Monday coordinator notes: Tony Elliott and Brent Venables
Tony Elliott and Brent Venables met with the media Monday to recap the win over NC State and preview the upcoming matchup with Wake Forest.
Tony Elliott
-- The first quarter against North Carolina State, which Clemson scored four touchdowns, was really clean. Pleased with the execution. The structure they faced this year with a 3-3 stack was a little bit different than years past. The biggest thing with this group right now, they’ve found their chemistry.
“They are very, very confident. They understand what it takes to prepare week in and week out. Really starting to hit their stride.”
— Was asked about the arc of progress for this offense and if the group was where he expected them to be. Said the entire unit knew what it has been capable of, but also understood that it would take time.
“Each offense has its own identity. Obviously, we had some really talented guys but we needed time to figure out what was going to be the overall chemistry. These guys have a ton of upside and I think now they are starting to realize that.”
— Was asked if he’s ever been around an offense that is humming quite like this one is right now and immediately knocked on wood. Tries not to focus on the numbers (like scoring 45+ points in five consecutive games, which had not been done before).
Elliott focuses on turnovers, red zone efficiency, and third-down efficiency.
“Those are areas where we have an opportunity to improve. We’ve been doing well with the turnover margin but didn’t have a great day on third down. Still have opportunities to improve in the red zone. All those other numbers are for other people to talk about. We accomplished a goal, which is to win the division and we want to send our seniors out the right way on Senior Day.
“We care what the final numbers are. We understand that if we want to be in that conversation at the end, then we gotta take care of business.”
— This group had an opportunity to be challenged and accept that challenge and this group responded the right way. They are constantly getting positive reinforcing messages.
Clelin Ferrell texted Dabo Swinney saying, “hey, remind these guys of how focused we were in the month of November.”
The players know that they are in championship phase, but if they want to be remembered and talked about they better maintain their focus, Elliott added.
“They’ve figured out how to block out the noise. And as the noise gets louder and the lights get bigger, we continue to focus on the process and that’s the biggest challenge for not just the players, but the coaches as well.”
— Was asked if he has reached out to Chad Morris since he was fired from Arkansas. He sent Morris a text of encouragement. Said it’s a difficult situation and that Elliott has been there once before.
“I know the type of person Chad is. I know the type of coach he is. I’m grateful to Chad. My first day on the job was picking him up from the airport. It was snowing and I’m like, ‘please let me get to the airport to be able to pick up my new boss.’”
Said he’s very thankful for what Morris brought to Clemson and giving Elliott some responsibility that prepared him for the position he is in now.
Said he’s not worried about the short leashes that coaches seem to be on these days.
-- Travis Etienne’s pass-catching ability is putting more pressure on defenses, especially on third down. Said it’s been a tribute to Trevor Lawrence and the offensive line that they’ve been able to handle five-man protections and let Etienne or another receiver be added as a fifth man. Etienne is not just confident in catching the ball these days, but is also stepping in on pass protection.
“He’s found his groove and has figured out how to block out the noise and really just get locked back in of being the best version of himself.”
-- Was asked if there were a few throws the past few weeks from Trevor Lawrence that had made him say, ‘wow, that’s the Trevor I remember.’ Brought up Lawrence’s touchdown pass to Justyn Ross before halftime and how well of a ball it was, fitting it right over the defender’s shoulder.
“He caught that ball for Ross. Ross didn’t have a choice but to catch it.”
Said Lawrence has also done a great job of blocking out the noise from the outside.
-- Said the jumbo package has always been Dabo Swinney’s baby. The relationship with Clelin Ferrell and Christian Wilkins definitely helped get that started. Swinney is about having fun with it and it has just morphed over time.
Added players are always lobbying to be a part of it. Ruke Orohorhoro has been here for half a season and is already chirping at the staff to let him run the ball.
“It makes it fun. All these young men started playing football for the joy of the game, the love of the game, and the fun that they were having. That’s one of the things that coach Swinney does an unbelievable job within the program. Yes, it’s hard work. It’s difficult. It’s a tough sport. But at the same time, you could still have that childhood feeling of having fun every single day when you play the game.”
Brent Venables
-- Thought the coverage against NC State was really good and that his defense answered the challenge. The defense got into a great rhythm against the offense early in the game. Playing at night on the road is not an easy thing to do. Laying around the hotel all day, it’s hard to not get caught up into the emotions of other games.
-- Was asked if Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Newman is an NFL talent.
“No question. Terrific quarterback. Got great poise, accuracy, and has a very live arm. Can run and doesn’t get rattled. Has a great disposition about him. He’s hard to handle. Really hard to handle.”
-- On the run this defense is on right now:
“We’ve got good players and for the most part we’ve had good continuity. Not having guys that are here for just one or two years - transfers, and things of that nature. I think it helps us to have a little carry over from year to year. It’s good. It’s a standard. You don’t take it for granted. There’s a lot of hard work that goes into it. It’s an investment and commitment to be able to perform at that high of a level… Sustaining the competitive drive is a big deal. It’s hard. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. It’s not just showing up on game day, it’s everything else in between that makes it even harder.
Said it’s about keeping to hands on the wheel. “That’s what it takes. That’s why you see other teams go through things at the end of the year. That’s a big part of it.”
-- Talking about his joy from the sidelines when James Skalski forced that early fumble against NC State after a run blitz, Venables said he knew how critical of a play that was. It was a momentum-changing play, on the road, that drained the opponent. Something that creates an avalanche.
-- This year’s senior class on defense has been the model of consistency. Some guys, like Chad Smith and Denzel Johnson, have had to be patient. The patience has paid off. It has been neat to see that defense have all the success it has had with the leaders it has on that side of the ball.
-- We asked Venables if the game plan approaching NC State is any different knowing that he was facing a quarterback in only his second career start.
“Maybe. You still have to focus on big-picture scheme, matchups, strategy, and you always want to be conscious of who their playmakers are. Sometimes that’s a part of it, sometimes it’s not. You want to affect every quarterback that you go up against and you do that in different ways. Sometimes too much is made of that. When you get into definitive passing situations? Sure. As the staple of your game plan, I’m not so sure that’s the case.”
We followed up asking if Venables could tell his unit rattled the quarterback pretty early on.
“I thought he was pretty tough and he hung in there well and handled some adversity well. When we watched him, he was exactly the same. He didn’t panic when he was facing pressure. Threw the ball to the right spots. I watched him and thought, ‘boy, that’s the guy.’ He looked very poised and instinctive to me.”
-- Venables added how much he loves to prepare. On the road, he’ll have his laptop on one side with film and then on a screen near him would be a game and he’d ask to himself, “what would I call here?” And then, boom, there it is.
“That’s kinda fun.”
-- Was asked what he thought about the strategy in the LSU-Alabama game.
“It looked like a bunch of great players on both sides of the ball. A lot of skill that was pretty frightening watching it. When you start watching that high level of skill with the quarterback, scheme, and the players that can get a little overwhelming.
“I hated it for those defensive coordinators… Looked like a lot of problems that you have to solve against those guys.”