Swinney: I believe in what we are doing

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Sep 27 21:06:26 GMT-04:00 2009

CLEMSON -- Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney held his weekly postgame teleconference with the media on Sunday, and said the words that were certainly on everybody’s minds, especially after two weeks of torrential downpours.

“I am sure glad the sun came out today,” Swinney said. “I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see it again. Obviously a very disappointing, tough, tough loss. We had a chance to win the game and we were in a position to win the game and just didn't get it done. We looked at the film extensively on both sides, and there are a lot of positives to take out of it.

“But as I look at this team, I just believe in what we're doing and we're better. We're tougher. We're more physical. We're a closer team. We can't lose confidence in what we’re doing because we're doing the right things.”

Swinney said that he feels like he has a team that is on the cusp of winning games against good teams and ranked opponents, but now the onus is on the coaches to teach the players how to win.

"This is a team that believes it can win and they expect to win,” Swinney said. “Now we have to teach them how to win. One of the things we look at is are you getting better each week, and I do think we're getting better. We have to stay committed to the little things. We're not a national championship team yet but we could be a divisional title team and could be a conference title team.”

Swinney said that he stands by his decision to play against TCU, even though a weaker opponent would have been easier to schedule, and would have almost guaranteed a win.

"I'm glad we played TCU,” he said. “We could have played Central Michigan or Idaho. But I believe this is going to pay off for us. I don't think TCU is going to lose a game. I think this team will probably be undefeated at the end of the season. Utah might have a chance to beat them, but they're a really good team. Hopefully we can continue to get better. But I do think our experience with our schedule will pay off for us in the long run.”

Swinney said that there good things and bad things to take away from the loss, saying, “Some of the good things? We didn't have any sacks against a team that has the No. 1 guy in the country [Jerry Hughes]. I think we ran the ball on a defense that no one runs on. We had some key stops on defense. And I thought the effort was good.

“Some of the bad things are we missed a lot of opportunities on both sides of the ball. Their quarterback running hurt us. We gave up touchdowns in the red zone and then we missed a big, big field goal. We had a lead going into the fourth quarter and you have to win the fourth quarter. Again, I really like the mentally of our team. Now we have to teach them how to win."

Swinney was asked if he thought the Tigers had a fragile mentality at this point, and he bristled at the suggestion.

"This is a different football team,” he said. “We would have gotten blown out in Atlanta last year and we would have gotten pushed around a lot yesterday. We're a young bunch that's getting better, and that’s the bottom line. You look around college football and they're up and down. They win one and then they get blown out. You see our team and we’ve got two close losses and there's no value in that, but I do see us getting better. And that's what I have to measure it by. I don't think we're fragile by any stretch."

Swinney was also questioned about the lack of success in the red zone, and he said a lot of that lack comes down to lack of execution and play calling.

“We have to improve, but I like what we're doing,” he said. “We've played very conservatively down there and the execution hasn't been great. Saturday we were more aggressive. We had plays there to be made. Third down on the opening drive and we have a wide open guy and don't make the play. We make the right throw another time, throw the ball and there's a drop. There are a lot of things we have to continue to get better on. We have a young quarterback who has done a lot of good things. We’ve got some linemen I think are improving. But we have to continue to practice in that area.

On the injury front, Swinney said that the Tigers came out of the TCU game fairly healthy, saying that Spiller looked fine this morning and that Jacoby Ford, who had ice on his hand after game [he had it stepped on], was not listed on the injury report. Tackle Chris Hairston, who injured his MCL during the Boston College game, did not play against TCU, but Swinney said he should be ready to play against Maryland this Saturday.

“Hairston definitely plays if he's ready to play, “Swinney said. “We're not going to play somebody if they're not ready to play. He wanted to play Saturday, but he wasn't quite strong enough. I think by tomorrow evening at 6 p.m. when we practice, he'll probably feel a lot better than he felt Saturday. We’ll just continue to monitor that. My anticipation is that he will be able to play, but you never know.”

Swinney ended the press conference by talking about Kyle Parker’s decision-making ability and his need for improvement if the Tigers are to achieve their goals this season.

"He's got to get better, and he's learning every day, Swinney said. “He's doing a lot of good things. He's having some minuses that he's got to correct for sure, whether it's sticking with his progressions or sitting in there and delivering the ball. He's also making a lot of plays for us. We've got to get him better if we're going to make a run for it. We've kind of thrown him out there. But we definitely have a lot of room for improvement with Kyle."