ACC Championship Notebook: Swinney on Notre Dame, 'This ain't a bunch of slouches'

Dabo Swinney just wrapped up his time with the media today. Here are a few quick highlights from the event.

Opening comments:

“No team that I’ve had has faced the challenges this team has. It either shines you up or it grinds you up and this team is made of the right stuff.”

Says “one of the greatest moments” has been watching this group come together.

Mentions being the first Power 5 team to go to six consecutive conference title games.

The senior class has NEVER been outside the Top 10 in their career.

Gotta go back to 1988 and Ed McDaniel to find another Clemson freshman or redshirt freshman who has had at least three forced fumbles…Myles Murphy…yeah, he did that.

On if revenge is the great motivator:

“The margin of error is small. If you want to ‘get revenge’— that don’t fit gaps properly. It’s about championship execution.”

Asked by NFL.com journalist about Trevor Lawrence’s talent:

“He’s as good as there is. He’s seen it all, there is nothing he’ll see there that he hasn’t already seen— I promise you. This guy is as good as there is pre-snap, post-snap- the margin of error will get smaller, but his ability to process it— he’s just special."

On Ian Book:

“I hate to compare him to Joe Montana, but he has a little bit of magic to him and he is a GREAT player. He’s the heart and soul. He makes them go."

On all the noise etc. that Trevor Lawrence gets using his platform:

“We live in a world of 'thumb gangsters' who attack you every day. He doesn’t care. He knows who he is. He’s going to show up and go to work— if there is a lot of praise or a lot of criticism."

On what this season has been like:

“Total chaos. Uncharted waters. No roadmap. Literally driving in the dark with no headlights, trying to figure it out. That’s why I’m thankful to the Good Lord-- the Bible says his word is a lamp unto your feet. I’m thankful for that lamp. You turn a lamp on at night it doesn’t light up the house, it gives you just enough light so you don’t stomp your toe going to the toilet, right?”

On the trenches:

"We've got to fit the run. We got to match their physicality, every single one of those guys across the front, we got to match the physicality, we got to fit the run properly, we got to play with more precision in what we do defensively. I mean, when we did that we played pretty well. But when we were poor with our leverage, poor with our eyes, and peeking in the backfield and not fitting things properly-- they can expose you quick. We've got to set the edge better. We've got to fit it better.”

On what Clemson’s got to do better:

“We got to tackle better, we got to make the layups. I mean, we had some layups that we didn't make, and, you know, they're gonna make plays, this is a championship game. This ain't a bunch of slouches. These guys are 10-0 and a really, really good team. They're gonna make some plays and you're not going to shut this quarterback down, but we've got to do a better job and minimize him and be more efficient, which hopefully will help us be better on third down. I mean, they were 10 of 19 on third down, it's hard to win. We had three turnovers to their one. They were over 50% on third down. We were terrible on third down, we were not efficient on either side of the ball and so we've got to do better in all those areas, to have a chance to win the game and it starts with just technique and fundamentals and just doing the little things right, you know, it's not complicated-- make the layups. If we do that, then then we'll have a chance to maybe make a three-pointer or two along the way."

On Clemson President Jim Clements, who was a candidate for ACC commish job:

"I’m super happy President Clements is staying at Clemson. He’s the best in the country. Unbelievable." Mentions alignment among administration is crucial and a big reason for Clemson's success.