The Post and Courier Newspaper sat down with the Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney recently to see what he learned about his team this spring, and to learn some more about the man.
You consistently talked about things like tempo and quality practice reps this spring. It seems one of your goals, if not the No. 1 goal, was to really change the culture this spring. Did you accomplish that?
"We got as much done in 15 days as I think we could have. The other thing we did is had about 1,100 competitive reps which is fantastic, so it was extremely competitive. I can tell you we didn't have near that many competitive reps last year. That's a result of tempo and how we structure practice. It was get better or get exposed. If the attitude is not right we don't have a chance. The main thing is creating an attitude of winning again, an attitude of expectation. An attitude of 'hey, hard work is OK, I have to pay the price.' "
That's interesting that you tracked competitive reps. I guess you are a believer in the 10,000-hour rule: 10,000 hours of good practice, combined with talent, can create greatness.
"If you do something enough, it becomes fundamental. It becomes habit, and when you get in the heat and walk out there in front of millions, your just reacting. Tiger Woods every time we see him hit a big shot. He's hit a thousand times just like that with no one looking … it just becomes a reaction. He probably creates competitive reps as he is practicing, 'OK, down two strokes, got two holes left' … if you are doing things the right way, your fundamentals will hold up under fire. People are so clueless when it comes to doing that.
Greatness is achieved, it is not a given. Yeah, you are born with talent. Take Jerry Rice for example — he is the greatest wideout every to play the position. It is not even close. He was not the most talented. The reason he was great is his work ethic and commitment to little things. He worked on his mind, he took care of his body. He pushed himself further than anyone else was willing to go."
So do you instill that work ethic and drive or must you recruit it?
"I can draw Xs and Os all day on that board; a lot of coaches come in and do great things on the board, but coaching and leadership is really about getting people to do things they don't want to do, getting them to places they can't take themselves. Motivating people to be great. … Coach (Bear) Bryant also talked about there are four kinds of players. You've got those players that have it and give it, like C.J. Spiller. You have players that have it but won't give it — you want to get rid of those guys. Then you have players that don't have it — and this is what the majority of your team is — but don't know they don't have it and give way beyond their ability. And then you have the guys that don't have it, and know they don't have it. You want to be nice to them because they will make great alums. … You've got to be able to motivate all those different guys. … I think that's what separates good coaches from bad coaches."
