Swinney, Saban not apologizing for being good
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has high praise for his national championship foe in Alabama and thinks the matchup is “the way it should be.” (1:01)
SAN JOSE, Calif. — While Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and Alabama coach Nick Saban are aware of the narrative of fatigue that has surrounded their fourth straight matchup in the five years of the College Football Playoff era, neither is going to apologize for being here, Swinney said on Sunday morning.
“I mean, I’m not going to apologize for having a great team and a great program and a bunch of committed guys, and Coach Saban is not, either,” Swinney said at the head coaches’ final press conference before facing each other in the national championship game on Monday night. “I think the objective is to get the two best teams. That’s kind of the way it is. If that’s not best for college football, then why did we even do it?”
Alabama is 2-1 against Clemson in the CFP, beating the Tigers in the 2015 season national championship and the 2017 season semifinal. Alabama has been to the national championship in each of the past three seasons with two titles.
Both coaches were asked on Sunday if their recent rivalry is good for the sport, even though there is a lack of other teams with a chance to participate in the four-team field. Saban said the playoff “has probably minimized the number of teams that really get the same kind of positive self-gratification from going to bowl games in other venues that have been really unique to allowing players to get a lot of positives from having a good season.”
“Now there’s a lot of focus just on the playoffs, and that becomes the target that every program and every team is sort of aiming for, and it’s certainly the target that we have and a goal that we have as a program, and we’re going to continue to have,” Saban said. “I can’t really speak for other teams or what the impact of college football really is, but it’s my job and my responsibility to do the best job that we can for our team, our players, our program in terms of what it takes for us to be successful, and I guess that’s what we’ll continue to focus on.”
Swinney said the CFP works in its current format.
“We went to a playoff, and the two best teams are here, and the two best teams have been here every year,” he said. “… If this isn’t good for college football, the two best teams, then we just kind of go back to the way it used to be and create all the good match-ups however you want them and then you just kind of elect a captain and you’ve got one national champion in this poll and one national champion in this poll and one national champion in this poll.”
Swinney was also asked about facing Alabama without three players who have been suspended for failed drug tests, including starter Dexter Lawrence. For the second consecutive game, Clemson will officially be without the three. B samples of NCAA drug tests of tight end Braden Galloway, offensive lineman Zach Giella and Lawrence last week showed trace amounts of ostarine, which is a banned substance.
“The other two didn’t play much, so that didn’t really — I hated it for them because they missed out on an opportunity to be a part of it,” Swinney said. “But certainly from a team competitive standpoint, Dexter was the guy that was starting, playing a lot of ball for us. We miss him. He’s a great player, tremendous, one of the best in the country at doing what he does. So I’m thankful that we’ve got Albert Huggins and some other guys, Nyles and Jordan that have stepped up, and they’re ready to go perform to the very best of their ability. We certainly miss Dexter.”