Tigers are sticking with the plan

As the No. 3 Clemson Tigers prepare to take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl, there is a sense of familiarity for the players. That familiarity comes from having been there and done that last five seasons, because the College Football Playoffs are different from your average bowl game, as even head coach Dabo Swinney admitted.

CLEMSON — As the No. 3 Clemson Tigers prepare to take on the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff Semifinal at the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl Dec. 28 (8 p.m., ESPN), there is a sense of familiarity for the players.

That familiarity comes from having been there and done that last five seasons, because the College Football Playoffs are different from your average bowl game, as even head coach Dabo Swinney admitted.

“Wow!” Swinney said. “We definitely aren’t in the Hormel Spam Bowl.”

With increased media responsibilities and time demands, the players and coaches are tasked with balancing the pressures of being only four quarters from a national championship game, the responsibilities that come with playing in a prestigious game and, of course, having fun.

“A big thing is managing the freedom,” offensive lineman John Simpson said. “You don’t want someone to go and get in trouble. People don’t know how to act when they get freedom because we haven’t had that much freedom in a while. So, some people need to just focus on staying out of trouble.”

Familiarity breeds confidence

This season much of the unknowns are now known for the Tigers. They understand what the demands on their time will be this season. They know what will be expected of them. They even are familiar with the hotel they will stay in and they are even familiar with University of Phoenix Stadium — having played in a semifinal and a national championship game in Glendale, Ariz.

That is why for the Tigers' coaching staff, the goal is simple — treat this game like any other game.

“Obviously having experience, to me and this is just me, the playoff game is no different from any other game,” Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables said. “You have a little bit more time. It’s a big game, but they’re all big — they really are. It’s no different from any other bowl game.

“The only difference is if you win it, you get to play again. What’s important is that you keep things in the right perspective and you don’t make the moment bigger than it needs to be. X, Y, Z — this is how you need to play. This is how you execute. This is how you prepare. This week is no different from how we prepared for Virginia Tech and that’s not a coaching cliché — that’s just how it is."

The plan hasn’t changed

It is that “next game is the biggest game” mentality that has helped the Tigers find success, not only during the regular season since Swinney took over full-time in 2009, but in the bowl games as well.

Since 2011, the Tigers are 6-2 in bowl games (not including the national championship game), including being 5-0 in their last four bowl appearances.

The ability to play so well in bowl games, against teams like Oklahoma (two times), LSU, Ohio State Alabama and Notre Dame, is a direct result of the plan which the Tigers have in place for their postseason — a plan that hasn’t changed since 2009.

“We’re not really doing anything different from what we did in 2009, to be honest with you,” Swinney said. “We’ve been very consistent in how we’ve prepared. We’ve got great leadership. We’ve got a bunch of good players, and I think we’ve had a lot of good buy-in and we’ve played well, for the most part, in those games. Really, since ’09 we haven’t changed a whole lot.

“The biggest thing that changes is how you manage the time, because depending on what bowl you’re in it can be a little bit different. We’ve got a good formula in place. I’m always studying it. I’m always researching it. That’s one of the things that I do when I get with other coaches. I’m always just kind of picking other people’s brains on practice schedules, postseason schedules, camp schedules — you name it. Just always seeing, and I make notes all the time on things that I think, I’ll go back during bowl prep, after bowl games and I’ll make comments — some thoughts. But as far as our logistics and planning and how we structure it, very little change.”

This year, even though it is a fifth semifinal game the Tigers are preparing for, they will prepare as they have every other season.

The Tigers will held their final practice Thursday before taking a four-day break for the Christmas holidays. The Tigers will reconvene at Clemson Sunday for a short practice and then will fly to Arizona later that day.

The key for the Tigers over the next week is simple — get the plan in place.

“Biggest thing is that we want to get the majority of our work done here — that’s one thing that I’ve learned over the years,” Swinney said. “If you’re trying to figure out what you want to do on third down and you’re at the bowl site — that’s really not the best environment to be doing that, to me. You’re wasting a lot of time.

“We try to be efficient. Be decisive and really try to finalize the plan, for the most part, before we take our break. Then when we come back, we’ve got that game week, it’s about details. It’s polishing. It’s next level from getting the plan down. That’s really how we try to do it and it breeds confidence and leads to good execution.”