Swinney on Clemson's Championship Phase: "Our best football is in front of us"

Sheridan Jones was one of the Tiger defenders who played at Notre Dame in 2020.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Mon Oct 31 20:39:45 GMT-04:00 2022

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney says his team is ready to show what it can do in the program's "Championship Phase."

That charge kicks off for a national audience at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in South Bend, Indiana at Notre Dame (NBC broadcast).

"The air gets a little thinner. The climb gets a little steeper. The light gets a little brighter," Swinney said on his call-in show Monday. "You should be the best version of yourself at this point. It's exciting, especially when you're in the position that you're in right now. This time last year, it's still championship phase, because we weren't out of it. We were still in the hunt for the league, but we were kinda at the mercy (of other teams to lose)...This team this year to be at this point and have every single goal that can possibly have still on the table -- it's exciting.

"It doesn't get any easier. Notre Dame has won five out of their last six. They're a good football team. This is Notre Dame at Notre Dame. They're playing with a lot of confidence. They had a couple tough losses early but they've found their footing."

Swinney said that linebacker Barrett Carter was back in practice Monday after missing the last game versus Syracuse and ready to go. Swinney believes that defensive end Xavier Thomas is ready to make a bigger impact as well.

"He's just trending up and up and up, and I think he can really cut it loose," said Swinney.

As for the team as a whole, Swinney believes they're in a good position to chase all the goals on the wall in the team meeting room.

"Where we are and the opportunity in front of us is really special because we haven't really put it all together," said Swinney. "We have in moments, a quarter here or a quarter there, but our best football is in front of us. That's kinda the next step for this team. The great thing about this team is they're battle-tested and they've shown they will not flinch and will find ways to win. Period. That's a skill. That really is. That's something that very few teams can do...We've done a little bit of everything. We've done it all...

"This month of November is an opportunity for this team to truly put things together, and if they do, it's going to be a great month. We got to go do it. We've got to earn it. And off to a good start this week and excited to see how these guys compete on this stage Saturday night."

Swinney added that he's thankful that he has some players coming back to Notre Dame for a second time, after the sting of a 47-40 double OT loss in 2020.

"We'll have to play well," Swinney said. "I'm thankful that we have a lot of guys who were up there a couple years ago. Still have that in their mind. That was a tough night for us, double overtime. This is an opportunity for us to go back up there. We haven't won up there since 1979 -- we've only played there once since 1979 but we haven't won there since 1979.

"It's a good time to break that trend."