CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) – Clemson coach Dabo Swinney has taught a lot of lessons the past seven seasons. Along the way, some guidance got lost amidst all that winning.
“There are certain things you can’t teach on the mountaintop,” Swinney said Friday as the Tigers opened fall camp.
His team, Swinney believes, carries a new, healthier perspective after what it went through in 2021. A year ago, the Tigers were runaway favorites to win a seventh straight Atlantic Coast Conference crown and gain a seventh consecutive berth in the College Football Playoff.
Instead, Clemson opened 4-3, including losses to eventual national champion Georgia and ACC winner Pittsburgh.
The Tigers, in Swinney’s own words, were not very good, but he told them they’d be judged on how they got back up with most of the season left to play.