Dabo Swinney to Nick Saban ‘Kind of a rebuilding year for us’
The four coaches of the teams in the College Football Playoff held a news conference in Atlanta last week before the College Football Awards show.
Alabama coach Nick Saban was chatting with Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and asked if Swinney would be sticking around for the awards show following the media availability.
“I was like, ‘Nah, we didn’t have anybody good enough to win any of these awards, kind of a rebuilding year for us,” Swinney jokingly replied. “‘Maybe next year we’ll have somebody good enough to win one of those awards.’ ”
Clemson might not have had any national award winners honored in Atlanta, but the Tigers are back in a familiar spot — playing Alabama in the College Football Playoff.
The teams will meet in the playoff for the third time in three years when they face off in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans on Jan. 1.
Clemson and Alabama split the previous two matchups with each winning a national title.
“It’s become, like, ‘OK, it was kind of fun the first time. Aw, this is great,” Swinney said. “Now it’s like, ‘Can we get rid of these guys? Can they just go away?’ And they won’t go away.”
Alabama has set the standard under Saban when it comes to college football, but Clemson is trying to change that.
Swinney is not allowing himself to get too caught up in what the Tigers have accomplished over the past several years, but he is proud of Clemson’s recent success.
“I mean, we’ve won 61 games in five years, and we’ve got a chance to tie Alabama, and they’ve won 62,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any question at some point down the road we’ll look back at this decade, for sure, and take great pride in it. I do now because I know where we came from and how hard it’s been.”
Still, Swinney’s immediate focus is on leading Clemson to another win against Alabama and then another national title.
The Tigers started bowl practice on Sunday, and Swinney is pleased with the progress thus far as his team has displayed the same focus it did throughout the regular season on its way to winning a third consecutive ACC title and earning the No. 1 seed in the playoff.
“This team, especially, has been just really fun. They just think they’re supposed to win, but the biggest thing is they put the work in,” he said. “They prepare. They like to practice. They like it. And the leadership of the team has been unbelievable. Those guys just get ready and they demand accountability from their teammates, and that’s why we’ve been successful.”
This story was originally published December 12, 2017 at 9:09 PM with the headline "Dabo Swinney to Nick Saban ‘Kind of a rebuilding year for us’."