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CUTrevor
2018-11-07 11:32:57
I'll have audio and transcripts for Dabo and Steve Addazio in a bit! We'll also have our post-practice interview with Dabo, as always this evening. Stay tuned! |
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CUTrevor
2018-11-07 11:49:09
DABO: Good morning. For us, we're excited about our last road trip for the season. This is it for us. Last true road game for our seniors. This has really been a special group of seniors that we've had in our program for the last several years. Kind of the end of the road, if you will, from a road game standpoint. Not just any game either, an opportunity to compete for our division, opportunity to stay in control of our destiny. There's so many great things to compete for in this game. It's Game Day, so there will be a lot of excitement. 8:00 game. Man, we got a huge challenge in Boston College. Really impressed with their team. They've gotten better and better as the year has gone. Tough, physical, well-coached team on both sides of the ball. Do a great job in special teams. No doubt, this will be a great game. I think two teams that have a lot of pride in what they do and how they do it. Only one team can win. Excited about this challenge. Q. Before the season, was there an area of your team you were most curious about that you've now gotten answers on? DABO: Quarterback. I mean, I think for sure, you know, coming into the season we knew we had a very competitive battle, kind of how was that going to all play out. I think that's for sure the one. Q. You obviously had a lot of guys back, especially areas like the defensive line. Have you guys been able to do more with them or just do the same things that have made you successful for many years? DABO: I think you definitely can do more with a veteran player just because they just know more. They're so much more experienced. Like anything, the more experience you get in something, the more comfortable you get, the more you can handle, more you can do and process. But you're only as good as your weakest link. Fortunately for us defensively we have a very veteran group. All those guys on defense have all got good experience coming into the year. We've been able to do a lot with them. Q. Obviously you haven't had a close game in a while since the Syracuse game. What have you been doing in practice to make sure your team keeps that edge in case you have a four quarter battle on your hands this week? DABO: Well, we do a lot of good on good in practice. We compete. Even on Mondays, we do a little bit of good on good. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays with pads on, we keep a pretty sharp edge because the competition on our practice field is pretty tough. But we go into every game expecting a four quarter battle. That's just our mindset. We don't go into any games thinking anything different. We respect every opponent, prepare the same every week. I think that's the biggest thing. We try to prepare the same every week, prepare our team for a four quarter battle. If the game goes different, then you respond in the course of the game. But I think every week our guys have that mindset. Q. What are you most satisfied with with your run defense as you get ready for the Boston College running game? DABO: Well, we lead the country right now I think in yards-per-carry defense. I think we're only giving up two point something a carry. They've been very consistent. We've done a good job up front. That's the main thing: just consistency in their performance from start to finish. We're going to need that. We're going to need to be who we are Saturday night. These guys know how to run the football. That is for sure. We've been challenged with many different styles of play, whether it be triple option, spread, you name it. This is another style of play that's going to be a big challenge for us. Q. With Christian Wilkins making his last trip to Massachusetts as a college player, how has he evolved as a player, how important is he to that success especially against the run? DABO: He's a huge factor in our success over the last four years, and certainly specifically against the run. I mean, he's a great, great defensive lineman. He's one of those rare guys that was an impactful player as a freshman. I mean, really came in here and made a huge difference for us. As he's matured, his body has changed, just his physicality, his strength, his recognition, the speed he plays with because of his knowledge, his confidence, his leadership. All those areas, he's just grown and grown and grown. He's a special young person, dynamic leader, a guy we're definitely going to miss. Q. You mentioned his maturity. Has that come a decent amount off the field? DABO: Oh, yeah. He's one of those guys, too, that really was kind of a leader the day he got here. Just very natural to him. He was a kid that was at a boarding school since the ninth grade, so he's very independent. I remember the first time I met him in the recruiting process, I came away, Wow, this is a really neat kid here. That's kind of who he is. He's one of those guys that's so engaged in so many different things, he's so much more than a football player. He's just dynamic, incredibly engaged in the community, seeks out opportunities to serve others. Just really proud of him. He's definitely one of the best leaders we have. Q. Do you have an example of that, what he's done with the community? DABO: This past spring he went and served as a substitute teacher. That's the first player I've ever had go do that that didn't have to do it. He's always serving his teammates. He does things that people don't see. He does some community service. He always stops and speaks to people, all kind of different ways. Q. Talk about last week, you as a father watching your son score a touchdown in college football. What was the feeling like? DABO: It was awesome. I mean, Will has grown up on the sideline here. When I moved here, he was four. Drew was three. Clay, my baby, was born here. They've literally truly grown up on this sideline. I got the job, I think, as the head coach, I believe Will was nine or ten years old. They've always been on the sideline. I've always given them little jobs to do. To now see one of my babies out there, first of all lets me know I'm getting older, but it's really cool to see anybody achieve a dream, but especially one of your children. I know how hard he's worked, how committed he is. It was awesome. It was great as a coach, and certainly great as a dad, especially to see his teammates so happy for him. |
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CUTrevor
2018-11-07 12:03:08
ADDAZIO: Well, having a chance to really spend a lot of time watching Clemson on tape, I have to say that I've always been really impressed with Dabo Swinney and the job that he's done at Clemson. But they're really just such a really elite coached team on all three phases. Their coordinators are phenomenal, and Dabo is just obviously a great head coach who's maintained a level of excellence at the highest, highest level with their recruiting, with the management of their program, with just really, really impressed, and I see a team that's probably as elite a team as I've seen in my career. So the challenge for us will be a great challenge for sure. Super excited about the fact that we are home. It will be a great deal of energy in our stadium, and we've had a good week of practice. We're looking forward to this big, big challenge that we have in front of us here, but have just the utmost respect for the whole Clemson program, their level of play, how they carry themselves. Just really very, very impressed. With that, I'm happy to answer any questions. Q. This is a homecoming game for Christian Wilkins. As you know, BC was his childhood favorite team, and he always thought he was going to go there until he decided to go to Clemson. Just wondering what you remember from recruiting Christian. ADDAZIO: You know, I remember Christian very well. First of all, he was a great player, but he had just such a great personality and a great presence about him, a wonderful, wonderful guy. Extremely talented. Obviously Clemson got themselves an elite player who is a tremendous role model for the university. Really enjoyed recruiting him and getting to know him, and I'm sure it's a great thrill for him to be able to come back up here and play in front of a lot of people that love to support him. Q. The Tigers held AJ Dillon to 57 yards on 18 carries last year. Obviously Christian had something to do with that, but what do you think they did so well as a team defense to be able to contain him last year? ADDAZIO: Well, you know, I think that you're talking about they've had an elite defense there and still do right now. Maybe their best. But just got really good players and really good scheme and do a heck of a job preparing themselves. Every year is a new year, and that's just the way that is. So here we come now, and we're going to hope that we have a healthy AJ Dillon and put together a good plan and see where those chips fall. Q. You mentioned having watched so much Clemson tape this week. What was Texas A&M able to do, especially in the second half, that no one else really has been able to do to sustain moving the ball against Clemson? I know it was all passing, but what specifically did they do? ADDAZIO: Well, I mean, I think they had a good plan in terms of attacking the coverage. They've got really talented players. I just thought that they did an excellent job in execution. You know, I don't really -- I didn't, per se, evaluate A&M, although I watched that very closely, but that's a talented football team, and they threw the ball well in the second half and were able to make some plays. You know, it's hard to make plays against Clemson. Very, very difficult. You've got to earn every one of them. They were able to make a few, and that's what you need to do. You need to be able to make a few plays. You need to be able to get the ball down the field, and it's hard. You're going to have a real hard time going down in increments of three and four yards the length of the field against the kind of defense that they have and the kind of players they have. You've got to create some explosives, whether you create it in the option game, create it in the downfield passing game, or you're just fortunate to hit a couple of big runs or play actions. You need explosives, and they were able to find them. Q. And then on your side defensively, watching Zach against Virginia Tech, has he been that good all year? ADDAZIO: Yeah, he's an elite player. He's made a lot of plays all year long, a lot of QB hurries, a lot of hits. I just think that I've been around a lot of guys, and his rare combination of power and athleticism and speed I think is probably surprising to some people. He's an elite pass rusher, but he's got great power, and he can really play well against the run. He's been dominant all year, and I would expect he'll be a real factor on Saturday night. Q. What you've seen out of Clemson, how much has their dominance over these last four games, how much does that have to do with the switch that they made to Trevor Lawrence at quarterback? ADDAZIO: Well, it's clear to me that Dabo and his staff, they know exactly what they're doing. Here's a guy that throws the ball really, really at a high level. I mean, he's very accurate, he's athletic, he can run the read zone game. But he's an elite thrower. And so it gives them a dominant run game and a dominant throw game. He appears to have tremendous confidence and poise to him, as well. You know, I heard Dabo say they had three great quarterbacks, now they have two, but it's a testament to the way they've recruited. I mean, to have the level of quarterbacks they have on their roster is very, very impressive. Trevor is a guy that's very talented. Super talented. And I think he gives them that real dimension of a real dominant thrower that complements their sensational run game. Q. Obviously their backs are really good, too, so what kinds of problems does it present for a defense when you're trying to put together a game plan when they can both run and throw equally as well? ADDAZIO: You know, it's really difficult. I mean, on top of it, and we're not talking about how good their offensive line is, I'm a line guy, and I've always been very impressed with the level of coaching that happens with their offensive line. I think they're really fundamentally good. They're tough. So I think you have a really good offensive line that can create the openings for the backs, and I think they can protect the quarterback really well. As you said, I think they're a super talented backfield. Then how about the receivers? They've got big receivers that go up and catch the ball and a quarterback that can get it there. That's why they're so dominant. When you watch them on offense, you don't look and say, well, we have a little weakness here or we have an advantage here. You just see a really talented, well-rounded offense full of very good players with a very good scheme, and they're coached well, coached very, very well. And I would say that about both sides of the ball. I think Brent Venables is an elite coordinator, and it's very difficult. He does a phenomenal job of putting them in the right schemes, obviously with some really fantastic players. They've got a great coaching staff, so they've got the players, they've got the staff, and that's why I said earlier that I'm not just saying this now, I'm just telling you exactly how I feel, that I just really, really marveled at the job that Dabo has done, to be able to sustain -- not just to get there but to sustain that kind of dominance in terms of the program I think is just remarkable. That's a special deal. Q. I wanted to ask you what AJ Dillon's status for this week is, and also given how you've played the last three weeks, do you feel like you have the kind of team that can give Clemson a game for four quarters? ADDAZIO: Well, first off, AJ is a day-to-day guy. He's done a fabulous job of managing his injury, and we just kind of get through the week, and each week we hope we gain on it a little bit. But he's doing well. In terms of I think your last part of the question was can we play four quarters, I would say to you that we'll show up and we'll play four quarters. I mean, we're going to come out and play as hard and as fast and as relentless as we can possibly play, and we're going to make it as physical a game as we can make it. With all the respect in the world, as I've said here, for this Clemson program, which is genuine and real, you know, we're competitors, and we're excited about the opportunity, and we're going to give everything we have on Saturday night. You can rest assured of that. |
