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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEDIA CONFERENCENCEApril 22, 2015Dabo SwinneyDABO SWINNEY: Well, you know, really pleased with the spring that we had. Very competitive. I think that we certainly got better as the spring went along. It was really cool to have 15 mid‑years going through spring with us. That's unusual. So the majority of our team was here on campus, and we were able to come out of it very healthy. A lot of good things accomplished, and you know, now it's about taking those things into the summer and really trying to transform and come back in August better than we were in April, and that's the key. But I like our team. I like the opportunity that we have. I think we've got the intangibles and the makings of a good team. Now we've got to go pull it all together, and if we can do that, then I think we've got a chance to have a good season. Q. I want to ask you about Shawn Watson. How is his health now? What kind of activity was he able to do this spring, and then just as a follow‑up, in which areas do you see him making the most growth from year one to year two? DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, he's doing great. His rehab is way ahead of schedule, and he's just a great worker in everything that he does. But he was able to do a lot this spring from a football standpoint, drill work and things like that, throwing. We didn't put him in any type of (inaudible) situations, but every day, every team period, he would kind of mentally rep. I really just basically had him with me the whole time when we would do our competitive team stuff, so he had to really mentally stay sharp. So it was a good spring, got a lot done. I think as far as going into the season, this time last year he was just trying to kind of earn his way, if you will, and now he's just a whole 'nother level from a mentality standpoint in that he's had great success in his games. He's played in Tallahassee. His confidence is‑‑ not that it was not good last year, but it's one thing to plan to go do it, it's another thing when you've done it. Just expecting to have him take it to another level from a mental standpoint. Q. I wanted to ask you about a topic that folks are talking about now, the issue of the satellite camps, and I think this might come up at your spring meetings next month. But what's your take on whether you guys should be now allowed to participate in those because other conferences are allowed to? DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, well, I'm against it. I mean, I think that‑‑ from a conference standpoint, we at SEC and ACC, we've had rules against that for several years. I think it's a loophole that people are taking advantage of. I think it's something that needs to be addressed. I don't think it's a good thing because I think ultimately what happens is instead of having camps you're having combines. I think there's enough of that. You're going to have camps in every city, and basically, again, it just becomes a combine. But you know, my philosophy is we put a tremendous amount of emphasis on our camp here at Clemson, and I want to get guys on this campus. That's the best part of our‑‑ of everything that we do from a recruiting standpoint is just our campus itself. You know, we can go out on the road and recruit and evaluate and do the things that we need to do, but we want to get guys here to Clemson because we know if they come, then we've got a good shot from a recruiting standpoint. You know, it's something that'll probably come to a head one way or another, but I don't have a problem with it because it's within the rules. But it really hasn't been that big of an issue with us. Q. I wanted to ask you, with the cost of attendance legislation, do you see a potential concern or pitfall in terms of differential between what schools can offer in cost of attendance? Do you see that having an impact on recruiting? DABO SWINNEY: Oh, there's no question. I mean, it's a nightmare. I mean, I just think that the intent is good because I think we're finally modernizing the scholarship to reflect 2015, and there's a lot of positives that are coming about, even last year, being able to actually feed our guys like we need to be able to feed them. I think that was a positive. They tried the stipend thing. It didn't go through. So basically this is the way that they're getting that done, but there's some unintended consequences, and there's no question it's not a level playing field, and it is going to be the No.1 topic at all the coaches' meetings because it's not good. I think, again, the intent is good, but for one school to be able to pay $3,000 or $4,000 more than another school, then at the end of the day, guys are going to make decisions for the wrong reasons, and it shouldn't be that way. I don't like where we are right now. We are where we are, but I think that there has to be a better solution somewhere down the road, and I think eventually we're going to get there. But it is where it is right now, and it's going to be a factor in the recruiting process, there's no question. Q. John Morris had a lot of success for you helping run the offense. With him moving on, in what ways are you guys going to be a little different scheme‑wise going forward? DABO SWINNEY: I mean, I hope we're better. I hope we continue to improve. But as far as what we do, that's not going to change. I mean, your scheme in just fundamentals of your scheme can tweak from year to year based on your personnel, based on what you have and things like that, but the philosophy of what we do is the same. That's why I hired Chad. It's because this is the philosophy we were going to have in place, it's what we're going to do, and you know, it's not‑‑ it's a Clemson offense, a Clemson defense, a Clemson philosophy. Coaches are going to come and go, but we don't change for a coach. We have something that we believe in and that we've recruited to. Now, as far as guys calling plays and things like that, sometimes maybe there's a different personality from time to time, but the philosophy is the same, and most people will watch us and they won't see anything different as far as how we play. Hopefully we'll do some things better certainly than we did last year, but a lot of that, that's not Chad, that's just personnel and having some more things available to us than maybe we had last year. Q. I was wondering if you could maybe point to some of the keys or things that you've noticed that are making the ACC better in football. DABO SWINNEY: Just‑‑ well, I mean, recruiting. We have an excellent group of coaches in this conference and guys that are recruiting and competing at a high level. But guys‑‑ the main thing is just winning on the field. The ACC has been able to win some of the marquee match‑ups. Four years ago or five years ago, it just seemed like whenever our league was getting some of those big out‑of‑conference opportunities, we weren't really holding our own, but that has changed over the last several years. I mean, we've been able to‑‑ I mean, even last year, Virginia Tech beat the national champions. And then just from our own standpoint, we've been able to step out of this conference and play the best of the best and win, and so I think those are things that resonate with people. We've had a lot of teams that have had winning seasons and bowl eligible and things like that, and then you look at the academic aspect that the ACC provides, it's second to none. This is an incredible conference from an academic performance standpoint, and so I think all of those things resonate, and you look at the NFL Draft, the number of ACC players that have been drafted. It's just‑‑ it's right up there, top of the deal. There's a lot of great things about this conference, a lot of great programs, great venues to play in, and again, just a good balance academically and athletically. Q. You've lost a lot of defensive players including Vic Beasley. What has the spring told you about how the defense looks for this coming season? DABO SWINNEY: Well, our first group, you're not going to notice a big difference from the way we finished the year. The difference in our defense is the depth, and not the talented depth but just the experience. Last year we were just so experienced, and our second team was as good as our first team. Whereas this year, our first group is really, really good. I mean, not a huge difference between Shaq Lawson and Vic Beasley. Shaq is going to bring some certain things to the table that Vic didn't. So there's a lot of positives. DJ Reader, Carlos Watkins, Kevin Dodd, Ben Boulware, B.J. Goodson, our secondary is going to be as good as it's been since we've been here. So first group is very, very solid. But the biggest difference for us is we just don't have the experienced depth. We have talented depth, but it's very inexperienced, and that's going to be the key to our defense. First of all, we've got to get a little lucky and hope that we can kind of keep those front‑line guys healthy, but how quickly we can develop the young talent that we have and get them game ready to where they can help us out. But I like where we are from a defensive standpoint personnel‑wise. We've just got a lot of work to do to get some guys ready to play. Q. With the freshmen early enrolled offensive linemen, I think Mitch and Jake, you've talked about them a lot the last month or so, but what about Noah Green and Zach. Can you reflect on their development and how far they need to go between now and August? DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, they've all got a lot of work to do between now and then. Zach and Noah, incredibly talented. I mean, all four of those guys, just absolute zero doubt on their ability and their potential to be outstanding offensive linemen at this level. Mitch and Jake are a little ahead as far as they're both playing tackle, a little bit just‑‑ the transition came a little smoother for them. And Noah is a guy that I think is going to bring a ton of versatility to us. He and Zach to be honest with you, just because of their size and athleticism. But I think Zach had the biggest adjustment, but that's just more‑‑ you're talking about a high school kid, and he's coming from a small school and just the transition physically and the speed of the game and the amount of things that they have to learn, but I'm going to be real anxious to see those four guys, because this spring was awesome for them, just the experience, just getting thrown in there like that, and all the reps that they got and the installation, I think now going back through everything this summer, getting it again, and then by the time camp comes, by the time we get to September, these guys are going to have had our installation three times. They're going to make huge progress. They're all wired the right way. They all want to be great. But just measuring transition right out of the gate, just when you're trying to put it all together from a functionality standpoint as far as the system, taking things from the meeting room to the practice field and all that, Jake and Mitch were a little ahead. But athletically, physically, ability, you know, Noah and Zach are as good as anybody we've got. Q. You've long since been against the professionalization of college athletics, so you're for the intent but have some issues with the execution of the cost of attendance. When you go to these coaching meetings, what exactly would you support in terms of the defending against the professionalization of college? DABO SWINNEY: Well, I mean, again, I'm well documented as far as my thoughts on professionalizing college athletics, but I've also said many times I'm 100 percent in support of modernizing the scholarship, and I think that there have been great strides made to that, toward that goal, over the last year. Really good. And then the cost of tuition stipend is a good step in the right direction. I just, again, we've got to figure out a better way to execute it because I think there's going to really be some negative, unintended consequences result from it. You know, but you've got to start somewhere, and I know that's going to be a huge part of our discussion when we get together here in a couple weeks as coaches, as it will be with every coach across the country, because you have some issues there from a recruiting standpoint that I think have to be addressed. The intent is good, but we've got to figure out a better way to achieve what everybody wants, so I think we're heading in the right direction, but again, as far as just professionalizing it, that makes no sense to me because these guys are really getting an awful lot that people don't want to talk about, and they for some reason don't want to put a value on, and it's tremendous. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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