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COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF SEMIFINAL AT THE CAPITAL ONE ORANGE BOWL: CLEMSON VS OKLAHOMADecember 29, 2015Dabo SwinneyMiami Gardens, Florida DABO SWINNEY: Well, it's great. I thought we were going to be out on the field, so this is good. Nice and air conditioned in here, and looks like we're getting closer to game time. It's been a good week so far. Q. Has this been a normal game week? DABO SWINNEY: A normal game week, no. I think we've tried to create a normal game week from a preparation standpoint and kind of a mentality as far as how these guys get themselves ready to play. We've tried to do that, so from that standpoint, today is Thursday to us. It's a team Thursday, and that just kind of helps our guys mentally kind of stay on the same cycle as far as preparation, but all the rest of it, this isn't our normal game week. Normally on a Thursday we might have about three media guys roaming around, so this is a little different. Q. (Inaudible.) DABO SWINNEY: Not much of a challenge at all to be honest with you. I mean, they're in the Final Four. This isn't the Russell Athletic Bowl. This is the Capital One Orange Bowl, Final Four. Everybody earned their way here, and we've just spent, whatever, three weeks studying their film, and this is an incredibly talented team. They were an incredibly talented team last year, but our team understands because we've been on both sides of it. You get two or three turnovers real quick, one of them a pick six, and next thing you know you've got some quick scores. You get behind like that against a good team, it can get away from you. That's what happened in that game. We weren't that much better than them. We were that day, but the score wasn't indicative of the talent. So we had great respect for them last year, but the season that they've had this year has been phenomenal, and when you watch their team, you know, defensively they're very experienced, got a bunch of guys back from the team we saw last year, I think nine of 11, and then offensively they've been as good as anybody in the country. They've been as balanced as anybody in the country, and they've got a Heisman-caliber quarterback, as well. Not much of a challenge at all. Players know good players, so we've got great respect for Oklahoma. Q. Can you talk about the atmosphere and the spotlight, being in such a big game? DABO SWINNEY: Just like we've embraced the whole season, really. It's just kind of the next game, the next step for us. We've just tried each and every week, we've tried to just really focus on what's directly in front of us, whoever that opponent is, whatever we've got to do to get ready and just try to focus on winning that game. So it's really not any different. We have a formula that we believe in as far as how we prepare, both at Clemson prior to coming down here, and then while we're here. We try to make sure that we have a good itinerary and good balance so that these guys can enjoy the process, as well, and enjoy being a part of this playoff. I want them to enjoy it. You know, I don't want them to look back and say, man, I wish I had enjoyed that when I had that opportunity because it's such a -- this is such a small moment in their life. This season, these four or five years that they have in college is such a small moment. So we try to be very purposeful in making sure these guys are having some fun along the way, too. But when we go to work, we work hard. But as far as embracing it, we do that, but we really have just kind of prepared like we have for all the other games. Q. What do you want to take (inaudible)? DABO SWINNEY: Just what we thought we would see back in camp. We thought he would be a guy that would get better as the season has gone on, as his confidence grew. I thought Jeff did a great job of kind of bringing him along early, and as he was ready to handle more and more, he's just done a phenomenal job. He's a great young player, young talent, still got a lot to learn, but got a very, very bright future. But he's obviously been a very impactful player for us even though he's a true freshman. Q. (Inaudible.) DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, they do some things similar to what they did last year, but definitely schematically they're just different, much more balanced in what they do. A lot of 10 personnel. They play fast. And then Baker Mayfield is the difference maker. He's a game changer. Q. What does Baker Mayfield bring? DABO SWINNEY: His ability to make a play go from three-and-a-half, four seconds to like nine. He's just -- that's a very challenging thing. It looks good on the board and you've got everything stopped and defended on the board and you've got the pocket contained, but you've still got to tackle the guy, and he's a hard guy to tackle. He's very strong. He's not a big guy, but he's powerful and he's got a great lower body, very strong, hard to get on the ground. He and the back are both the same, and it's hard to tackle them. So he's just got great instincts for the game. He's a great competitor, a great winner, throws the ball well when he's creating plays outside of the pocket and buying time. It's hard to cover great athletes for a long time, so you've got to do a great job of keeping him in the pocket and not letting him extend plays. But that's easier said than done, so that's what jumps out at you is he just makes plays. They've got an excellent scheme in how they involve him. He's going to run the ball. He's going to be effective in that. He understands their system. He has great understanding of where everybody is and the little nuances of the position. He's got a great feel for that, as well, just a great competitor. Q. What was it like to meet Dan Marino? DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, I think the coaches were more excited to be honest with you, because they all know Dan Marino, but I don't know if they saw him play a lot. They've probably seen some clips. But pretty cool for me. I grew up watching Dan Marino, so it was neat to be able to have a chance to visit with him. Q. Talk about their fast tempo and the challenge of that. DABO SWINNEY: Well, that's what we do, as well, so we practice that way every day in practice. Our defense practices that way. Everything we do is fast, so the tempo part of it, we've seen a lot. We just played North Carolina, who's probably the fastest team in the country in what they do. I think with our league and the schedule we play, we see a little bit of everything, so that part of it is not going to overwhelm us. It's more the personnel. It's one thing to play fast, it's another thing to play fast with a lot of good people, and that's what they have, so that's more our focus. Q. (Inaudible.) DABO SWINNEY: Well, I guess it's God-given. Yeah, I was dancing when I was coaching receivers at Alabama. We'd win, I'd get in there and dance with my guys. Not anything different than we've done ever. It's just for whatever reason, people have paid attention more to Clemson this year. Q. Is there anything that separates Deshaun from other great quarterbacks? DABO SWINNEY: His poise. His poise is remarkable. I think that is a rare quality, especially in a young player. It's one thing to have great skills, size, strength, ability to run, understanding of what you're doing, be able to make all the throws. Those are very measurable things. But his poise is uncommon, and then I think the other thing with him is how he prepares. Very uncommon. To see a young guy that prepares so relentlessly like he does, I mean, he is relentless in how he prepares each and every week, and I said this last year when he was a true freshman, it was like coaching a fifth-year senior. That was the conversations that we would have. His aptitude for the game, just off the charts. Q. What do you know about the stadium renovation project? DABO SWINNEY: Not very familiar at all other than coming up the escalator, the guy was telling me that they're putting a roof on this thing, so I didn't know that, but I guess it's something to do with getting the Super Bowl. Media people got wet last time in the Super Bowl, and got to keep all the media dry. Let the players get wet. Q. Talk about the players getting the first look at the stadium. DABO SWINNEY: Well, a lot of them got to see it earlier, those that got up early to go to the FCA breakfast this morning, and then we've played here. We were here earlier in the year, so they've been here. But I'm sure we'll kind of take a gander out there before we get back on the bus. Q. What's your impression of the stadium? DABO SWINNEY: Awesome. It's a fast track, man. It's a fast track, great weather, and we enjoy playing here. Q. (Inaudible.) DABO SWINNEY: For us it was Travis Blanks, and for them it was Ty Darlington, their center. They did an awesome job, both of them, and then Charlie Ward was the featured speaker. Q. (Question regarding Coach Venables). DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, I think he's certainly got a good feel for just their program and who they are and the personnel and things like that. But I mean, they have a philosophy that's been laid out for 13 ballgames or 12 ballgames now offensively, and same thing defensively. That's really what we focus on more is getting ready for what we see on tape. Q. That week off the North Carolina game, can you talk specifically what that was like for you with Deshaun Watson going through those various awards? DABO SWINNEY: It was great. You know, I think that it was a blur, literally, because we're trying to balance recruiting and going to all those different functions. But I mean, it's a blessing to be able to -- I went up to New York for Hall of Fame and then went straight to Houston for the Lombardi and did some recruiting along the way, and then in Atlanta for the ESPN show and to see Deshaun win the Davey O'Brien Award, and then back on the road recruiting, and then back to New York for the Heisman. I'm just like everybody else, sit around and watch the Heisman and see the old pictures on the wall, and to be able to be there, that was pretty cool to me, and meet guys like Marcus Allen and Tony Dorsett and to see one of your players as a finalist and to meet the other finalists, I mean, it was awesome. It was a blessing to be a part of it. Got a chance to spend some great time with my good friend David Shaw, he and his wife Kori. We had a great time, went out to dinner, so it was a lot of fun. Came back, got back to work. Q. Have you ever been in a situation like this, to be on this stage, what's it like for you? DABO SWINNEY: It's great. There's nothing negative about it, that's for sure. We wanted to be here. There's 128 teams, I think, in Division I, and we all wanted to be in the Final Four. So to be one of those four, I think, is just -- speaks to the type of team that we have and the season that we've had. But at the end of the day, it's still just football. We've just been trying to focus on getting ready to go play four quarters and try to play well. We've got a tough challenge. So do they. And all four of these teams. You're splitting hairs here. These are four great teams, and that's going to come down to a few plays, and we're just trying to make sure we're the team that makes those plays. Q. (Inaudible.) DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, it's real important. I said a couple weeks ago, I'll probably never coach another team, and I'll probably not have any player play on another team that loses the turnover margin six times and is undefeated. I've never been a part of that. So yeah, that makes you pull your hair out as a coach, but the positive is we don't have to play perfect to win. You know, I think there's a confidence that comes with that. Bad play happens, our guys just keep playing, they're like, we'll figure this thing out, and it's four quarters, so there's no panic with this team. So that's the positive. But we went into the championship game, and that was a big hope was that we could kind of turn that around, and we did. We won the turnover margin. It was definitely a big part of the game, and it'll be huge in this game. I mean, it was big last year. They had five turnovers, we had none, and that's why the game was the way it was, because we're a good team. If you give us the ball five times, you're get being beat. We give them the ball five times, we're getting beat. That's a huge part. So we want to play a clean game and hopefully win that margin. In particular the turnover margin and the big plays. You know, if you can win the turnover margin and have at least two more big plays than the opponent, you win like 98 percent of the time. We've kind of been an enigma to that this year, but we like that formula, and so hopefully it'll go our way. Q. (Inaudible.) DABO SWINNEY: Well, I love Mack Brown, first of all, and I didn't know him, but I called about three coaches, and I had just gotten the job, and I said, okay, I want to take my staff somewhere. Everybody, I took everybody, GAs, strength coach. I wanted to go and study two or three programs. A couple of those programs wouldn't let me come. I won't name any names, but they weren't interested in that. I didn't really know Mack, and he's like, yeah, come on. So I really -- I knew a couple -- I knew Muschamp, I knew Major Applewhite, I knew a couple coaches on staff, and I really wasn't expecting a lot from Mack as far as like his time, so we load up and we go out there for about three days, and it was an awesome experience. Their staff was so gracious to my staff, and we spent great time talking ball and all that. But I was hoping to get 30 minutes, 45 minutes with mack, and I had kind of a list of things that I wanted to talk to him about. We spent about four hours, and I still have my Mack Brown file in my office, and like I said, I had all these -- I was so appreciative of that and so just moved by how he handled himself and learned a tremendous amount from that trip. Took a lot back to Clemson. You're always trying to learn different ways, so that was a great experience, and it really led to a friendship. Mack and I have been great friends now for the last -- going on eight years. Really good friends. Q. What did you talk about? DABO SWINNEY: Yeah, you know, we talked a lot about managing a staff and scheduling. We talked a lot about recruiting. We talked a lot about my personal schedule. A lot of times things get maybe -- outside people wouldn't think it's a big deal, but when you're a first-time head coach and kind of getting going, it was almost like he was reading my mind. I couldn't even hardly get the question out of my mouth, and he had answers for me -- been there, done that. He gave me the cliff's notes a little bit on some issues. I have other great mentors, but it was kind of a fresh perspective from a guy that I really didn't know, and he'd been running a program like Texas for a long time. He gave me some great advice, and again, a lot of it was just how -- probably one of the most important things was how I manage my time, and just making sure that I keep my priorities in order. It was time well-spent for all of us as a program. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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