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Dabo Swinney on facing Texas and returning to Austin · The Craig Way Show

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  Speaker 1: We're back. It's the Craigway Show with Hall of Fame
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  Speaker 1: broadcaster and voice of the Texas longheards Craig Way.
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  Speaker 2: Into this Monday afternoon, we roll forward and let's hear
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  Speaker 2: some from Daboksweeney, the head coach of the Clemson Tigers.
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  Speaker 2: And we'll hear some more from start coming up this
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  Speaker 2: hour and next as well. But first of all from
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  Speaker 2: coach Sweeney Clemson. Of course, that thrilling win. Did you
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  Speaker 2: stay up late Saturday night in your hotel in Harrisonburg
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  Speaker 2: to watch Clemson? Lets you fight back from down seventeen
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  Speaker 2: twice in the fourth quarter to tie it, only to
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  Speaker 2: see them come down. They get a big kickoff return,
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  Speaker 2: then one big pass, and then a fifty six yard
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  Speaker 2: walk off field goal from a freshman to win the acc.
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  Speaker 1: We were at the Union Athletic Banks for shoot around,
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  Speaker 1: I think during most of the game, and we got
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  Speaker 1: in so late and then to the hotel room, got
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  Speaker 1: out on my phone and we're watching game film. Okay,
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  Speaker 1: what a fantastic game it was.
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  Speaker 2: And SMU liked Texas disappointed in its conference championship game,
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  Speaker 2: but SMU liked Texas landing in the College Football Playoff
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  Speaker 2: and Clemson the only route they had to get to
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  Speaker 2: the playoff was to win the ACC which they did,
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  Speaker 2: and Dabo Sweeny obviously very excited then Saturday down. Here's
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  Speaker 2: his thoughts from yesterday Zoom on Clemson advancing into the
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  Speaker 2: College Football Playoff.
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  Speaker 3: Okay, well, hey, we're super excited about, you know, being
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  Speaker 3: in the playoff for our seventh appearance, and you know,
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  Speaker 3: just proud of our guys an amazing season and I
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  Speaker 3: did enough to earn the opportunity to play for our championship.
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  Speaker 4: And knew we had to win that.
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  Speaker 3: I guess a really really tough SMU team, but excited
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  Speaker 3: about it.
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  Speaker 4: And obviously now we know where we're going.
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  Speaker 3: And I went out to Austin. Ironically, I went out
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  Speaker 3: to Austin when I got the job at Clemson in
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  Speaker 3: February of nine too, and I spent you know, two
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  Speaker 3: or three days with with coach Mack Brown and.
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  Speaker 4: And uh, that was very impactful for me.
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  Speaker 3: And but I've only been in one game, uh at
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  Speaker 3: that stadium, and that was to see Kate club Nick
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  Speaker 3: play in a playoff game, and and ironically visited with
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  Speaker 3: coach Sart.
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  Speaker 4: We sent stood down in the end zone there.
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  Speaker 3: But uh so, what an opportunity, I mean, what a magical,
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  Speaker 3: uh historic place to go play a football game. I've
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  Speaker 3: never played Texas, I've never been to you know, obviously
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  Speaker 3: played in that stadium or anything.
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  Speaker 4: So I'm super excited about it.
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  Speaker 3: And uh what a what a great experience, you know,
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  Speaker 3: for our guys to compete against, you know, one of
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  Speaker 3: the best teams in the country, if not the best
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  Speaker 3: team in the country.
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  Speaker 4: They've had a great year. Sark's done an amazing job.
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  Speaker 3: Uh so we're really excited about it, and uh, you know,
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  Speaker 3: look forward to the preparation process and and a great
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  Speaker 3: matchup out there, and again, just thankful to have the
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  Speaker 3: opportunity to go compete, you know, at the at the
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  Speaker 3: highest level.
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  Speaker 2: All right, and then he was asked about his schedule.
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  Speaker 2: You know, Cassart said he had to give the guys
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  Speaker 2: off Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, at least just three gay actually
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  Speaker 2: even Wednesday, I think he said three days just to
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  Speaker 2: kind of recover the body and clear the mind and
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  Speaker 2: all that. And so Dabo was asked if he's giving
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  Speaker 2: his guys a time off or what indeed would be
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  Speaker 2: the schedule.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, we we had kind of mapped out all scenarios,
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  Speaker 3: you know, winning the game, getting the buy, winning the game,
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  Speaker 3: playing in the first round on the twentieth, or the
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  Speaker 3: twenty first, not winning the game, and going to a
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  Speaker 3: bowl game.
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  Speaker 4: So we we had kind of mapped all of those
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  Speaker 4: paths out.
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  Speaker 3: So now now we've got some clarity obviously playing on
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  Speaker 3: you know, the twenty first, but yeah, absolutely, these guys,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we'll give them a couple of days off,
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  Speaker 3: and uh, you know, just it was a we had
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  Speaker 3: a great team. We didn't get much sleep, very very
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  Speaker 3: little sleep, but we had a team meeting at eleven
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  Speaker 3: forty five and that was a really awesome experience. And
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  Speaker 3: then obviously had the Pezza party and kind of just
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  Speaker 3: uh the watch party there to see what what our
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  Speaker 3: fate was going to be. And uh so now we know,
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  Speaker 3: we know, we know who we're we had a plan.
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  Speaker 3: If we got to buy, obviously there would have been
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  Speaker 3: two teams that we would have had to do a
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  Speaker 3: lot of prep for. Uh, but now we know that,
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  Speaker 3: you know who we're playing, where we're playing, when we're playing.
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  Speaker 4: Uh, so we'll give these guys off a couple of days.
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  Speaker 3: We'll probably uh you know, start meetings on Wednesday nights,
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  Speaker 3: probably start practice on Thursday. Uh, but we've got a
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  Speaker 3: good plan in place, and it's a Saturday game, so
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  Speaker 3: you'll have a you'll have it's kind of like a
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  Speaker 3: reverse open date. Typically on our open dates, we will
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  Speaker 3: give them the weekend off.
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  Speaker 1: Uh.
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  Speaker 3: This will be a little different, you know, with the
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  Speaker 3: season and where we are. You know, they need a
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  Speaker 3: little break. They've got finals this week, so there's a
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  Speaker 3: lot going on. But we've got a good plan in
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  Speaker 3: place and look forward to you know, getting that preparation
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  Speaker 3: process started.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, Next up for Dabosweeny. He was asking a Jay
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  Speaker 2: Haynes who got injured during the game. That's a big
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  Speaker 2: injury and and it did kind of stunt the rushing attack.
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  Speaker 2: But they only had nine rushing yards in the second
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  Speaker 2: half against SMU after they built a big league And
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  Speaker 2: he was asked, did that have a big impact?
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  Speaker 5: And the overall impact of the ground game.
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  Speaker 3: I mean didn't help, that's for sure. But yeah, we
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  Speaker 3: we we knew we were gonna have to throw the
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  Speaker 3: ball against those guys, but definitely was was disappointing that
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  Speaker 3: we weren't, you know, better. In a couple of spots
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  Speaker 3: in that second half, but gives SMU a lot of credit.
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  Speaker 2: One of the nuances of the college football playoff is
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  Speaker 2: that the postseason does not does not count toward a
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  Speaker 2: decision to burn a red shirt or to play a
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  Speaker 2: player if he.
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  Speaker 5: Is red shirting. And so it was asked about and
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  Speaker 5: the importance of that, Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: That's huge.
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  Speaker 3: And then Jarvis, you know, we've got Jarvis, We've got
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  Speaker 3: easy and a couple opportunities there, Keith Adams as well.
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  Speaker 4: So and then I was proud of MafA.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I thought he was able to bring a
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  Speaker 3: little little something to the table.
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  Speaker 4: He's not one hundred percent, but he really gutted it out.
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  Speaker 1: Man.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, he's got.
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  Speaker 3: The heart of a lion, just you know, just such
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  Speaker 3: an unbelievable teammate and warrior for those guys.
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  Speaker 4: So, uh, tom off is going to be a good thing,
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  Speaker 4: you know, for all those guys.
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  Speaker 3: And we'll see where it goes with with Jay Haynes
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  Speaker 3: and and we'll go from there.
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  Speaker 5: Okay, it's good.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I'm happy for you know, because he's he's
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  Speaker 3: obviously a guy that we're probably gonna need next up.
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  Speaker 5: He was asked about. I think it's a Kirk Bowles
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  Speaker 5: that asked him to compare this team to Clemson teams
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  Speaker 5: of the past. I would think that would be difficult.
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  Speaker 2: He doesn't have Deshaun Watson at quarterback and some of
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  Speaker 2: these big play makers on defense and who's the wide
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  Speaker 2: receiver that.
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  Speaker 5: Like for the Raiders for several years.
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  Speaker 2: But he didn't he doesn't have some of those some
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  Speaker 2: of those same guys, uh there. But he was asked
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  Speaker 2: to compare this Claimson team with some of his teams
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  Speaker 2: in the past.
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  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, when this is what you do
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  Speaker 3: for a little I mean kind of every team, it's
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  Speaker 3: like if you if you're a parent, you know all
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  Speaker 3: your kids are different, right, Like you know they're all
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  Speaker 3: the same DNA, but they all have different personalities and
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  Speaker 3: different you know, uh gifts, and different challenges and things
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  Speaker 3: like that. And I would say it's the same thing
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  Speaker 3: with with you know, the teams that I've had, some
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  Speaker 3: are similar, some are very different. You know, you win
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  Speaker 3: different ways. But this group, in particular, I would say
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  Speaker 3: probably some of the best leadership I've ever been around.
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  Speaker 3: I mean really special, like like special leadership.
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  Speaker 4: Uh.
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  Speaker 3: They're they're they're the people on this roster are going
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  Speaker 3: to do some amazing things in life.
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  Speaker 4: I'll guarantee you that.
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  Speaker 3: But I think as far as what we've done best
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  Speaker 3: was is turnover margin. You know, we've been really, really good.
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  Speaker 3: We're probably top three or four in the country in
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  Speaker 3: the turnover margin.
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  Speaker 4: That was the difference in the game last night.
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  Speaker 3: I think that we've been a good third down team
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  Speaker 3: for the most part on both sides all year. But
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  Speaker 3: you know, that'd be probably the two biggest things that
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  Speaker 3: I would say from a strength standpoint. You know, we've
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  Speaker 3: been opportunistic that way, and it's a big reason why
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  Speaker 3: we're ten and three.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, ten and three and headed into the playoff for
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  Speaker 2: the first time. He's also asked about that trip in
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  Speaker 2: nine right after he took the job at Clemson and
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  Speaker 2: came to Austin and he visited with mac Brown during
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  Speaker 2: that time, and what are his recollections of that experience.
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  Speaker 4: Oh, man, that trip was life changing for me.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I got I got the job as an
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  Speaker 3: interim there in the middle of season eight, and then
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  Speaker 3: got the job December one of a and uh, you know,
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  Speaker 3: now you're getting going. You put your staff together and
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  Speaker 3: and we had we signed our first class uh, and
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  Speaker 3: we signed. We signed twelve guys, and I just was
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  Speaker 3: looking to go learn. I mean, I didn't know much
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  Speaker 3: about being a head coach other than what I had
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  Speaker 3: done as a as an interim and what I thought.
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  Speaker 3: You know, I had a lot of thoughts in my head,
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  Speaker 3: but I just I just felt like I needed to
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  Speaker 3: go learn. I actually called around to a lot of
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  Speaker 3: coaches and the only guy that would let me come
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  Speaker 3: visit was Mac Brown.
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  Speaker 4: And he didn't know me from Adam uh and I.
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  Speaker 3: Remember calling out there and he was like, man, congrats,
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  Speaker 3: I kept up with your season. It was really cool
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  Speaker 3: to see you get the opportunity and and he's like, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: come on out. So I brought my whole staff, like
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  Speaker 3: string staff, defense, offense, and we went out and spent
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  Speaker 3: two and a half three days there.
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  Speaker 4: Uh. He took us all to lunch, you know.
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  Speaker 3: We we had a gro We spent a lot of
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  Speaker 3: time meeting, but I was hoping I might get maybe
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  Speaker 3: in an hour with him. He spent several hours with
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  Speaker 3: me one on one, and I had a a lot
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  Speaker 3: of questions. Some of it was just confirmation of things
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  Speaker 3: that just Okay, I'm not crazy, I'm thinking the right way.
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  Speaker 3: And then a lot of it. Like I couldn't even
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  Speaker 3: get the question out of my mouth. He could read
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  Speaker 3: my mind and he had the answer. But mac Brown
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  Speaker 3: that time when mac Brown was transformational for me as
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  Speaker 3: a young coach thirty nine years old. It was transformational
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  Speaker 3: that he took the time to you know, poor into
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  Speaker 3: me and he didn't have to. And it gave me,
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  Speaker 3: like I said, it gave me confirmation on some things.
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  Speaker 4: It gave me, you know, I'm like, you know what
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  Speaker 4: about this?
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  Speaker 3: And he gave me maybe a different way to think
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  Speaker 3: about a few things as well.
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  Speaker 4: So it was a transformational time for me.
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  Speaker 3: I'm forever indebted to mac Brown for that because again
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  Speaker 3: he didn't have to do that, he didn't know me,
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  Speaker 3: but he went way above and beyond. And I mean
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  Speaker 3: I still got my notes about about seven eight pages
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  Speaker 3: of notes that I took from my time with mac
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  Speaker 3: Brown on out there that that really helped me when
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  Speaker 3: I came back to Clemson as far as being a
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  Speaker 3: head coach and you know, having some confidence in what
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  Speaker 3: I thought we needed to do to move forward, and
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  Speaker 3: also some new ideas on some things too. So it
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  Speaker 3: was a great experience. You know, Austin is a beautiful place.
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  Speaker 3: I really enjoyed it when I was there, and and uh,
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  Speaker 3: but I and then the only other time I've been
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  Speaker 3: back there was to see Kate Klebnick play. Uh, So
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  Speaker 3: you know it's gonna be amazing. I mean, it's one
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  Speaker 3: of the best being using college football. And uh, they
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  Speaker 3: what a what an awesome team they have and should
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  Speaker 3: be a should.
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  Speaker 4: Be a heck of a ball game.
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  Speaker 2: So there's some thoughts from dab O'sweeny. We'll hear more
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  Speaker 2: from the Clemson head coach next hour. Uh, We're gonna
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  Speaker 2: hear some more from Loghrne's head coach, Steve Sarkisian as well,
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  Speaker 2: coming up here on sports Radio AM thirteen Under the Zone.