Clemson Showed It Is Bigger Than Any Player and Coach

Head Coach Dabo Swinney earned his 150th career win in his 14th season, but also showed Clemson is bigger than any one person.

ORLANDO— The Clemson Tigers faced more adversity in their 13 games in 2021 than they had in the previous 14 seasons under head coach Dabo Swinney.

"I couldn't be more proud of our players," Swinney said. "The credit belongs to them. 28 players, including nine in the portal and 19 out with injury or protocol. Two coordinators gone and AD chilling on a beach. These guys just hung in there. It speaks to the culture and foundation of our program. It was an amazing experience out there tonight. 

“It’s all about how you finish. What an unbelievable effort by this team. Ten wins in 11 straight seasons - that’s historic. People don’t realize how hard that is to do. We were back-against-the-wall at 2-2, and they finished tonight.”

All the Tigers did was to make one of the best offenses in the BIG 12 look pedestrian in their 20-13 win over Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl Wednesday night.

ISU owned a total offense average margin of +127.3 per game to lead the Big 12 and rank ninth nationally, outgaining its opponent in 10 of 12 games this season. ISU’s school record for total offense margin was +121.1 (1976). No other Cyclone team had outgained their opponents by over +100 yards in school history. ISU reached 400 yards of total offense in 12 of its last 16 games dating back to 2020. ISU was 15th nationally and third in the Big 12 in yards per play (6.6). 

All that does is emphasize the point that Clemson is bigger than any coordinator, player or even a head coach because they are built to win—for a long time.

"No matter who went out or who wasn’t available or what coach wasn't’ here, they showed that Clemson is bigger than any coach, any player. This is Clemson," Swinney said.

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