Clemson's Dabo Swinney on his travel bucket list, video game speed, playful Nick Saban jab

CLEMSON — Coach Dabo Swinney and all 10 Clemson football assistant coaches spoke with the media Tuesday to preview the 2024 college football season.

But it wasn't all about Clemson trying to bounce back from a 9-4 season or get to the College Football Playoff after missing the last three seasons. Here were some of the more light-hearted moments.

Dabo Swinney needs eight more states to complete travel bucket list

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

"I knew nothing 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 he was going to make his first visit to Omaha, Nebraska, if Clemson baseball made the College World Series, but it lost in the NCAA super regionals.

Dabo Swinney breaks down his speed in NCAA football video game

EA Sports' "College Football 25" released Monday and has generated reviews from the college football world. Ross Taylor, Clemson’s associate athletic director, shared a tweet Monday, revealing Swinney's overall (70) and speed (91) on the 1992 Alabama team in "NCAA Football 06."

Swinney joked about his speed.

"Sleeping on me a little bit," Swinney said with a laugh. "They must have my going down the Hill speed. I appreciate the love they gave me on that."

Swinney said he texted his former teammate, Antonio Langham, about his speed and had fun with the post as the game made its first appearance since 2013. Overalls are determined by players' ratings on a team, which are the statistics that assess a player's skill in the game and are measured on a scale from 0 (lowest) to 100 (highest).

Dabo Swinney jokes about last win vs 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 apiece, Swinney won the last game and wasn't afraid to let Saban know about it.

"It's good to know that he's not going to get a rematch," Swinney said, jokingly. "He's going to have to live with that one because chances are, if he did, he'd probably get some get back. So, I can ride off into the sunset with that.

"He's the best to ever do it, and chances are if you meet up with him, you're not gonna win many of them."

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