Dabo Swinney Previews Clemson vs. Georgia Matchup, Clemson 2024 Expectations & Preparations

[Music] all right greatly appreciate everybody being here at the Smart family media center today as we uh begin the first of our weekly press conferences on Tuesdays with coach Sweeney I'd also like to welcome our audience listening live on cson plus as well as through our partners at Fox Carolina and 105.5 The Roar FM also like to thank those who watched and listened to our partners last night for Clemson all access with Tavo Sweeney as well as tiger hour at Davos s including the roughly 150 people who got in on a text line to submit questions uh for this group here media credential applications remain open for our home opener against App State those will close on Wednesday September 4th uh we'll ask because of the live audits we'll ask you please project your voices toward the microphones uh for the benefit of our listening audience so they can hear your questions today our format will be standard coach Sweeny will have some opening comments then we'll go to questions in the room and if time permits before he needs to exit at 11:4 we'll go to questions virtually so coach whenever you're ready take it away okay thanks Ross uh good to see everybody I know everybody's excited uh just like we are that that it's game week and get a chance to to get back in the into uh game mode around here but uh everybody's ready to kick it off excited to see our guys uh go play and uh compete see where we are and and see where we go from there but uh it's been a good camp we had good preparation I think we've got a committed team um you know I've enjoyed uh these last several weeks um you know just being with these guys the leadership their attitude again the work ethic um it's been uh it's been a lot of fun to to prepare uh for the most part we're a pretty healthy team uh which is a which is a real positive for us coming out of Camp I'm excited about that um and uh you know just got one goal and that's the that's to find a way to achieve our first goal that's really what we're what we're trying to go down Atlanta and do uh certainly going to be a huge Challenge and U you know playing a game like this this is usually you get you only you only get opportunities like this in the postseason in the playoffs in a National Championship uh but this just happened to be on our schedule so uh it's a great opportunity to play the best team in the country right out of the gate uh and that's that's that's that's what they are if anybody don't think they're the best team in the country then they probably hadn't paid much attention these these guys are really really good uh Kirby has done a tremendous job uh down there and and uh you know they're they're they got a lot of guys back you know starting on the offensive side I mean you got a a Heisman quarterback he's a very very good football player they've lost two games in three years and um you know and part of that is they're incredibly a phys they're very very physical football team on both sides of the ball so you got to be able to match that um and then you know by by nature of scheme uh you got to win competitive plays I think that's a big thing in a game like this but starting with their quarterback he's he's just uh he's just a very good player and um you know the kid is he's accurate uh he's opportunistic with his legs uh he really understands their scheme they do a great job in really you know making you play assignment football with how they formation in motion and and mix you know the inside zone game with their with their you know toss game in their counter game um and multiple ways that they get do that with the play actions and screens built into it and and and you know they got dudes that can make plays down the field but I think I think Carson is accurate I think he's a great vertical thrower uh so just puts a lot of pressure on you and then offensive line um there's there's probably none better in the country this is a really really talented group very experience and uh big strong backs uh a lot of skill on the edges uh they uh you know got couple guys returning that have had a lot of experience in production in six and 86 and 11 he's probably as fast a guy we recruited him out of high school he's probably as fastest guy as we're going to see that guy can really really stretch the field and then they brought in a couple of guys obviously kobby coming over from Miami so um you know just a complete group on that side of the ball and very experienced and and uh you know what you're getting and over on the defensive side uh same thing you know big long athletic uh physical got pass rushers they they got some sub package stuff that they do where they're going to get their best rushers on the field um you know you live in third and long on these guys it's it's a really uh a tall task so um you know one of the best safeties you're going to see in the country uh in 24 great player but again 13 97 11 I mean they got they got guys that can get after the passer and uh I mean they're Georgia so I mean they have a few new faces but uh they they all look the same you know they all can run they're all strong they're all physical uh not a lot of room for error with these guys and good kicker punter dangerous in the return game so again that's why they're the number one team in the country and uh you got to you got to play well right out of the gate U to to have a chance to win a game like this uh so excited about it looking forward to it and and we won't have to wait long uh be able to wake up Saturday and get right after it coach uh George lost a lot of his offensive production the NFL and pow and makoni brought in a really good tight end from Stanford you mentioned the receiver from Miami know what you know of their roster how do you expect them to replace that offensive produ yeah Del I mean if you watched him last year I mean he's great player another kid we recruited uh number four he's he's made a bunch of plays for him last year he'll he'll He he'll and then they just added you know the kid uh the transfer so uh I don't see any change I mean they're really really loaded at back they brought in etn so you know he's a he's a great football player I know they got one kid that's out but they that kid from Mississippi we recruited him too uh so uh I got to meet him in person he he's that guy's he he is go go take a picture of him in pregame uh you wa you see the you wa do you see that guy um so I think the biggest thing is you know you you obviously you got to you got to win your your share of battles up front uh and I think the competitive plays but tackling is always at a premium openers are hard openers are always hard I mean you know in college football especially I I I don't think it's as hard in high school or or the pros because you get preseason games and scrimmages where you get more live football uh and you can kind of work out you know we don't get that in in college so I mean tackling is always at a premium but against a bunch like this by nature of who their blockers are and their backs uh tackling is will be critical uh in this game so you know they got they lost some skill but like I said they got all kind of guys um that are there and have already made plays for them and couple new guys that maybe haven't made plays at Georgia yet but they they've made plays where they came from or you know it's a you heard heard some good reviews on a couple of the high school kids that have come in there as well because it's been a a long camp and you've had time of prepar change your your game week preparation schedule at all and kind of let them get their legs under them or is it no this is our regular game week no it's definitely I mean you try to create the game week routine this week but it's different it'll be a different week next week uh when you when you have you know truly have five days to get ready for a new opponent uh you you've had a lot of time to get ready for these guys so yeah you got to be smart and how you get them ready uh Monday is is similar Tuesday Wednesdays are tough practices but you know at with this particular week again you have this type of emphasis and you get the things you need to get done but not quite as long uh as practice would be next week uh when you again you're you're looking at the opponent for the first time with your guys Jaden Lucas and Shel and Shel leis what's their status going into the week oh everybody's everybody's right now ready to play everybody's good to go included good to go until you hear otherwise uh everybody's day to day everybody's day to day I guess this is going to be a big few practices this week for the kicking competition it's still really tight whoer whoer is going to be the kicker he's won the job in Camp mentioned etn coach his status is still kind of up in the air for the game but um how's he similar or different from his brother you seen him he's he's you know fast he's explosive he's he's I'd say more similar than not you know he's he breaks tackles he's got he's got speed um you know probably a little little thicker than than maybe uh Trav was you know at that stage of his career but uh you know they they're they're both obviously great players what you see from kind of win the competition more go through the upright than the other guy you know I mean just that simple I mean it's not a it's not subjective uh it's it's cut and dry and so you know he just had a he just had uh and again that you know that could change next week change two weeks but um I mean he he clearly won the job and uh it's not like it was tied I mean it was for a while and then he separated so he's done a great job and he's earned the opportunity uh you know to start in this game to see him kick Robert will be our kickoff guy so they'll both play is there anything different about just in terms of his personality against do you feel comfortable putting a true freshman out there to do that against team like George I mean I've played a lot of true freshman uh I've started true freshman at every position on this team I believe uh at one point or another uh so you know all you can do is go by what you what you see at practice you know he's he's he's uh um earned the right to go do it doesn't matter if you're a true freshman or a fifth year walk- on U you know it's you can only go by what you see so uh he's he's around right at 80 plus percent and has had a good camp and you know he's confident kid um but you know he's the all-time high school field goal leader so he's made a bunch of them and uh so he's just it's the go it ain't more different uh just just continue to do what he's done his whole life this is what he's trained for obviously you got a lot of stuff going around but but if you're going to be a great kicker you know you that stuff can't affect you so we've tried to create as much pressure on him as we can and he's responded and he's been here since January so it's not like he just got here and um but he's uh we signed him to come in here and compete and he's done that and and Robert has has battled as well but um you know again Nolan has come out on top to this point are there any thank are there any questions that you still have headed into this week that you hope get answered before game time on Saturday about your team no I mean we know I know our team I know our Personnel uh I know what our strengths are I know I know where we where we you know are we've got to be smart um if you will so just want to go see this play I mean you got to go some sooner or later you got to get going so you can you know um no matter what happens in this game you there's a long season ahead and uh you got to go play to to you know you coach and you teach and you learn every single week and and it's that's what's fun once you get into the game week to to start getting some results and you start getting some uh some feedback on exactly where you are and what you got to do to get better uh win or lose maybe some separate themselves on that pack of running backs behind Phil mafa well I think same guys you know they're all going to have an opportunity to play uh it starts with Phil and uh those other guys will get their opportunity as we go through uh the game and as we go through the season and and you know I think I think we'll to be determined as we as we go throughout the year I I I really I think all those guys are going to help us I really do I don't I don't foresee a situation where uh any of those guys don't get an opportunity to to help us at some point um I I really like what I've seen from from all of our guys but does somebody really separate you know I think we've gone as far as we can go and practice now you got to get to you got to get to game day and you know start stacking some days that way and see what happens but it all starts with with mafa anticipation for an opener like this really any opener but a game of this magnitude right out of the gate fills all off season do you get a sense of a different buzz in the building this week now that it's finally game week oh yeah yeah of course I mean everything builds to this I mean you you work all year um I mean we we get 12 Saturdays that that we know if Lord willing we don't have some catastrophe uh we get 12 days that we know we get to play the game of football so I mean you spend the rest of the year preparing practicing meeting um training running you know um just competing against each other so now you get a chance it's finally here one of those Saturdays I mean there's a there's it's just you just can't wait to get up and get to work like it's you know if you're a football guy this is what you've done your whole life man it's like it never gets old this is just you know it's fun it's fun to when it's finally here because there's so much that goes into it again it's so different from all the other sports right you know baseball you play every day your practice is the game uh you know basketball it's every few days couple games a week you move on quick you know football man it's you live with it for a week and you only get 12 days that you and then whatever you get after that is what you've earned you know uh through those 12 days so but even with that if if if if it's perfect you get 16 days so it's just not a lot you know and uh so man everybody loves football in this country and it's awesome to be a part of something that people are so passionate about and and uh you know start thinking about all the way back in the spring uh so just glad it's finally here and ready to get going and excited to play you know a great opponent I mean cuz I think um you we'll find out a lot in this game on um you know where we are and what we got to do to move forward Saturday's Florida State georia Tech you can see both quarterbacks putting their hands trying to hear have you figured out how much you'll you'll use that inh helmet communication and how will it help in certain parts of the game when will you not use it yeah no I think we use it play um I mean it's an advantage uh I mean you know there might be a few times where you know you maybe signal something but it really doesn't it to me it's not as much an advantage to signal from the sideline there may be a couple of tempo things where you're trying to really really go uh that you'll use that but um pretty much every play it's been good I think it's great again it's it's a long time coming uh I'm not sure what took so long for it to just like the tablets I don't know what took so long for that to to finally happen um you know so it's great that we've got video technology on the sideline that's that's really good all the high schools have had it for years now uh so we finally got that but I think it's great because you can really alert your quarterback to some things um and you can you can have it's been fun you know just going through that all through Camp um you know being able to you know when you get to play in um and you know just eliminates a step of having two signal uh to get to get your stuff in and then you know your coordinate your your your quarterback can communicate it how we want you can it adds another Tempo you can huddle a little bit more than maybe you have in the past if you're worried about signals and things like that protecting your signals um and then um you know Drive the tempo you know from there but I think just situational awareness um uh alerts you know uh certain plays that that you maybe it's a pressure call that you're expecting pressure uh but it's not a pressure you know some of your check plays that you have uh where you can communicate and just you know little little reminders uh to your quarterback so I think it's great and same thing on the defensive side Richman Weaver tiger tailgate show in Rich te on Sports how has the opportunity of all your coaches analysts being able to actually coach how is that changed how you're approaching uh obviously fall camp and then heading into the season how important it is well it's a GameChanger and it's an equalizer because I think a lot of that's been going on ac across the country anyway and uh you know so it kind of levels the playing field from that standpoint um and U so I think it's it's great uh it's been a lot of fun it it's created um you know a lot of intensity a lot of focus uh just just much more efficiency with your practice and being able to you know whether it's your Indie periods your your your group work your scout work special teams uh because you just everybody can coach everybody can teach and it creates so much more opportunity for guys to you know uh build their resume start their coaching career you know legitimately and uh you know being able to anybody can meet with anybody I think another big benefit is going to be the development of your young players because now you know it's not just the position coach that can sit down and meet guys and watch tape with them now any of those anybody they can they can meet with them watch tape with them you know when we do some of our uh all throughout practice when we do some of our good on good periods we can have Scout on the other field because we got enough staff that can go coach and teach it you know where where we can have if we got team pass good on good we could have our scout team pass you know where they're doing Clemson they're they're you know they're running Clemson's offense and defense so they're developing so they're getting reps because once you get on a 20h hour clock you can't rep three groups so you you have to be very organized very efficient and how you go about your practice and so a lot of a lot of times during the season those guys don't get you know a lot of reps other than just their Scout reps but they're running other people's stuff so being able to have a staff that can separate and just keep teaching and developing I think that's great U you know for the development of your young players so there's a lot of benefits to it it's been great for us it's fun to see all these guys coach you know some of these guys especially uh some of these guys that have been around here and just been waiting on the opportunity uh it's it's great to see them be able to you know really insert their personality into our team how can guys like Lorenzo Ward who's an older coach or a John gross who's been AE how can they provide well that's another big change you know used to uh you know again none of those people they could all help game plan but none of them could coach you know or they weren't supposed to coach on the field they couldn't run meetings they couldn't do any of that stuff and the other big big changes they couldn't be in the bo you were limited on who you could put in the Box you were limited on who you could put on the headset you're very limited uh to that you know you couldn't put John grass in the Box you couldn't put whammy in the Box because they they unless they were on you could only put on the field coaches or your gas or somebody that was within seven years of graduating you know so you had these limitations on who could actually go in the box where now all that doesn't matter so you can put you know some some uh seasoned veterans in the box and you can you know do it however you want but you can keep your full-time guys on the field to coach their guys and you can have you know if you've got the right type of people that can go upstairs and give you the type of information that you need so I think think it's it's great uh so like whammy will be in the Box for us I mean he's been a longtime defensive coordinator uh he can be on a headset he wouldn't have been a he couldn't have been on a headset um you know if it wasn't for the rule change gra will be in the Box Danny will be in the Box I mean so you know we'll have some veteran people uh up top to go along with you know the other ones that we that we want to be up there so it's great it's a good change and I'm assuming you had the beanie bowl yeah how did that work out I mean Clemson won Clemson w beat the Washington generals again uh all you old people Harlem Globe triers know that uh y'all get that do they still play the Washington generals the harm glow CHS okay good how did that work out there being involved with everybody it's great it's great you know and you know it's why you do it I mean there's always things that that you know it's one of those things that that uh you know you you get into it and it's like it's so much just to just to do that uh but it's so important because you have new people and there's always things that come up you know where for example okay you go into your Indie rout your your pregame routine and the man managers weren't where they were supposed to be and so you're coaching the you got new managers and just ironing out some of the little kinks and then it's the first time that you've been on the same sideline together since last year you know you know so where do you sit where do you go what's our sideline organization what's our halftime procedure where uh Personnel substitutions um special situation you know there's a lot uh going on so actual subbing from the same sideline and having to react to situations so it's that's why you do it so there were some things that came up uh but then also coaches communication true game day everybody on their assignments um you know that part of special teams so it's it's it's really good it's one of those things that's you're like oh my gosh you know it's just cuz that's a lot to put it together and to get ready for it but it's so necessary you know toy to um you know iron out some Kinks again you wish you had some preseason games but that's that we don't hey coach no CH ABC Columbia also new here so nice to meet you Noah Noah yeah Noah nice to meet you uh coach no team no number one team has ever lost a preseason game since 1990 is that a stat uses motivation do you care about I mean what do you make of that stat heading into I mean sure I mean I mean heck I was a sophomore I was a red shirt sophomore number 88 for the tide uh and in 1990 Woody mccorvy still had black hair and uh and and and just he had just come from Clemson to to Tuscaloosa to be my position coach uh Jean Stalin's first year at Alabama 1990 that's a long time ago so uh yeah I mean I think it's it just I mean it is what it is reason why I mean it's it's most of the time the most of the time they might screw up a lot of them other ones but most of the time everybody can figure out who the number number one team is you know or you know coming out of the gate uh we miss on a lot of the rest of them but usually the number one team it's it's maybe there's one or two teams that could buy for it you know out of the gate so uh probably a pretty good stat but definitely yeah it's great opportunity I do something hadn't been done not to it's never been done but it hadn't been done in 34 years so great opportunity what's your assessment of Kate's confidence in himself heading into this week and what do you need to see from him on the first couple guys yeah I think he's he's very confident and uh he's he goes against a bunch of good people in practice every day I mean it's not easy on our practice field uh it's not to to to be able to again all you you know I think that's one of your reasons for success is you practice against good people because the majority of your time in football it's who you practice against so uh he goes against a great group every single day great coaches uh great players and um he's grown this makes him better so I think he's he's in a good spot I think he grew a lot last year and and how he finished uh he's carried that over into the off season is Le he he's really established himself as a leader on this team and uh proud of him but you know what we need to see from him Saturday is just what we've seen in the practice you know take care of the ball make good decisions you know manage the game uh you know be o opportunistic with his legs uh when those things present themselves and and just um you know you know let it rip man let it rip coach Clon George is r that goes way back um Gary stokan the CEO of the peach bow told me that it was an interesting story um how this matchup kind of transpired uh Dan rakovic when he played Georgia 21 in Charlotte uh he said that uh they wanted to play the game in Atlanta but um they already had a game schedule for the AAC kickoff um Gary Stan said that they would have done double header of Dan and CER you know figur out a way to get Clemson Georgia playing that game can you get kind of elaborate on on how this all unfolded yeah I mean ditto there that's kind of how it all went I guess and um you know I mean I I think I mean honestly I wish we played Georgia every year uh just because uh it's Sav a lot of money uh for everybody especially our fans uh you know because I mean why do we got you know we've we've had to go out to A&M you know I think we go to LSU in a couple years I mean we've tried to always play uh 10 you know you better bring your aame type games plus a top group of five type of Team uh which obviously this year we've got that with about as good as you can find in app uh so and then we've played a team from that's kind of been our formula for a long time so you know these these schools are close there's tradition uh you know they're hard it's a hard game I mean this is a tough tough game but there's a lot of great history uh with with Clemson Georgia you know I grew up I mean you always you knew Clemson Georgia was going to play each other it was just one of those games that you wanted to watch uh as a kid so I think it's good for our fans it's good for for uh for college football you mentioned Carson Beck called him Heisman potential candidate obviously you're not going to give away the game plan but what are the challenges that he presents he's just really smart he has great uh understanding of their scheme he knows where everybody is you know um he's he's accurate you know he's very accurate guy and as I said earlier he picks his spots where uh he'll use his legs you know uh they they do just enough with him in the Run game to slow you down just a little you know uh so but I mean he he he finds underneath players you know if you if you leave a check down open he's going to find him he knows where he's at um but he doesn't uh doesn't put the ball in Jeopardy a whole lot you know so just just a very very he's a very good player again he's got a live arm um there's really nothing not to like about the kid I me he's a he's he's a he's a dude he's a great one you mentioned Kade using his legs how much more comfortable is he in the zone read game and just having a feel for for that yeah much more I mean that was an area last year where um you know he needed to take some he needed to grow and he got again got same thing got better as the season went but especially first half of the Season he you know too many tfls where he didn't make the right decisions you know uh he had one you know in a a poor decision in a in a critical situation you know so just you know being decisive uh within the scheme and um that that was something we needed to see from him coming out of the season and just a little more consistency there and he's done that I mean he's been really good uh so again if he'll carry those things to game day uh he's going to have a great year I mean I just think he's he's his Poise his confidence his understanding of everything going into year two uh with our scheme is uh you know it should show I know you guys uh practice a lot of your Tigers Traditions before the season make sure everything's in order what do you coach as far as a successful run down the hill are there some key points for coaching that up I don't really coach much on run down the hill uh uh the biggest thing we coach up there is you know let's we get behind the rock like let's respect the Rock Let's respect the tradition and and we lock up kind of behind the rock if you will you know with the players and and then uh and then let's just get down the hill let's get to work you know I mean there's no real I don't we don't I don't I mean you know to each his own get on down the hill uh you know some of them go fast some of them some of them will take their time a little B some will jump uh but main thing is is how we how we load and unload the buses how we lock up behind the Rock and that's pretty much it no Monday depth chart this year is that because Georgia is not putting one out week one or what's the reason in that uh yeah I mean just so y'all would ask uh just to make y'all have to dig a Little Deeper uh they got to buy the subscriptions to all of our tiger websites and you know have to get the inside scoop from Larry uh on who's playing where and who's running out there first I guess that's it I don't know seems like a new thing uh last something you think you didn't do I have no idea I have no idea I don't George has lost uh two games in the past three season I guess have you looked at those losses and what did they I guess what did Alabama do it was a short list uh well I mean Alabama just they they you they won the line of scrimmage and they made a few more competitive plays and if you look at the SEC Championship game they had the critical turnover it's the difference in the game I mean you know and and and the crazy thing is is you know the critical turnover was a reverse and it's fixing the go it's it was haded up they had it they had it uh but just the exchange wasn't clean balls on the ground bam they come up with it inside the 10 or wherever it was and and um it's a difference in the game was it 20 27 24 is that what the score was uh so yeah it's it's just a couple play they they made the two more plays that you got to make to to to beat an opponent like this you know that's what it comes down to I mean two plays I mean the last time we played them it was one play and again there's a lot of plays that you could you love to get back on both sides but when it came down to it there was one play that decided the game pick six obviously a ball security was an issue for you guys last year I mean is there anything you can see in practice to give you Faith it's going to be better or you just have to see them play well hopefully just I think we're a little more mature a little more experienced I mean we've worked really really hard at it just like we did last year and um you know so just I guess hopefully just hopefully just the maturity and the experience Factor uh will show up for us I mean you know that's definitely an area that that you know we have to be better you know we just we were really really poor um and in ball security last year and and and not only you know the turnovers but where they happened were just catastrophic I mean you're talking a lot of them were in the red zone and you put Drives together and you get no points and that's just it's so costly uh and it's deflating you know it's it's it's it's hard to overcome those things so just way too many and hopefully when this season is over that's an area that we're much improved and if we are we're going to have a we'll have a better year coach with this game being quote unquote a neutral sight what are you expecting in terms of orange versus red in the crowd and what are you preparing for in terms of atmosphere yeah I mean I I don't I don't know what the ticket uh breakdown is I don't know how how that all worked um I don't know if there was back door funneling to the Georgia fans I have no idea uh but you know I I Clemson will have a ton of fans there Georgia obviously have a ton of fans there it'll be an awesome environment it'll be a a great crowd and uh we've tried to prepare our guys uh as much as you possibly can again this is you know we're not getting an open at home you know where you've got you know just you know what you can expect on the offensive side um it's it's going to be loud right out of the gate so and then you're playing a a you know I this is a this is a great defense uh it's one of the top defenses in the country and they do a lot of movement there's a lot of pressures there's a lot of you know stemina and stuff like that and so being able to be on the same page catch that movement with your Cadence especially when you have a silent Cadence you know those are challenges when you have a ton of noise so you have to practice that you got to really work hard on that and uh so you know that's why you you you try to create as as much unrealistic noise in practice as you can you know in your Blitz periods in in your in your your uh your run periods and run fits and protections with you know again all the movement that they they don't just line up sometimes they do but most of the time they're moving so being able to communicate and be on the same page and again ex execute your Cadence in that environment is always a challenge I mean it's what you do but when you have it played in a while that's something that that certainly you worry about going into a game like this so you try to prepare the best you can is it kind of crazy that in your career most of your career Clemson head coach that most of the games you start the season with have been on the road or neutral sight yeah yeah I that sounds like an ad problem uh at gram.com uh I don't think we've had a home opener since 19 maybe um so and and then not only that I mean we you know you look around the country and you go boy it'd be nice to maybe have a little you know I remember I think I told y'all coach sper called me one time uh we both got beat in a in a um and matter of fact it was the Georgia game we played Georgia in 14 and he called me on that and I I think they played Texas A&M and just got boat RAC the whole game like all four quarters and has this classic sper uh still I still got the voicemail and and he he calls me and he's just like and then I call him back and he's just like yeah I don't know why we schedule these games I tell you I just don't know we go play we go play that team over here down the road get a little win everybody's happy get to work out some of them problems cuz you know there going to be some problems yeah yeah I don't know why we schedule these games like this right out of the gate you know and he he says you know yeah but hey look I just calling you uh yeah look like y'all got your ass kicked for you know one quarter uh we got ours kicked for four quarters but but hey just uh just wanted to tell you hey hey just keep your head up you know a long season ahead we'll keep we'll keep moving classic sper and uh you know I always appreciated that about him you know because he has this Persona you know and but he really was a good dude he's still a good dude and and just very caring and and um I think he I think he U you know took pride in maybe helping Mentor me a little bit and try to teach me and and you know he he called me several times over his career uh here to just and even to this day you know to just give me his little insight or or or pick me up or even when they beat us you know I can't bet they beat us I think in 13 and we had like six turnovers and he's like I tell you yeah y'all beat everybody y'all just can't hold on that ball when y'all play us I don't know what it is you know and uh so he always had his way of trying to encourage it but I I remember that uh specifically so maybe one of these days we'll have one of them one of them little openers we can we can uh we can make we we can make some mistakes and and still win and go get better but this ain't one of them you make mistakes in this one you get beat uh that's one thing I can say about geordan they don't make a lot of mistakes you know they seld them beat themselves they're a well- coached team team and um we'll have our hands full but yeah one of these days we'll get a home game well I think we got a home game next year but we got another one of them easy ones I think we got LSU uh right here so we'll run it back this time next year um in the valley but it will be nice to finally have a game at least we're not on Monday night you know we I think we went two years in a row on the road Monday night uh so that's a completely quirky deal you know and you come back and play again on Saturday so um it's uh it's good to play on Saturday that's for sure talking on your radio show was interesting about the Green Dot players on defense and how is it that two of them can't be on the field at the same time if you have other helmets or offense you can't you can't have two Green Dot people on the field at the same time you know they might they might give you a pass on special teams if you got you know your two Mike backers that have the Green Dot if they're on kickoff they might they might they might give you a pass on that I don't think you're supposed to but I'm not sure they're they're hunting at but but certainly on uh on on offense and defense you know you can't have can't have the running back with a Green Dot and the quarterback with a Green Dot um or an offensive lineman with a Green Dot and a quarterback with a Green Dot that's just the rule is there a concern on defense at all in terms of like Personnel not been able to have like these two linebackers on the field together or not really uh no no how do you feel about the depth at tackle interior defensive tackle sorry uh good I mean we've got uh you know you know three really really good veteran players you know right there that I I kind of look at all three of them as starters I think they'll play that way and and Cape and pton and Trey and then uh you know we got some talented guys behind them that you know they got a they got a by the end of the year they got to be dudes for us you know we need them to be dudes Saturday uh hopefully we'll see that but you know Steph island is a very talented young player burle's a very talented young player uh so you know we we really like those guys a lot uh and what they bring to the table and then we we signed heaven we signed champ uh so you know it's a it's a good group of young guys that uh we recruited to to come in here and help us but thankfully we don't we don't need any of them to run out there first right now uh we need them to just be good depth guys and we'll lean on those first three guys to to set the tone can't imagine how excited Sammy Brown is for this game I imagine he'll start on special teams um how have you seen learning C go for him since January it's been good I mean he you could tell in the spring I mean it was a lot it was a lot on him um you know I think more scheme than probably what he's had to deal with uh and again that's just I mean if you really watched his career he played about every snap you know of of offense and defense so uh it's not like he just played defense and spent his whole time preparing for defense I mean he had to know offense too and and a lot of things so I think there was a lot thrown at him uh purposely this spring uh to get him ready physically he was ready to go the day he got here I mean he's he one of the he's one of the freakiest dudes to walk in the door I mean you know big strong fast and jump I mean he's he's he's near the top in about every category uh guy's a I mean he's State wrestling champ State lifting champ you know uh football you name it I mean he's he's just a a winner and a great great kid but it it's really slowed down for him he's still got you know a still got to learn the curve to go but he's it's really um slowed down he put the work in from the spring and then what when he came out of spring on what he had to do to to get better at this fall camp and he's done that uh so he's put himself in a good spot to help us and and be a backup there and I would say the same thing that I just said about our our Young D tackles hopefully it's a situation we can you know have a little Good Fortune this year with some key guys staying healthy like Barrett and wood has to where we can bring him bring him at a good Pace um and cuz I think he's just going to get better and better and better got about 90 more seconds before we need to transition to West good if anybody has one more question did you did you miss the live interaction with your fans last night on call I was hoping you would call in uh we I checked for your text uh I didn't see it I didn't see it that was good you know it was good uh it was good to get back going and you know some good questions hopefully you know we'll be able to You Know cover more topics and get more done and and uh you know have more than two or three people that call in man still love Becky you know shout out to Becky uh and uh and you know we we still love her so people think that the the Tyler call from last year you know led to the decision not to take calls what what was behind the decision well actually and that's what people will assume and that was brought up and you know all the stuff but actually internally they've been talking about it for a while to make a change to the format and really look at what most other people were doing um being able to take more questions being able to talk more ball being able to you know not just have two or three people that you spend the evening talking to uh but you know I mean that certainly that certainly uh you know didn't help the the the the cause that's for sure but uh but it's all good man uh Tyler's a great Clemson uh man and and uh always will be thank you coach thanks Co thanks all right appreciate it can you tell us about the new dog my new dog yeah yeah n uh I got her um got her last last yeah so got Levi and uh you know so I wanted U yeah I got daughter-in-laws now so I got a lot of women in my life never really I've never really had that situation um so Hershey had died and uh so wanted to get a new dog so we love we love Levi our little little little gold noodle and so we want to get the same dog we get we get this new little dog I want to get another and I want to name it RJ for Raymond James you know and U Got Natty dogs and and U you know got Levi named after Levi Stadium but so I want they they decided they wanted a girl dog I'm like well I don't want a girl dog you know I wanted a boy dog and I lost that so next thing you know we we we got a girl dog and I don't really know what's the girl dog but she's the sweetest she's just my little I mean she sleeps right next to me she's the sweetest thing and so so now we got to name her something I want to name her RJ and they're like we can't name her RJ I'm like what do you mean we can't name her RJ girl's name RJ and they're like we can't name her RJ I will just call her Rayman Etta Jameson and uh they're like that ain't Happ so uh I came up with n because that's all in backwards so you spell all in backwards you get n so that's my little sweet girl that's my was my Hershey uh my so I got I got Levi n she's all in that's for sure so I'm a big fan now of girl dogs by the way going to look at no waers the hand she's awesome yeah yeah thank you appreciate it [Music] us [Music] oh