Swinney: 'Tough times bring out the best in some people, and the worst in others'

On Clemson’s defense being undisciplined:

"We had some critical penalties. Couple of them that you know just kind of went against us that was frustrating. The discipline penalties killed us and extended drives. We couldn't get them off the field, they weren't getting a lot of points, but they were staying on the field with a lot of third-down conversions and just wearing us down. Then offensively we weren't staying on. Kind of a double-edged sword there. But again, our guys battled through it, but it seemed like every time it was seven or eight yards they were hard counting us and we were jumping-- even on 4th-and-3. Sometimes I think guys are in the moment and we're trying to do too much. Very disappointed with that for sure-- led to them being able to really be efficient and keep the chains moving and convert in 3rd-and-shorts as opposed to 3rd-and-longs."

On what Clemson’s got to work on to get better:

"We look at everything when you're struggling and not doing well. But our number one problem is execution. There's no question about that, we're just fundamentally not getting it done where we need to. It's a combination of all those things. I've got to get them better. We should be better than what we're playing. It's my job to make sure we get it done and to improve. We've got a lot of new pieces. Some guys not playing as well as they're capable of-- a missed assignment here. or there. Just sync and rhythm and all those types of things. We just haven't been able, to get that in any form or fashion. But it's a combination of everything. We all got to do a better job."

On Tony Elliott as a play-caller and the comments from RGIII during the broadcast:

"Well, I can tell you this. There's nobody that I believe in more-- trust or respect than Tony Elliott. This guy didn't just forget football. That's for sure. When we had some bad moments on defense with a little bit of youth and things like that, the last couple of years, I'd say the same thing about Brent. Tony Elliott. he's special. He's special. I'm not really concerned about what other people think, to be quite honest with you. I'm here every day. I know who the people are. They're involved. I know what the issues are. Yeah, it's disappointing. But you don't judge somebody--  we've been really, really, really good, really good offensively here for a long time, a long time-- and people are quick to forget that. This has been a tough start for sure. We've got a lot of pain, but there's purpose in the pain and we'll get better from it. People can splinter or stay together. I say tough times bring out the best in some people, and the worst and others. You kind of find out who's with you. It is easy to be all-in when everything's great. We got to persevere through this, but there's nobody-- and I mean nobody-- that I believe in more than Tony. So that's really the biggest thing I can say. He's a brilliant man. He's a brilliant coach."

On fans jumping off the bandwagon:

"Oh, there will be a bunch jump off the bandwagon. But I wouldn't say they were all-in anyway. The type of winning that we've had for a long time-- everybody likes a winner. There'll be some that certainly will judge us in this moment and again that's a product of all the success that we've had here for a long long time. We all understand that we're not playing anywhere near our capabilities or to the standard that we have set here. Nobody accepts that, but we also have the right perspective. Know where we are, know what we got to do, know where we're going. You've got to take the good with the bad and it's been a ton of good around here, man. I think we've got the winningest road record in the country and we've won a lot of games on the road-- a lot of great moments-- that one didn't go well. "