{"id":258456,"date":"2025-10-29T10:02:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T10:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/258456\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:02:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T10:02:12","slug":"dabo-swinney-on-klubnik-injuries-offensive-woes-fired-college-football-coaches-duke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/258456\/","title":{"rendered":"Dabo Swinney on Klubnik, injuries, offensive woes, fired college football coaches, Duke"},"content":{"rendered":"

CLEMSON \u2014 Late Tuesday morning Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney<\/a> addressed members of the media at his weekly news conference, this time to reflect back on an open date and extra preparation for Saturday\u2019s opponent \u2013 Duke<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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The Tigers (3-4, 2-3) will host the Blue Devils (4-3, 3-1) at 12 p.m. ET. Clemson remains a 3.5-point favorite at BetMGM<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The following is an abbreviated transcript of Tuesday\u2019s presser. <\/p>\n

Opening Statements<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re ready to get back into the fight around here. Last week was a great week, great prep. I\u2019m proud of the guys and how they got back to work. We also spent a day helping build a habitat home. That was a great thing for our players to experience. We got to meet the homeowner as well. A good weekend. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got some guys in a better spot today from an injury standpoint. We\u2019ll put out an injury report on Thursday. Today and tomorrow we\u2019ll ramp up practice and see who\u2019s game ready and who\u2019s got some work to do and then we\u2019ll report that on Thursday. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m proud of our guys. There has been some disappointment this season, but also some positives within our team. T.J. Parker<\/a> got married last week. That\u2019s an awesome thing. If he doesn\u2019t come to Clemson, he doesn\u2019t meet his precious wife. A cool moment for them. <\/p>\n

\u201cHomecoming this week. I know there is a lot going on there. I know the students are resilient and they\u2019ll figure out a way to make it a great week. We\u2019ve got 33 days left in our season. It\u2019s crazy and it has flown by. I\u2019m thankful that we still have an opportunity to go compete and be the best version of ourselves and have the best possible finish we can have. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cDuke is another great opponent. It\u2019s one of the best executing offenses in the country and they do it at a high level. It starts with their elite quarterback. He\u2019s a special player. They are well-coordinated. You give them a patch of grass, they take it. They do a nice job of moving him from different launch points. They take five, six, seven shots a game. They\u2019re aggressive. They\u2019re coming off a tough loss against Georgia Tech<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey play well together up front. Their receivers are very good players, they\u2019ve got good backs, good players all around. Their tight end, No. 85, is very crafty. Really good offense \u2026 460-something yards a game. We have our hands full. We have to play well and execute at a high level and eliminate big play busts. We have not done that. We have to find a way to take the ball away and do good job on the perimeter. <\/p>\n

\u201cOn the other side, same thing. Very aggressive defense. A four-down group, downhill linebackers and a lot of tight, man coverage. They\u2019re a group that wants to force the issue. They have a really good front. No. 97 and No. 7 are two of the better ends we\u2019ve seen. I really like their linebacker group. They have an All-American at corner. Well-coached group. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to play complementary football. Our last outing we didn\u2019t do that. We have another opportunity this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Did Cade Klubnik<\/a> practice at all yesterday?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cHe did. He did.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: What do you make of your offensive line and the injuries you\u2019ve had there?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cIt\u2019s been frustrating. This group we\u2019re playing, they\u2019re a veteran group but they\u2019ve had continuity there. We\u2019ve had a lack of continuity for sure and we\u2019ve had to mix and match. Tristan<\/a> has missed a good bit of time, Sadler<\/a> has had some ups and downs and Walker<\/a> has been available a couple of games but not a full version of himself. 85-percent of Walker is probably as good as it\u2019s going to get. Elyjah<\/a> has been missing. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve still got enough. We have to take what we\u2019ve got and make it work. Blake<\/a> has been very steady for us. We\u2019ll see. Hopefully we\u2019ll get some good news on Elyjah this week as they re-evaluate him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Sadler was good news?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cBest case scenario. I\u2019d say there is a chance (he plays Saturday). Big day today and tomorrow. Best-case scenario for him and Wesco<\/a>. Wesco\u2019s situation was really scary. I\u2019m just thankful. That was a tough Sunday at the hospital with him and his family. We\u2019ll be cautious with him in the spring. We\u2019ll keep him away from contact.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Was Cade a full participant at practice last night?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cHe did everything we asked him to do last night.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: How much self-scouting did you do during the open date?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cWe self-scout ourselves every week. We cross-scout every three games. The defense studies the offense and vice versa. We\u2019ve done that for years around here. We do that to prepare for each opponent, too. Our defensive staff studies the opponent\u2019s defense and vice versa for collaboration purposes. I would think most teams do that. Definitely, a big self scout (during the open date). You look at what you need to address whether it\u2019s scheme, tendencies or personnel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Have you seen a difference in Christopher Vizzina<\/a> since the second half of the SMU game?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cYes. That was huge for him. He just hadn\u2019t played. We\u2019ve seen a lot of progress. We practice this game far more than we play it. You play about two percent and practice about 98-percent of the time. He\u2019s gotten better, but you want to see him go play and he did that. He\u2019s played the last three games. I thought he did a nice job. I don\u2019t think we did a great job of helping him in some areas. He was 29-of-42 and we had four or five drops, too. I thought he competed his butt off. It\u2019s not easy to do for a guy who hasn\u2019t played. It\u2019s given him a big shot in the arm. Now he\u2019s got something he can hang his hat on, something that\u2019s tangible. He\u2019s got something that he can google. It\u2019s given him some confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: The announcement was just made about the Palmetto Bowl possibly being played on Black Friday. Your thoughts?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cI don\u2019t know. They\u2019ve asked me about that here. I\u2019ve always voted for it here on Saturday. We just need to beat Duke this weekend. If they want to move that game, that\u2019s their decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Where is Jeadyn Lukus<\/a> now in your rotation?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cHe\u2019s just competing. Ashton<\/a> played well. Avieon<\/a> has played well. They\u2019ve played at a high level for us. Ashton has really settled in. I guess Mike<\/a> just didn\u2019t put him in last week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: What\u2019s been your biggest obstacle at safety with depth?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cThey\u2019re just playing the guys they think give us the best chance to win. That\u2019s really it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Anyone behind the scenes starting to stand out?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cAbsolutely. Blanchard<\/a> and Brooking<\/a>, we think they\u2019ll be good players for us. We\u2019ve held them. We like Bentancur<\/a>. We think he\u2019s got a bright future. Logan Anderson<\/a> has a chance to be a really good player. We have several guys like that all throughout the roster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: You said last night you wished the running backs behind Adam<\/a> had gotten in more. <\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cWe didn\u2019t do a good job of managing the reps. Sometimes coaches get caught up in the moment. We have to do a better job of managing the rotation. These guys have demonstrated that they know what we\u2019re they\u2019re doing. We have to do a good job of committing to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: What\u2019s been the key to TJ Moore<\/a> progressing?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cGrisham<\/a> has done a great job with that group all across the board. Antonio Williams<\/a> has come in here and has developed into a star. That was Grisham\u2019s first signing class \u2026 Adam and Cole<\/a>. Adam is in a different role now. Tyler Brown<\/a> has developed \u2026 all those guys. T.J. is a second year player. He had some big moments as a freshman. He\u2019s just maturing with his understanding of the big picture of the offense and defense. He\u2019s a smarter player but still has work to do. I\u2019m proud of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Where is Juju Preston<\/a> now in his development?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cHe\u2019s cooking. He\u2019s in the crockpot. He\u2019s one of those guys that we see flash at practice. I know he looks like this microphone but he\u2019s put on 15 pounds. He\u2019s developing physically. He\u2019s always played big. I\u2019ve been proud of Juju. When he showed up, you could tell he was overwhelmed. He has bought in. He\u2019s been one of the best guys in Power Hour. Hopefully he\u2019ll have a chance to get some snaps throughout the rest of the season. He can play in four of those games. He\u2019s practicing and competing. He\u2019s a kid \u2026 the arrow is up by his name. He has attacked the weight room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Some of these coaches who have been let go with $50 million buyouts, what does that say about the state of college football now?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cIt\u2019s a season of chaos. It\u2019s the world we live in. It\u2019s crazy. It\u2019s a crazy profession we signed up for. It\u2019s hard. You have a lot of really good coaches who have won a lot of games but they\u2019re getting fired because they haven\u2019t won championships and you have others who have won championships that people want fired. It\u2019s like a blood sport. People love to see people get fired. There\u2019s a part of society that likes to see that. It\u2019s all about the playoff. You don\u2019t get much time anymore. I think John Wooden, it took him 17 years before he won a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Was there more of a focus to getting the running game going during the open date?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cAbsolutely. We didn\u2019t play well inside. I didn\u2019t think we did a good job putting it together against SMU<\/a>. It\u2019s not about rushing for 200 yards. It\u2019s about being efficient. The group we\u2019re playing is 82nd nationally in rushing but it\u2019s because they\u2019re third nationally in passing. It\u2019s not because they\u2019re a bad rushing team. To me, it\u2019s about being efficient. We\u2019ve done a lot of good things in the passing game, but we\u2019re not running with the type of efficiency that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: What will it take for you to work Tyler Brown in more this season?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cProbably Antonio graduating. There\u2019s only one ball. With Wesco being down, that will create more opportunities for Tyler, Tristan<\/a> and Cole. He plays our slot, but we have a pretty good guy there in Antonio. When we\u2019ve gotten in a rhythm, you\u2019ve seen all those guys have opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Is any coach safe anymore who\u2019s not consistently making the playoffs?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cSimilar to the NFL in that regard. I\u2019ve been fortunate here because I\u2019ve been the head coach here for 17 years with a long track record, but they could get rid of me tomorrow. You have to win your fair share. I do think it\u2019s unfair. There are 136 teams. There are 17 teams playing for one championship in this league. We\u2019ve won it eight of the last 10 years. We won\u2019t win it this year. But yes, there are a lot of great coaches who have lost their jobs because they haven\u2019t won championships. There aren\u2019t many coaches who have won championships. If that\u2019s the way it\u2019s going to be, it\u2019s going to be hard to have a program. <\/p>\n

\u201cCoaches don\u2019t make those decisions. Administrators do. How much do they believe in the people they hire? It\u2019s a process. Football is hard. It\u2019s a few plays. It\u2019s a ball bouncing one way or another. It\u2019s momentum, confidence, belief, injuries. There are a lot of things that go into it. You can make some quick judgments and set yourself back. Some people will be patient and some won\u2019t. Look at Tony Elliott<\/a>. They hung in there with him and stayed the course after three straight losing seasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long was Frank Howard was here? He had 11 seasons where he started out 1-3 or worse. I probably won\u2019t get that. Clemson people are loyal, committed, people. Very patient. We won nine my first year and six my second year. We lost five in a row to the Gamecocks and they were patient with me. They\u2019ve been patient with me. Clemson people are incredibly patient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: So you wouldn\u2019t worry about your job with another off year next year?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cI don\u2019t worry about anything. I give all the glory to the good Lord. The good Lord orders my steps. When I got fired at Alabama<\/a>, I knew God had a plan then. Nothing has changed. I don\u2019t worry about things I don\u2019t control. I just do my best everyday. I just try to live my life and help people and serve people and teach.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Who are you referring to when you talk about wanting you fired? <\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cJust random people, whomever. We have a world now that is loud. It\u2019s really loud if you listen to it, but I don\u2019t participate in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: How often do you have conversations with other coaches about the current state of college football?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cAll the time. All the time. I\u2019ve got a lot of friends in this business. I spend a week with about 18 coaches in February. We solve a lot of problems. It makes us feel better for a minute. It\u2019s hard to really understand the totality of this job when you haven\u2019t done it. There are a lot of people in and out of coaching that I talk to. It\u2019s part of it. We\u2019ve been incredibly blessed here, but we\u2019ve had a lot of great years, a lot of great moments. Ain\u2019t nothing different. This one hasn\u2019t gone the way we wanted it. This team has done the work. It\u2019s my responsibility to get the team where they can be and it hasn\u2019t worked. It just hasn\u2019t worked this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: Are you trying to get that extra year with Tristan Smith?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cI think he deserves it. I don\u2019t know how he couldn\u2019t based on some of the precedents out there. It would be a shame for him to not have the same opportunity other kids have had. We\u2019re going to support him in that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Question: With Brian Kelly<\/a> out, you\u2019re now the second winningest coach in college football behind Kirk Ferentz<\/a>. Did you ever think you\u2019d see that?<\/p>\n

SWINNEY: \u201cThat\u2019s good to know. We\u2019ve actually won some games. It\u2019s God\u2019s plan for my life. It\u2019s nothing I\u2019ve done. God has put the right people in my life. I would have never dreamed that I\u2019d be the winningest coach in the ACC or Clemson. I never thought about it. I just go to work and put my head down. I don\u2019t think about it. It\u2019s God\u2019s plan. He gets all the credit for that. I\u2019ve had great coaches and unbelievable support in the administration. I\u2019m thankful for that. I\u2019m also encouraged by that, especially when you\u2019ve had a tough season. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m built from failure and it\u2019s how I\u2019m shaped. I\u2019m shaped from failure and pain. That\u2019s why I\u2019ve been successful. When you get into situations like this, you stay the course and have confidence. For me, I relish these opportunities because I\u2019m getting a chance to teach. I love to teach and mentor. I use the game to build and equip young men. We haven\u2019t had many of these opportunities. <\/p>\n

\u201cRight now we have to find a way to win November. We have to find a way to beat Duke. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy first year here, we lost 45-17 to Wake<\/a>. Kathleen drove up and had all the boys up. I\u2019d never been to Wake Forest. I was like, this ain\u2019t good. We were 5-4 and we were destroyed. We think we\u2019re getting fired. Me and Billy<\/a> were supposed to go recruiting the next day. We were recruiting a kid up in North Carolina and we came back and it was like, \u2018OK, I guess we\u2019re good.\u2019 Will and Drew got baptized that Saturday. Sunday we were back in the office. Monday came and we were still here. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe were playing Florida State<\/a>. We had a group of people who didn\u2019t quit, a group of people that came together and still had faith in the end of the story and we won 27-10. It was one of the greatest moments I\u2019ve ever been a part of. Charlie Whitehurst went off. Tommy Sharpe was our center, about 260 pounds. We just got hot. So it\u2019s never too late to become the best version of yourself. Then we beat Duke 40-7 the next week and then we beat the Gamecocks<\/a> 63-17. Next thing you know you go from possibly getting fired to going to smoke Tennessee<\/a> in the Peach Bowl. Coach Bowden gets coach of the year. We didn\u2019t let failure define us. <\/p>\n

DISCUSSION: Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on The West Zone Forum<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2008 I had a 3-4 team with five games to play in November and somehow, someway, we went 4-1. We were 4-4 in 2023 and went 4-0 in November and it gave us some juice into the following year. So you keep going and focus on what you can control. You keep getting up and battle. If you keep doing that, you\u2019ll break through.<\/p>\n

DISCUSSION: Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on our off-topics forum<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can fight for these seniors and we can have a blast fighting for Clemson. We have one of the longest postseason eligibility streaks in college football history. We can still accomplish some things. Where you focus is where your energy flows. We\u2019re going to battle everyday.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CLEMSON \u2014 Late Tuesday morning Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney addressed members of the media at his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[121561,399,398,396,397,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-258456","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-football","8":"tag-dabo-swinney-90-pelham","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-ncaa","11":"tag-ncaa-football","12":"tag-ncaafootball","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=258456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/258456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/258457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=258456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=258456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=258456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}