CUTrevor
2021-12-29 21:12:18
Tigers extend 10-win season streak to 11 years, 3rd-longest ever and 3 behind FSU and Bama! I'll have post-game interviews, notes and highlights posted in a bit! DABO: First of all, just really appreciate the
Cheez-It Bowl, all the people who worked so hard to make
this a great experience. We had a blast. We had a great
week. That is our eighth Bowl win in our last ten attempts.
The reason is, because we got good players, but they got
to buy into how we prepare. Those guys, they did an
amazing job of just getting ready. We had great
preparation in Clemson and we had great preparation
down here, and we had a lot of fun, too.
Just really proud of the team for getting ready. It was an
awesome experience for us. Congratulations to Iowa State.
That's a good football team. They were exactly who they
have been all year. You just know it's going to come down
to a possession. They are a scrappy team, but man, the
credit belongs to our players.
I don't know if y'all heard me out there, but we had 28
scholarship players unavailable tonight, 28. And, then two
more, Booth and Skalski, they are pretty good. They go
out, so 30. 30 scholarship players unavailable, and then
some pretty good coaches that are no longer with us, and
an AD sitting on the beach under an umbrella right now.
That's a lot that's gone on around these guys in the last
few weeks. I just couldn't be more proud of our staff. That's
a lot of players, nine guys that went in a portal somewhere
between September and whenever, and then 19 guys out
with injury, and we had three guys in the COVID protocol.
Most of them have been out all year.
For these guys to just continue to hang in there, the coaches continue to hang in there, and just find a way, all
kind of musical chairs up front. I'm just really proud of this
team.
To be sitting here 10-3, after starting 2-2 is just incredible.
It just speaks to the leadership and the character of the
young men in our program, the culture of our program, the
heart of our coaching staff as well and the foundation that
we have at Clemson.
So man, it was just an amazing, amazing experience out
there tonight. I appreciate our fans, an awesome crowd,
and it was a great environment. Orlando is amazing. This
is a great place to host a game.
So just again, overall, awesome game. A lot of big plays in
the game, ebbs and flows, and none bigger than the
pick-six that we had and big touchdown by Shipley and a
huge kick by Potter as well.
Just proud of the team and the staff for getting it done. And
11 straight years of 10-plus wins, I mean, there's only a
couple other teams in the history that's done that, so that's
not easy to do.
That's what we set out to do back in 2009 -- was to
become a consistent winning program. Not going to win the
National Championship every year. We're not going to win
the league every year, and we are not going to the Playoff
every year, but if we can be a consistent program on and
off the field, then we'll have those special moments.
The best thing about this team is all of the stuff that they
had to deal with this year. We set a school record. 84 guys
made a 3.0 or better. 84 guys. 29 graduates. A bunch with
master's degrees. 84 guys with a 3.0 or better in the midst
of our "worst" season in a long time.
I'm thankful and grateful and just really proud of a great
group of young men.
Really proud of Mario [Goodrich]. I was talking to the team
about Mario a week or so go about this young man,
because he didn't get off to a good start. Like a lot of
18-year-olds, a little immature, not quite as focused, a little distracted, in my office a couple times when he didn't need
to be in my office. Got my foot in his rear a few times and,
you know -- but you don't know what you don't know.
And now, here he is. First Team All-Conference. Had his
best semester academically in his whole career, 3.46 GPA
in the fall. He was voted team captain by his team. Going
to the Senior Bowl. That's what is great about coaching, is
seeing transformation, seeing young men buy in.\
He'd have probably been in the portal if the portal had been
around in his sophomore year. But to be up here in this
moment with this guy right now, he knows. This is a
winner. He's equipped. He's equipped. Whoever gets
Mario, man, this dude right here. He's a grown man, and
he gets it and he's equipped because of what he's been
through and because he hung in there.
I'm just so proud. Nobody deserves it more than this guy.
He's been amazing, and, again, to see him voted captain.
Then DJ [Uiagalelei], what he's been through this year is
going to make him better. His last four or five weeks. He's
been at his best. He hasn't complained one time. Seven
scholarship receivers. Who can survive that? Who can
survive seven scholarship receivers out three games in a
row and just keep finding a way? This guy here, he's got
the heart of a champion, unbelievable character, and just
really, really proud of him.
We weren't very good around him early in the season.
Because of that, his mistakes as a young player were
magnified. Every young player at quarterback I have had
has made mistakes, but we weren't quite as good around
him as we were with those other guys.
But, his process has been sped up because of that. His
process of becoming a leader, his maturation, his
toughness, his preparation, his attention, everything, man, I
just am really proud of where he is and how he led and
how he never flinched.
He's been in a skillet, in a frying pan all season long. And
I've been right there with him, and he hasn't flinched. He's
a winner. Just appreciate his leadership.
So wanted to make sure I said that about these two guys. Q. It's not often you see a defensive player getting a
Player of the Game award like that. What does that say
about your defense? And what lessons perhaps from
Coach Swinney have you learned to get to that point? MARIO GOODRICH: It means a lot about our defense.
Everyone counted our defense out, because they thought Coach V [Venables] was going. But, we have Wes
[Goodwin] and Coach [Mickey] Conn, and they know what
they are doing. They have been here awhile. Everybody
just has faith in them. To go out there and play our hearts
out meant a lot to us, and we wanted to leave it all out on
the field for them.
And the Coach Swinney question, it just means a lot. We
have been through a lot. I was in his office a couple times,
and I greatly appreciate him and the rest of the coaching
staff just pushing me to become a better man on and off
the field and just in my daily life, really. Q. What message do you think Mario's journey of
staying at Clemson when he could have chosen to go
somewhere else? DABO: I'm not a big fan of the easy way out. I
can just tell you, if it had been around his sophomore year,
he would have been in it [transfer portal]. Ain't no doubt.
He's a perfect example of -- and not that there's not good,
legit reasons from time to time, but he's a perfect example
of what happens when you grow through adversity.
You know, adversity is good for us and it makes you
depend on God. Makes you dig deeper. And the biggest
thing in our program, our goals are to graduate our players,
to equip them and develop them as men, to have a good
experience and win a championship. He's the epitome of
all those things. He's equipped. He's developed, and he's
transformed.
Then learning to be committed to excellence in everything
you do, not just football, not just having your identity in
football. Football is so fleeting. If he's playing football at 27,
he's an old man.
College football should be about developing men. That's
what I'm passionate about. That's what I've always been
passionate about. That's what I'm going to always be
passionate about. This is what coaching is all about to me.
He's got an unbelievable family, and they have been
pushing on their end and pushing on his end. But at the
end of the day, you have to grow. Young people need
guidance. Young people need accountability. But you have
to have to buy into that.
He's special, he really is. He went from the bottom of the
accountability teams to the top, to being voted by his team
as a captain, permanent captain. That's all you need to
know. To me, there's no greater compliment than to be
voted captain by your team, because they know. It's just
awesome to see how he's grown and matured. Again, excellence in the classroom, excellence in his social
life, excellence in his football, excellence in his preparation.
When you are 18 and 19, most young 18- and 19-year-olds
are usually irrational, emotional and usually not very
mature. And they should be. But when you're 22 -- how old
are you now? MARIO GOODRICH: 21. 22 in a week and a half. DABO: Thought you got here when you were
17. But when you're 22 years old, you have a different
perspective on things. You have been through some stuff
and you have made it through and it makes you a little
more confident.
When he has challenges – he will have more challenges
along the way, but he is prepared. He is equipped to go
deal with them, and he'll push right through. Q. How do you characterize the 2021 Clemson Tigers? DABO: I'm as proud of this team as the 15-0
team when we held up the trophy in -- wherever the heck
we were, Santa Clara, wherever that was. I'm as proud of
this team as I was that team. That team stayed healthy.
We didn't have anywhere near the challenges that this
team had. It's incredible what they had to deal with this
year.
Then you have criticism and negativity and all that crap,
and they never flinched. They kept fighting. They kept the
faith, and they finished. They finished.
Just really, really proud of them. As I said earlier, man, I
look at every team like one of your children, and if you
have children, you know -- I have three boys, and they are
all different. If you have any kids, they have different
personalities and different journeys and different
challenges. I love that about starting over every year,
because you truly start over. Because it is, it's new
leadership, new challenges, new struggles, new journey.
Man, I love this team. Very similar to our 2014 team that
we had. Actually, ironically, right here in this Bowl game --
that was one of my favorite teams as well. I have never
judged a team based on a championship, never, ever.
Because you know what, there's a lot of things that go into
winning a championship. Just because you don't win the
championship doesn't mean this team was any less
committed than our 2018 team that won it all. This team
was just as committed, just as passionate, unbelievable
group.
I judged him based on their commitment to excellence,
how they handled themselves off the field, what type of teammates they are, how they respond, how we practice,
the camaraderie and chemistry, the development of the
leadership, their passion, their toughness. That's how I
judge these teams.
This team is right there with any team I've had. And yeah,
wish we'd have won them all. We didn't. Sometimes you
are not quite good enough. That's okay. But, they have laid
it on the line every single week, and I'm just really, really
proud of them. There's not many programs out there that
could have done what this group did this year. Q. Another guy that's come under a lot of criticism,
most of it undue, is Robbie Caldwell, and he gets
Gatorade bath out there and a lot of love and seemed
very emotional. Was there any significance to some of
that? DABO: Yeah. Don't act like you don't know. I
know you know. But I appreciate y'all kind of respecting the
process with Robbie, because, man, he deserves it. He's
coached -- I wrote his name down right here, so I
appreciate you asking about him.
That was a special moment on the field, and we had a
special moment in the locker room. He's been coaching
40-something years. He's been leading young people.
Man, I love Robbie Caldwell. He's 68, and, you know, this
was his last on-the-field game tonight. The team has
known that.
Again, I'm sure y'all have probably known that, so I
appreciate y'all and how y'all handled the process, allowing
this to play out the way it has.
But, man, he came here in 2011 and has had 11 straight
10-plus win seasons and a couple of National
Championships and a bunch of ACC Championships and a
bunch of big wins along the way.
But he and I talked about this last year, and he really
wanted to go one more year. And man, I am so thankful
that he did, because there ain't many people that could
have handled what we had to handle in that offensive line
this year.
It took a dang salty, savvy veteran like Robbie Caldwell to
be able to hold it together the way we did this year with
such chaos up front. I love him, he and his wife, Nora. He's
not -- the good news is he's not going anywhere. He's
going to transition off the field and going to run our high
school relations and sophomore transition and work on
some scouting as well. I'm really thankful that he's going to
be with us. But, it's time, and he's excited about a new role
and an opportunity to impact the team. So Thomas Austin will be moving into our offensive line
job, and then Crowder is moving into Thomas's analyst
role. And Brandon Thomas, who just retired from the
Jaguars, is coming to be the offensive line grad assistant.
We are going to have BT and big Thomas Austin taking the
reins for Robbie Caldwell and going to be coaching those
guys on the field.
It's going to be a great transition, man. I'm super excited.
We knew this was going to happen. That's why I went and
got Thomas last year from Georgia State and brought him
on in, so we could have a smooth transition.
But just appreciate Robbie and who he is. He's an
unbelievable person of character, will do anything. He'll
pick up trash. He'll clean the bus. He'll wipe the tables
down. Every year, when we go through job responsibilities
and descriptions -- he always puts on there, look for work.
This guy drove the bus at 16. He drove the bus -- can y'all
imagine that? At 16 years old, he drove the bus, did the
route, picked them up, brought the bus home at night,
drove the bus to play baseball. He was the bus driver at 16
years old -- 15 years old. Yeah, it was a different planet.
But. he's amazing. It was awesome being able to give him
a game ball. Q. How nice was it to get him off to a good start as the
defensive coordinator, and how do you feel like the
defense will be moving forward under him? MARIO GOODRICH: It means a lot. Like Coach Swinney
said, we had two weeks of good preparation when we were
at Clemson and here. I just feel like all the guys bought in.
They really respect him and Coach Conn.
They just want to see -- they just want to see the next team
do better. Like the seniors. We just -- we want to leave it all
out there and make a statement for the next team that
comes in. Q. Who was the one in the locker room -- DABO: Y'all got a show. It was right there. We
were a little loud. MARIO GOODRICH: Coach Swinney is in charge of the
music. Q. Not trying to pick on the negatives, you obviously
put together a phenomenal game, but start of the
second quarter, Xavier Hutchinson ended up catching
a 34-yard catch. You were able to recover and make
the tackle, but what kind of happened there? MARIO GOODRICH: We were in Cover 4. I just jumped
outside. Got a little too heavy on his outside. He came
back inside, and just made a good play.
People make plays, and, luckily, we were able to stop him,
and I think hold him to a field goal -- yeah, hold him to a
field goal. But, our offense lived, lived another play. Q. This was a milestone win for you, number 150.
That's a pretty big deal. Can you just elaborate on how
you're feeling after all this? DABO: I can't even -- I really can't process that,
to be honest with you, and I actually forgot until Woody
reminded me after the game.
I can't process that. But it's not about me. I mean, I've got
150 wins because of a bunch of great players, a bunch of
great coaches, a bunch of great people and the good Lord.
I try to do my part, but I can tell you this, I've got a lot of
guys on our staff, former players, that were a part of the
first win. It was pretty cool to be here tonight and be a part
of the 150th win -- that was a pretty cool moment.
Credit goes to the players. This game is about players. It's
about players and players buying in. I'm incredibly blessed
that I can't even really process that, but the same things
that won the first game are the same things that won the
game tonight, same exact things: Effort, toughness,
physicality, no-quit attitude, discipline, belief in self and
team, and just, you know, uncommon effort.
I'm just really thankful. It's really cool to be a part of
something like that. But again, I can go on and on about all
the great players that we've had all the way back to that
very first win November 1, 2008, at BC, to where we are
right now in 2021. It's been an amazing blessing, amazing
journey. And, you know, I know, good Lord willing, keeps
breath in my body, we'll have a lot more to come. Q. DJ, what did you think about the way that Brandon
Streeter prepared you for this game and what your
offensive identity is going to look like going forward? DJ UIAGALELEI: Coach [Brandon] Streeter, man, I feel
like we had a great week of practice the last two weeks,
and didn't skip a beat with Coach Streeter being named
offensive coordinator. Hats off to Coach Streeter. He's
done an amazing job being offensive coordinator, and also
excited to have him offensive coordinator being he's my
quarterback coach. Being moved up to the offensive
coordinator job, I know he's going to do an amazing job. We didn't miss a beat. He came in, he's brought energy,
and he's done it his own way. That's the biggest thing, him
coming in as our coordinator, coming in after someone that
leaves like Coach Elliott, someone that was an amazing
coordinator, after all these years that he's been, you don't
want to be compared or you don't want to kind of be like
that same person. You want to be able to have your own
identity.
Coach Streeter has been doing that. I'm super excited
Coach Streeter is offensive coordinator, and I'm super
excited for him. Q. Wanted to ask you about the interception. What
was going through your mind, seemed like Purdy
batted it forward. Were you surprised? MARIO GOODRICH: I thought he was going to catch it or
something. I don't know what he was thinking honestly, but
once he did, I was happy. I was excited. I started pointing
-- saw my D-Linemen out front and shout-out to them and
the linebackers, but happy to get one. Q. DJ, we heard Coach talk a lot about the importance
of personal development on and off the field. How do
you feel you've developed on and off the field this
season for 2021? DJ UIAGALELEI: I felt like going through the season, my
word for this year before this season even started was
"faith." And to be able to pick that word, and just to be able
to go through the whole season, after going through this
season, I know exactly why that word, why God gave me
that word.
Faith is something that you don't know, you can't see, but
you know you believe in your heart. Going through it, I
know Jesus put me in this position to be able to go out
there this season and put me through these trials and take
me through these different struggles and just different
challenges, and I thank Him for that. I accepted the
challenge and he's made me a better person going through
the season and learning the different life lessons going
through it. It's made me a better person and I know exactly
what He's did for me, so I'm thankful for that. Q. With this being your son's last game, just overall,
what would be the one take away you hope he gets
from his time at Clemson? DABO: Man, you know, Will, these guys can
tell you, Will loves every bit of it. Like, he loves mat drills;
he loves practice; he loves Tiger walk; he loves weight
room; he loves running in the summer. Like he loves every
ounce and he has truly squeezed everything out of his experience here.
The biggest thing is just belief in himself and just he's a
grinder. He's a grinder. He started the last three games,
took seven scholarship receivers to go down, but he hung
in there. He became a starter his last three games, had a
huge third down conversion, the 31st drive to lead us to
points, and man, he's a great young man. He's won the
Spiritual Leader Award voted on by his team in his time
here. He's won the highest academic award in his time
here. He's a great student.
What I love most about Will is just he loves to work and
that's probably -- I've said this a few times, like I said this
on Senior Night, I got emotional, but my kids have grown
up a lot different than me, a lot different than me.
And that was a goal of mine, I want my kids to grow up
different than me, but I also worried a little bit about, you
know, I guess -- I guess I would say one of my best
accomplishments in life is my kids. They have that same
grit, that same work ethic, that same toughness, that same
will to just be successful, even though, they have grown up
different. I'm proud of that.
So special night, special time. One of the greatest joys of
my life has been the last five years watching my son just
grind and just be a great teammate and do whatever you
asked him to do. I've loved every second of it. I mean, he's
stayed healthy. He's never missed a game. He's played --
he and [Will] Spiers and [James] Skalski have played in the
most games in Clemson Football history. I can't imagine
anybody has held for more points than Will.
I'm thankful he was able to come and be a part of this
program because it's so much more than just me, the
people that pure into these players that shape them and
develop them and I'm so thankful that he got that, and he
will -- he will use it wisely as he moves forward with his life.
And just all these seniors. Let me tell you something: Will is
a senior -- Clemson is better, because these seniors were
here. Our program is better because these seniors were
here. And tonight, they passed the torch and what an
unbelievable job they did in finishing. Q. What's ahead for you with your knee? And Coach,
what kind of grade do you give your rookie
coordinators in their first time out in the spotlight? DJ UIAGALELEI: Not sure right now. Probably have to
sees it after the game, but for the most part, I think just PT
[Physical Therapy], just continue to keep healthy and just
rehab, I feel like that's the main thing right now. DABO: A plus. Because we just beat a good
football team, and we had 30 scholarship players
unavailable. I don't know what else you can ask. It's just
amazing what these guys have been able to do. So really
proud of Wes [Goodwin]. Mike Reed stepping in as special
teams coordinator; Todd taking on a new role; Mickey
stepping in with a different role as co-coordinator and Wes
calling the plays and leading the room; those guys were
awesome and did a tremendous job.
We had one mistake down there on the touchdown, and I
love the call, he brought the house, went after him and we
had a young guy out there that thought he had inside help
on Cover 0, so we'll get that right. But I just -- it was an
awesome job. A couple unfortunate -- it was a tough call on
the rough -- on the receiver, that was a tough one, but just
made some good plays. Streeter was awesome. The art of
coaching is taking what you have and trying to find a way.
So, we found a way.
But, we are going to get a lot of guys back. We're going to
get -- 19 guys out with different injuries or whatever and
then two more went out tonight. We have a lot coming
back. We have some mid-years coming in and I thought
the staff did an amazing job, truly. Q. You talked a lot about how consistent a program
Clemson is and how that's allowed Clemson to achieve
the milestones that it has. Looking forward, what
needs to be fixed, and what's the focus for the
off-season? DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, just get back to work. Start over.
We have to go recruit. Obviously we have to fill a few holes
and got to complete our '22 class. We have to get guys
healthy. We have some surgeries and things like that. We
have some guys coming off of surgeries. Take some time
off.
School starts on the 12th. Next team meeting will be the
14th. Our banquet will be the 15th. But just get everybody
back, that's the No. 1 thing and complete our roster the
way we need to. We have a few moving pieces. We have
to go get a running back and we have to get another
corner. We need another safety. We need another
linebacker.
So, we have kind of got a few holes on our roster. We have
always gone into the summer and the season, we usually
try to be around 80 to 82 and that's where we need to be.
Then I usually will keep about three or four to take care of
some guys that deserve it, like your starting snapper, you
know, people like that.
So got to complete our roster, get guys healthy and then get back to work. Then, we'll study everything from this
season and kind of reset with new roles. Got to finish up
some staff stuff that I got to get done.
So got a lot to do but you know, just keep learning, keep
growing.
WITH THE WIN...
GAME NOTES
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