Dabo Swinney reflects on what he'll remember about the 2023 team.

Clemson head football coach Dabo Swinney discussed what he'd remember most about his 2023 squad.

A reporter asked Dabo Swinney earlier this month if 2023 was his toughest coaching job yet. Swinney, now Clemson's all-time winningest coach laughed off the answer with a quick "No." and added, "I've been fired."

That doesn't mean this season hasn't been tough, though. Clemson's historic run of 10+ win seasons is coming to an end and it seemed like the team invented new ways to lose throughout the season. With that in mind, Swinney spoke about what he'd remember about this squad during an appearance on ACC Huddle.

No. 22 Clemson will face Kentucky in the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl (Dec. 29, Noon, ESPN) / Clemson Athletics

"Man, they showed up ready every week, tough, you know, they really did. [We were] In position to win every single game. Just unfortunately, I will remember all these fumbles. I wish I could forget it; two first and goals at the one, four trips inside the 10 at Duke and get zero points. The game we dominated, I thought statistically, against Florida State and sack, fumble, 70-yard score... pick-six at NC State... double overtime. I'm gonna remember all that bad stuff. Unfortunately as a coach, that's what sticks with you."

"But the good stuff is this was a team that showed up," continued Swinney. "They just kept getting up, kept getting up, kept getting up and they showed up and they competed their butts off and truly are in a position to win every game we just didn't do what we needed to do. Most of all, how they battled down the stretch, you know, with probably our least available personnel. Probably our two best receivers had been out all year. And Antonio [Williams] has played four games, Cole [Turner] has been out since game one. But man, they found a way."

"Notre Dame, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, South Carolina, I think our defense is good enough to have played for the whole thing this year. I think this is a really good group. We're a top 10 defense and then man to take down four great quarterbacks in Sam Hartman and Drake May and Haynes King and [Spencer] Rattler. I'm proud of them, you know, so they just didn't quit."

"I think as a coach, you know, especially in a place like Clemson where there are certainly high expectations, and you have a lot of disappointment and things don't go the way you want, in this day and age to see kids just get back up, I think it's really gratifying to me to see, you know, that grit and to see resilience. So, we only won eight games this year. But you know, that's 13 years in a row of eight-plus wins, and only Georgia, Alabama, and Clemson have that. So that's how hard it is to win. And I'm really proud of this bunch for fighting back. We're going to a great bowl game in the Gator Bowl. Got another great matchup with Kentucky, and, you know, look forward to competing with this group one more time."