Swinney challenging Clemson to avoid ‘rude awakening'
The proving ground for those in orange, white and purple jerseys this spring is just about over.
Soon, each Tiger will meet with the coach for an exit interview into the summer to assess what’s next in their progression. For some, Swinney has already had a pointed conversation.
“We’ve got a few guys that have to step it up and take it to another level,” Swinney said this week. “They know who they are. And I put some of them on notice. When this week is over, the spring is done – and it matters. Everything we do matters, especially when you’ve got a lot of competition going on at every position.”
What issues is he seeing?
“Bottom line is, as we go into our exit meetings, we can only evaluate based on what we see,” Swinney said. “Just seeing some guys take a little bit more ownership in the bigger picture (is an issue). Not just the backups. I went around (Monday) and caught a couple guys off-guard – maybe it’s a young guy not in the mix right now and I say, ‘What’s the call?’ And he doesn’t know the call.
“How are you ever going to get better if you don’t at least get a mental rep? Just everybody taking a little bit more ownership in their position and their performance and understanding all we can do is evaluate based on performance. Not their potential. Not their recruiting ranking. All that stuff.
“We get 15 days and you’ve got academics and the decision-making, strength and conditioning – all these things that kinda go into our thought-process as far as how we come back and set the depth chart and so forth.”
The Tigers’ coach sees a “rude awakening” for some on the roster.
“They can’t say that we didn’t give them that opportunity,” said Swinney. “Some guys just aren’t good enough right now. And that’s OK. I have no problem with that. Kevin Dodd was a redshirt freshman and he wasn’t good enough either. I’m a very patient guy as long as guys have bought in and are willing to put in the work in and know their weaknesses and know what they have to do to get better. Rome wasn’t built in a day. I just want to see that commitment.”
Beer catching eye of Swinney
Swinney says he hasn’t been able to catch Clemson baseball in person yet, doing a little baseball coaching of his own on the weekends. The growing legend that is star freshman Seth Beer isn’t lost on him, however.
Beer launched his 13th homer of the season last night to start a Tigers’ rally at Georgia, a total which leads the ACC and ranks second nationally, and extended his hitting streak to 25 games, which is one for every college game he’s had an at-bat in after a hitless opener.
“I’m proud of our baseball team,” Swinney said Monday. “I got to meet this Beer kid. Man oh man, he’s a lumberjack. He’s just bombing things. Looking forward to meeting him. Been trying to keep up with what they’re doing. Proud of him.”
This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 9:22 PM with the headline "Swinney challenging Clemson to avoid ‘rude awakening'."