcript

Dabo Swinney ACC teleconference transcript


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Audio of Dabo Swinney's teleconference (MP3 Format)

COACH SWINNEY: Good to be with you

guys. I'm proud of our team and staff for where we

are right now in the season. We have got a lot of

work to do. It doesn't get any easier.

Just got another very tough, physical

opponent this week. And Boston College is typical

BC, they are tough, hard-nosed, well-coached, and

you know, five of our last six games against these

guys for whatever reason have been (decided by)

a touchdown or less.

So they beat us last year up there, and so

it's going to be a tough opponent once again. We

are just trying to have a great week of practice and

you know just see if we can keep getting better.

Home coming for us and we are excited about a lot

of people coming back and hopefully we can play

well on Saturday.

Q. Can you talk about how you went

about reassuring Dwayne AllenDwayne Allen
RS Jr. Tight End
#83 6-3, 255
Fayetteville, NC

View Full Profile
when you made

the changes in the off-season about what his

role would be in this offense, because I guess

he had some apprehension about it at first.

COACH SWINNEY: I just talked to him

and just told him obviously that I think he's a great

player and he's a guy that we have been trying to

involve since he got here. Just told him, I said,

listen, I'm interested in winning. You know, you're

going to have to trust me; that the changes that I'm

going to make are going to be the best changes for

the program, the team, but that you're going to be

a big part of this. Every thought I have, you're a

big part of it.

This guy is obviously a great weapon. So I

wouldn't be a very smart coach if you had a guy

like that and not involve him. And you know, he

thankfully trusted us and it's worked out great.

But you know, there was a lot of

misperception out there and people create their

own perception in putting all kind of garbage on the

Internet and all that kind of stuff, create -- you

spend half your time in this deal dealing with

problems that other people create that are not

even -- they are so far from reality, it's not even

funny. But you end up having to deal with it.

And a lot of people, oh, we are going to be

five-wides and all this kind of stuff, and just

nothing's further from the truth. We are a

power-oriented type of running football team that's

always going to involve a tight end, and especially

when you have a great one like we have got in

Dwayne Allen.

Q. What was the appeal to Chad's

offense when you decided to hire him?

Obviously the league has been hesitant to go in

that direction. You see it more in the Big 12

than we do in the ACC. What the was the

appeal to you for bringing him in?

COACH SWINNEY: It's what I wanted to

do for a couple of years. The timing of it was

perfect. Our quarterback situation was perfect. It's

what we were recruiting to, and it was just a good

time to make that change.

There was a lot of carryover. There was a

lot of similarities from what we were doing before

as far as just some of the schematic stuff: The

zone, the power, the counter; a lot of those things,

there's a lot of carryover. But I wanted to be able

to involve our quarterback more and all of the

elements that come with that. I wanted to have an

option threat involved in our offense. I really

wanted to attack more from a play-action

standpoint, especially down the field.

And all of those things were in place with

the system that Chad was running and I just felt

very confident. I kind of had a checklist of

everything I wanted, and as I went through my

process and met with Chad, it was check, check,

check, check, check, and then it was just a matter

of if the chemistry was going to be right. It couldn't

be better.

I’m just really happy that it all worked out

and we are playing pretty good.

Q. Does that offense work without a

player like Tajh or Sammy? We have seen

Oregon and Auburn in the National

Championship game, some pretty good players

and Boston College, which does not exactly

have the same personnel as you, or pick

another ACC team you are not playing this

week; is that one of the reasons why it's been

kind of successful?

COACH SWINNEY: Well, I don't think,

first of all, it doesn't matter what you do offensively;

if your players don't believe in it, you're not going to

be successful and vice versa. If they believe in it

and are totally committed to being great in

whatever system you're running, then you've got a

chance to be successful.

But there's no question, it all comes down

to the personnel. You've got to have good players.

I mean, listen, we run a lot of the same plays that

we have run, but they work a lot better when you

have got guys like Sammy WatkinsSammy Watkins
Fr. Wide Receiver
#7 6-1, 200
Fort Myers, FL

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and certainly

this type of system, you need a quarterback who is

mobile, who can move around and do some things.

That is a critical part of what we do, and we are not

going to be as effective if we have a guy that can't

move.

So it's definitely a part of it. But you need

speed, because you want to make people defend

every patch of grass out on the field and

everybody needs speed no matter what system

you're running.

So recruiting is the big key to success.

You have got to have good players and

everybody's got good coaches. Everybody's got

good coaches out there, and we have been

blessed that we have been able to recruit the last

couple of years and it's paying off for us in a big

way.

Q. Your defense was pretty impressive

there last Saturday is; did you just take step

forward with your defense or how do you

account for how well you guys played on

defense last Saturday?

COACH SWINNEY: We definitely took a

step forward. We have been improving. We had,

all year long, we had had some really, really good

moments where we played very well.

But we also had some very shaky

moments where we, you know, just didn't play well

in spurts, giving up some big plays, missing some

tackles and just doing some things that we can

control and improve and we worked hard and we

just, like I said, have gotten better, a little bit better

in areas each week and I thought we played

probably our best game against Florida State.

And then we continued that improvement

at Virginia Tech. We took another step. And so

that was really good to see as far as -- they got a

lot of yards, but I wasn't pleased with the amount

of yards after contact that they got. But we tackled

better. We defended every pass. We were

executing the call. We really did a good job with

our gaps and all that type of stuff.

I mean, really just played a very solid

game, and you know, we have had good practices

and we have got good leadership over there and

some of our young guys are stepping up for us.

But that's the kind of effort and commitment to

preparation we have to have every week if we are

going to continue to improve.

FRANK SPAZIANI - BOSTON COLLEGE

COACH SPAZIANI: Well, we are excited

about going down to play Clemson,

nationally-ranked team, a great venue, great

program, great coaches and certainly some great

players.

With that, questions.

Q. Can you talk about the problems

that Sammy Watkins presents? He's obviously

had a huge impact as a freshman at Clemson.

When you see him and compare him to the

other top receivers, seeing Gibbons last week

and Vernon and Varner the week before, what

does Watkins do that makes him so effective?

COACH SPAZIANI: Well, he's a lot faster

than a lot of people, that's the first thing. You

know, when you watch him, it's hard to fathom that

he is just a true freshman. He has tremendous

skills, quickness and speed. He's a handful.

Q. Is he a guy that you shape your

coverage for, to double him or try to take him

away and make him do other things?

COACH SPAZIANI: Well, I don't know if

we are equipped to do that, but you certainly have

to be aware of where he is and what he does, and

schematically do the best job you can to make sure

you try to neutralize him in the best things he does.

Once again, I don't know, you have to be

on a certain level to do some of those things. We

have to play our defense.

Q. Coach, Clemson tries to set up a

quick pace offensively, snap the ball inside 20

seconds or so, does that create problems any

more for teams, or do you see that enough that

you are conditioned to it?

COACH SPAZIANI: No, I think it creates

problems and I think people are starting to create

their hands around it. I don't think we have our

hands around it; we being coaches, that is, as

much as we are going to need to with many teams

doing it, and it's certainly been a problem for us.

It's certainly something that's a big concern.

Q. I assume that it just pretty much

limits, if not eliminates, in some circumstances

situations, substitutions.

COACH SPAZIANI: Well, you know, it's

not -- when they substitute, you're supposed to be

allowed to substitute and so there's a gray area in

there. But it poses problems, it does, yeah,

because of, you know, trying to get fresh people on

the field and matchups. There are a lot of

problems there. That's why they do it.

Q. I know this is a loaded question, but

can you explain or summarize why you guys

have struggled so much this season?

COACH SPAZIANI: That's not a loaded

question. That's straightforward. We have

struggled, and once again explaining is not

excuse-making. We are who we are and we never

have excuses.

We have had some -- what usually

happens when you struggle. We have a

leadership issue. We have very few upper class

seniors on the team. We have had the ones that

were upper class injured and hurt. And we have

had guys in and out of the lineup, and we have had

an inconsistency in our practice schedules that has

shown up and manifested itself in the games.

Once again, they are realities and nothing

that we didn't expect or obviously there's some

different things that happened that no one

expected. But injuries that came -- you know they

are going to happen. You just are not sure who it's

going to happen. So everybody is going have

them and you have to work through the problems.

I hope that answers your loaded question.

Q. Is there anything that you can do in

the second half of the season to reverse that?

COACH SPAZIANI: First of all, we are not

into the second half. You know, we are getting

better. Let me just say that, all right and once

again, the record is what it is. But there's

improvement. The young players that are playing

are getting better. The players are working hard.

There's a tremendous attitude.

And we go one game at a time. You know,

the whole idea from the beginning, and this is not a

revelation for programs, but is to get better as the

season goes along. We always are looking to get

better week-to-week. I guess that will improve in

the second half, won't it?

Q. To follow up on that, have you

resigned yourself to, we are going to need win

ballgames, 21-20, 23-20, that kind of thing, have

you resigned yourself to, that there's a certain

kind of ballgame you can win, you have to play

a certain way defensively?

COACH SPAZIANI: Resign yourself is not

the term I would have used. We look at our squad,

and we looked at it in preseason and we looked at

it in summer and we looked at it as we are going

along. We are always evaluating how we have to

play to maximize our chances to win, and we knew

we had to play different coming in in some ways,

and as things have unfolded, you know, that's --

we have not quite met the challenge doing that.

We understand that we have to make some

adjustments.

Q. So you knew you had to play a

certain way, so you privately saw this coming;

that it was going to be a struggle offensively

this year?

COACH SPAZIANI: Not privately. I've

been quite forthcoming with how we -- with what

we needed to get out of certain people and how we

had to play and what our role would be as coaches

and putting guys in the right .

Q. With all of those great receivers

outside Clemson has, how difficult is it to

handle their tight end, Dwayne Allen, who is

also a big, physical, fast guy?

COACH SPAZIANI: You're right, he's a

great football player. They have a lot of great

football players. And we usually do when there are

a lot of great receivers like that, we just don't cover

the decoys.

Q. You were asked recently about sort

of a comparison to last season when you got

started slow and finished strong and from what

I kind of read in the comments, you basically

shot down any type of comparisons. And I'm

wondering what your thinking was in doing

that, or is it a message to your players, don't

expect that you can magically turn things

around; some people might have thought you

were sounding kind of pessimistic with those

answers.

COACH SPAZIANI: You know, first of all,

I'm not pessimistic at all. I'm very optimistic. What

I was trying to say was, yes, there is certainly a

comparison in both years, the starts have not been

exactly what you would like. Let's put it that way;

the optimist.

But they are different teams with different

problems and certainly different circumstances.

And yes, we did it once and certainly you can build

on that, and you should. But it doesn't guarantee

and we are certainly working towards that. That's

what I was trying to say. I was in no way implying

pessimism, because that's not even a thought.

Matter of fact I'm very optimistic about the direction

we are going.

Q. What gives you some optimism?

COACH SPAZIANI: The optimism is that

we have a tremendous amount of improvement

that we can make. There's a tremendous amount

of potential.

Now, potential means you haven't done it

yet; but we have that. And it looks like it's a

function of time and we have to speed it up as fast

as possible. And we have kids that are working

hard, understand exactly what they have to do,

and they are coming out to practice and to get as

good as they possibly can be.

The guys that are out there every day are

getting better, and we'll all get better for it. That's

my -- there's a lot to be optimistic about.

Q. Montel, can you quantify where he is

physically at this point?

COACH SPAZIANI: Montel will be

day-to-day throughout, you know -- that's where he

is. It's taken a long time to get to this point, and

best answer I can give you is he's day-to-day.

Q. He's shown incredible grit to be able

to work through that.

COACH SPAZIANI: Well, Montel, I've said

it over and over again. Montel is a very special

person and he's certainly a very special player,

and we all recognize it here in BC.

Q. The other thing, curiously, this

Clemson/Boston College rivalry in the ACC has

taken on kind of an identity of its own,

obviously recognized with the trophy deal; but

just the nature of the games and the closeness

and some of the dramatic outcomes. Is it just

kind of a curiosity or is it -- do you have a view

of it?

COACH SPAZIANI: Yeah, I think

somebody asked that. I think early on, a couple of

the games had some implications. They had --

they were all important but some are exponentially

important with rewards and outcomes. So I think

that has taken it on, and they have got great fans,

and they have been for the most part competitive

games. So other than that, I can't really explain it.

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