• last year
Dabo Swinney discusses bowl prep.
Transcript
00:00 Man, just since our – I don't know when the last time I saw you all,
00:04 I think it was the South Carolina game maybe, after the game.
00:07 You know, really proud of our team for, you know, how they finished.
00:11 It's a, you know, just great heart and resilience.
00:16 It's not easy to win games.
00:18 I mean, it's really, really hard.
00:20 I mean, we had – we finished with eight wins on the regular season
00:23 and you know, that's 13 years in a row that we've had eight-plus wins.
00:27 And obviously 12 of those have been ten-plus.
00:29 But 13 years in a row of eight-plus wins, that's a short list.
00:34 Clemson, Alabama and Georgia.
00:37 So, I know everybody thinks it's easy to win, but it's so hard.
00:41 And so I'm proud of our guys.
00:43 You know, backs against the wall and just how they finished.
00:47 Guys stepping up.
00:49 You know, a lot of personnel down.
00:51 And to see them rise up the way they did was great.
00:55 To earn the opportunity to go to the Gator Bowl.
00:57 You know, we're really excited about that.
00:59 We have a chance for a ninth win.
01:01 And if we get a ninth win, then that list of three goes to two.
01:05 Us and Alabama.
01:06 So, you know, just a lot of opportunity within this game.
01:11 And it's a game that has a great history with Clemson.
01:16 As it's – as you all heard me say, the bowl deal, it's full circle for me.
01:23 My first ever bowl game as a coach in 1993
01:27 against the Fighting Mack Browns, North Carolina.
01:31 And when he had dark hair I think.
01:34 And it was my first bowl as a head coach.
01:38 So, I'm excited about it, looking forward to it.
01:42 Again, it's an area I'm really familiar with,
01:43 haven't always recruited down there.
01:45 And our Jags are fired up that we're coming that way as well.
01:50 And so it's going to be a great time.
01:52 We're staying out at Amelia Island.
01:54 It's a beautiful area.
01:55 We have our ACC meetings every year at the Ritz.
01:58 I think we're –
01:59 [No audio]
02:04 But it's a great setup.
02:06 We'll practice at Fernandina Beach.
02:08 So it'll be a good trip and a great matchup.
02:12 You know, Kentucky, this is, you know, two teams I think
02:16 that have battled all throughout the year.
02:19 You know, Kentucky is –
02:21 I mean the job that Coach Stoops has done is amazing.
02:26 I think the same thing I would say in his tenure there,
02:29 he's created consistency at Kentucky.
02:32 I think that is, you know, not always been the case.
02:37 And he's come in and he's taken that program
02:40 and he has created consistency.
02:43 And he's created a mentality and a toughness.
02:47 And man, they've won massive games
02:51 and they've been in position to win at the highest level.
02:54 So, you know, I just can't say enough about the job that he's done.
02:59 And they got good personnel and I think all their dudes are playing.
03:03 I think some of them were not going to play
03:04 and then all of a sudden now they're going to play.
03:07 So, I think a lot of those guys understand this stage
03:10 and the opportunity that they have.
03:12 And so it's a really good matchup.