Despite 9-3 Record, Dabo Swinney Says Clemson Program Is 'Good As It's Ever Been'

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and Tigers fans alike didn't envision their 2021 season ending prior to New Years Eve, ranked outside of the Top Ten. Nonetheless, after six-straight appearances in the College Football Playoffs, Clemson now finds themselves playing in a Wednesday evening Bowl Game that's more junk food than fine dining -- the Cheez-It Bowl (yes, that's a real game. I promise).

Despite their less than appetizing post-season reservations, the Tigers can still enter the new year with an 11th consecutive 10-win season, and Swinney feels as if the program is in great shape moving forward.

"Good as it's ever been," Swinney said Tuesday during a pre-Bowl Game press conference.

 

Swinney's of the opinion that his 19th-ranked team isn't far off from a return trip to the College Football Playoffs: "We just won nine football games, and you know, we're a couple plays away from being in the Playoff as well. We lost to a good Georgia team on a pick-six, they are pretty good. We lost to a pretty good NC State team at their place in double overtime and lost to the ACC champion Pitt that just made a couple more plays than we did."

According to Swinney, who was named Clemson's head coach in 2009 after serving as the interim for part of '08, this group of Tigers should elicit plenty of excitement for the program moving forward. "...Our team competed every snap, all year and never made any excuses," said Swinney. "And they are all here. So, I mean, (if) you can't get excited about that, I don't know what else there is to be excited about."

He added: "...We're in a lot better shape today than we were ten years ago, I can tell you that."

 

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