Swinney Doesn't Send Out Preseason Congratulations

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney doesn't care a lick about the preseason rankings.

Despite coming off of a 10-3 season that saw the Clemson Tigers miss the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2014, Clemson comes in at No. 4 in the preseason poll.

Last year's runner-up, Alabama comes in at No. 1, receiving 64 first-place votes, with Ohio State at No. 2 and the reigning national champions, the Georgia Bulldogs at No. 3. Notre Dame rounds out the Top-5.

This marks the seventh straight season Clemson will start a new season ranked in the top 4 of the Coaches Poll.

However, head coach Dabo Swinney doesn't care a lick about the preseason rankings.

"It's kind of like I tell our players, I ask them every year, "Bryan, did you get that text I sent you on congratulating you on preseason, All-American? Trenton, you got that text, right?" They all look at me like, I'm like, "Good. You'll never get that text. If you ever do, then let me know," Swinney said. "No, I don't really care about any of that stuff. I mean, we ranked last year and we finished 15th, so that's the only thing that mattered. The end of the year we finished 15th and that heck of a finish, and that team was unbelievably committed. It's just something to talk about right now, doesn't have anything to do with December or November.

The Tigers started the 2021 year ranked No. 2 in the preseason poll. They finished 16th in the final poll after winning their last six games of the year, including their Cheez-It Bowl victory over Iowa State.

The 2021 season was the first time Clemson did not finish a year ranked in the top 4 of the final Coaches Poll since 2014.

"All that'll be determined by what happens on the field," Swinney said. "Kind of like those recruiting rankings, right? They do that rerank that every year somebody does it and very, very seldom we not been ranked higher four years later than we were when we signed it. That's all based on performance and not potential. I think we got a chance to be a good team and we got a lot of work to do."

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