Greg Wallace of the Anderson Independent sheds some light on the Tigers' new play calling arrangment. Is it just us, or does this sound a bit like on-the-job-training?
One of the biggest questions I had when Dabo Swinney took over as Clemson's interim coach was how the play-calling would occur. Swinney had never called plays "in sequence," as he put it Wednesday, other than spring games, before his debut against Georgia Tech. But it seems he and offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach Billy Napier have formed a great partnership and trust running the offense together.
"It was important to me to make sure that I moved Billy over there, we think a lot alike, have very similar mentalities," Swinney said. "He knows exactly what I want, he listens. If I'm not in that room, I know he's going to do exactly how I want it done, what I want done, it's just really been a nice flow. I've called a lot of the plays and he's called a lot of them and everything's coming through me, and it's really been funny.
"We've had several times we've been in a situation and we've went, huh! Exact same thing, we're like, 'Yes!' It's a really good thing two guys think the same way. I think the kids have fed off that."
Having Napier as his right-hand man also helps Swinney focus on the bigger picture: the Tigers' entire team.
"It's been really good for me," Swinney said. "One of the things I've learned is that I want my hands on everything and you can't just keep your hands on one thing. It's allowed me to have a guy I have a ton of faith and trust in so I can go over and spend some time with the defense and make sure I'm in tune to what they're doing.
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