Khalil Barnes on Clemson's freshman class: 'We knew our class was going to be special.'

On the freshman class: “We knew our class was going to be special. Coach Swinney said it too. Especially in the off-season when all of us had signed. He said that he felt our class was like one of the closest classes he has signed. I think that shows on the field. Every time Shelt, AV, Peter, TJ, any of us make a play, it’s kind of like we all celebrate each other. Even the guys that don’t see the field much. We just trust the process, all came with the right mindset. Just want to keep working every day.”

On Avieon Terrell: “AV is just about his business. A lot of that probably has to do with his brother in the league. He kind of knows how all of this stuff goes. Especially before he already got here. But, I met him on my Syracuse visit last year. Just talking to him about his recruitment pitch. Just like the way he went about his business, the way he talked, you can tell every day he came to work with a lot of energy. He will never take a day for granted. A lot of people might say we here now, feel like they arrived, but he is always trying to get better. Working on his craft. Proud of him.”

On UNC offense: “Drake Maye, I mean ain’t too much you got to say. Everybody knows how good the quarterback is. He’s got weapons all around him. He’s been there like three or four years, so they have a veteran team. They know what they want to do. We’ve played them a lot, so they kind of know us too. It’s just going to get better at the little things. A lot of people probably think we played a really good game Saturday, which we did. But if you go and look at the gray sheets, I have probably most negatives also on plays that I have probably had the whole season. So, just the little things. We got to clean those up. Gap fits. We have to try and get them in third and long situations like we did this week. That’s when we can play our best, be aggressive, and play man. It’s going to be a challenge for sure.” 

On making changes: “Some of them are just run fits. Some of the stuff was just bad technique on plays and their eyes. Like DB’s, especially when we get caught in that first pick, I just want another one. So, my eyes sometimes I looked in the backfield too quickly but just stuff like that.”

On Mickey Conn being on the field: “I wasn’t here last year so I don’t know how it was last year with him. But, him being able to come up and tell us specifically what we did wrong. That just feels like practice. So for me, I really enjoy it. I don’t know how it was without him though. But, I really enjoy having him on the field.”