Dabo Swinney using Olympics to help motivate Clemson players

The Summer Olympics in Paris have taken over the spotlight of athletics globally as the world’s best athletes have been competing day after day in a pursuit of winning medals for their respective countries. Even getting the attention of those in the midst of fall camp in the college football landscape.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney was recently asked if he’s been tuned in to the Olympics, revealing that he’s only had the time to watch in on his godson Tanner Tessmann . Who played for Team USA’s men’s soccer team that made it to the quarterfinals before being eliminated on Friday.

“Men’s soccer, that’s all I watched … I watched Tanner, watched them, really proud of him and how he performed and how the team competed. I mean they went a long way for the first time in a long time, so that was cool,” Swinney said.

Swinney also wanted to watch America’s men’s basketball team, but did not get around to watching them as he prepares his team for their Week 1 marquee matchup against Georgia . But in that preparation, he did use the performance of U.S. sprinter Noah Lyles as a point of motivation and inspiration for his team.

“I’ve used a couple clips, I used that clip on the 100-meter, because one of the things we talk about all the time, it’s not just effort. It’s effort with technique,” Swinney explained.

Lyles took home the gold medal in the men’s 100-meeter dash in an electric race that was the epitome of a photo finish. Posting a 9.79-second time and edging out Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by five-thousandths of a second.

“You’re talking about point 005 thousandths between winning a gold medal and not,” Swinney added. “Well that’s the margin for difference in winning some football games too.”

“It’s inches, it’s milliseconds, it’s a false step versus a good stance and start. It’s a punt getting blocked because you step under as opposed to taking the proper footwork and losing ground to gain ground to get your block. You know, it’s that small. So that had a couple things to teach off of.”

Football is commonly referred to as a game of inches, but across all sports, the margins for victory get smaller and smaller the higher the competition gets. As Clemson will look to put in the work, perfect the little things, and reestablish themselves as one of college football’s top programs this upcoming season.

“But I mean we’re in camp, so we’re here all day, every day. Go home, go to bed, rinse, and repeat. Let’s go again. That’s kind of where we are right now,” Swinney concluded.

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