Clemson’s Dabo Swinney on his travel roster, video game speed, Nick Saban’s playful hit

CLEMSON – Coach Dabo Swinney and everyone 10 Clemson football assistant coaches spoke to the media on Tuesday to preview the 2024 college football season.

But it wasn’t just about Clemson trying to bounce back from a 9-4 season or make the College Football Playoff after losing the last three seasons. Here are some of the happiest moments.

Dabo Swinney needs eight more states to complete his travel list

Last year, Swinney took a safari trip to South Africa. This year, he remained in the United States but made progress on his goal of traveling to all 50 states. He and his wife, Kathleen, visited Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island to celebrate his 30th birthday, which falls on July 9.

“I didn’t know anything about any of these places, so I learned a lot and got to see some beautiful terrain,” Swinney said.

Swinney needs to visit Nebraska, Idaho, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and Alaska to complete his list. He added that he would make his first visit to Omaha, Nebraska, if Clemson baseball reached the College World Series, but lost in the NCAA super regionals.

MORE: Dabo Swinney explains rejection of ESPN and ACC request to move Clemson-South Carolina game to Black Friday

Dabo Swinney Breaks Down His Speed ​​in the NCAA Football Video Game

EA Sports’ “College Football 25” was released on Monday and drew criticism from the college football world. Ross Taylor, Clemson’s associate athletic director, shared a tweet Monday revealing Swinney’s total (70) and rushing speed (91) on Alabama’s 1992 “NCAA Football 06” team.

Swinney joked about his speed.

“Sleeping with me a little,” Swinney said with a laugh. “They must have noticed my speed coming down the hill. I appreciate the love they gave me in this.”

Swinney said he texted his former teammate Antonio Langham about his speed and was amused by the post as the game made its first appearance since 2013. Jumpsuits are determined by the ratings of a team’s players, which are the statistics that evaluate a player’s skill. in-game and are measured on a scale of 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest).

Dabo Swinney jokes about last win against Nick Saban

Swinney and now-retired Alabama coach Nick Saban had four meetings in the College Football Playoff from 2016-19. Although they split with two wins each, Swinney won the last game and wasn’t afraid to let Saban know.

“It’s good to know he won’t get a rematch,” Swinney said jokingly. “He’s going to have to live with it because chances are, if he did, he’d probably get some reward. So I can ride into the sunset with this.

“He’s the best to ever do it, and chances are if you meet him you won’t win many of them.”

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and USA TODAY Network. Email him at dcarter@gannett.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared in the Greenville News: Clemson football: Dabo Swinney press conference 3 interesting things