Clemson's defense is improved, confident in second year under Wes Goodwin
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On the progress of the defense from Week 1: "I think every week we've gotten better and better and that's kind of the goal. Game six is better than game five, and so forth and so on. So just really cool to see the progression being made. I feel like guys are playing with a lot of physicality up front and controlling the line of scrimmage and guys playing relentless with great effort, flying around. You can just feel the confidence and belief and just see it out there on Saturdays."
On what's different about the defense compared to last season: "I think going into the season pass defense was the biggest challenge along with red zone defense. [We] really made a lot of strides in those two areas. Rush defense has been pretty consistent over the past two years but the pass defense limited explosive plays down the field and then in the red zone, one of five opportunities they scored touchdowns this past weekend, which was huge. No points off the turnovers."
On the improvement in the secondary: "We're a lot more experienced this year. Guys have played a lot of ball. Their overall football knowledge, coverages, alignments, techniques, and applying those in different situations. Just a lot of confidence and belief as well. You can feel it on the sideline. I can see it in their eyes. They're a lot more confident in what they're doing in the moments and all [of] the back seven guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now."
On how much freshman defensive end T.J. Parker has grown throughout the season: "[He’s] going out there and doing his job and doing it well. You knew early on, even in January that he was well beyond his years as far as football, understanding, technique, and work ethic. Every week, he seems to get better and better. [He] still needs to clean up some alignment issues and doing some small things better. But for the most part, he's been really productive, heavy-handed, providing some good pass rush force of front and just brings a great energy and demeanor as well. I'm super excited about the second half to see where he continues to improve and grow."
On reserve linebackers Kobe McCloud, Dee Crayton, and Jamal Anderson Jr: "I love all three of those kids and they're made of the right stuff. I talk to them and challenge them to take advantage of opportunities whether it's playing special teams. It's not a whole lot of opportunity at times for my guys but whatever role that they get, take advantage of that opportunity and the snaps will come. Just continue to show up with the right mindset every day. I think all three of those guys have bright futures and can contribute going forward and hopefully, we can get them some more linebacker reps as well."
