The coach who back in 2010 after a 6-7 season said Clemson was headed for the greatest decade in the program's history nailed that prediction.
College football fans hope Swinney is right in his belief that in spite of a major health crisis engulfing the country, things will be back to normal come August with college football kicking off on schedule.
“My preference is let’s get to work and let’s go play,” Swinney said during a Friday conference call with the media.
“That’s the best-case scenario, and I think that’s what’s going to happen. I don’t have any doubt. I mean I have zero doubt that we’re going to be playing, that stands are going to be packed and the Valley is going to be rocking and we’re going to be back at it. I don’t have any doubt. That’s the only thought I got is that thought right there. All the rest of that stuff, I don’t think about any of that.”
Swinney also believes the country will eventually earn a huge victory over the coronavirus and he says the track record of the United States is proof of that.
“I mean, this is America, man,” Swinney said. “We’ve stormed the beaches of Normandy, we’ve sent a car and drove around on Mars, we’ve walked on the moon. This is the greatest country and the greatest people in the history of the planet. We’ve created an iPhone that I can sit here and talk to all you people all these different places. We’ve got the smartest people in the world. Listen, we’re going to rise up and we’re going to kick this thing right in the teeth, and we’ll get back to our lives. That’s a long time away, man. I mean, this is April the 3rd.”
Leave it to Swinney to take the letters that spell "T I G E R S' and create an acronym related to the challenging times facing the country is facing and how he fully expects to be on the practice fields in four months.
“I’ve got one focus, and that’s getting the Tigers in camp in August and getting ready for Georgia Tech and getting in the Valley in September, and I can’t wait to celebrate with all the Tiger fans,” he said.
“In fact, we got us an acronym for T.I.G.E.R.S., and it stands for ‘This Is Gonna End Real Soon.’ So, that’s the only mindset we’ve got. All the rest of that stuff, I’ll let all the other smart people figure out all them doomsday scenarios. I got one scenario, and that is running down the hill and kicking it off in the Valley.”