Swinney says Tigers have the ingredients to be special in 2024

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney sees all the ingredients to do something "special" this season.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Apr 17 07:00:02 GMT-04:00 2024

Dabo Swinney thinks his team has all the ingredients to make a run in 2024.

Swinney’s Tigers finished 9-4 last season after the bowl win over Kentucky, winning five in a row to end the season and fueling expectations for this season. Swinney, appearing on ACC PM with Mark Packer and Taylor Tannebaum, recapped spring practice and said he thinks the Tigers have the pieces in place to take the next step.

“The main thing is we had 127 guys go through spring. So, the majority of our team is here. And I would say the main thing that we learned is we've got the ingredients. We just have a lot of work to do,” Swinney said. “But I think we've got an eager group, and we've got good leadership on both sides. I think we've got a chance to be strong up the middle, if you will, in the trenches. And we've gotten some guys back from injury and we've got a chance.

“This is a team that I think carries some momentum - we had a little five-game winning streak, and we were in a mess there. And man, these guys played some good football down the stretch and culminated with a great bowl win a game winning drive. And I think that's kind of fueled these guys into the spring, but we have the ingredients, we just have to put it all together and have a great summer so that we can take the next step in this year's journey.”

Swinney said he saw what he needed to see out of quarterback Cade Klubnik.

“He had a heck of a spring. He was very accurate. We had a lot of great plays down the field this spring,” Swinney said. “I thought he developed a lot of chemistry with our core, and I'm talking about tight ends, receivers, backs. I mean, he just has a complete command of what we're doing offensively and just really has grown from what he did last year. He didn't throw many interceptions, that's a positive, but we turned the ball over too much. I mean, he had too many fumbles, he took too many sacks. But that's just a part of being a first-year starter. This is a very, very talented and an elite skilled kid. And it was fun to see. I just thought the game just really slowed down for him. He was very consistent all throughout the spring, and I think when we get everything around him, it's going to be a heck of a year for him.

“I think he's just going to keep getting better and better. And the biggest thing, as I said earlier, was the way he finished with a five-game winning streak made some big, big plays and big games, and none bigger than the game-winning drive in the bowl game. So, he's very confident and I just think he's one of those guys that is going to continue to progress. This is a developmental game, and he's, again, a very, very talented player.

“You look around the country last year, the best quarterbacks were guys that had gained a lot of experience, some sixth-year guys, some fifth-year guys. And Cade is coming off his second year, first year starter, and I think he's just going to continue to progress. So excited about it.”