Looking back on it, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney says his 2016 national championship team “got all the rat poison” that year, to use the term coined by former Alabama coach Nick Saban to describe excessive media praise and hype surrounding a team.
The Tigers entered the 2016 season with high expectations after making a national championship game appearance in 2015.
As for this year’s Clemson team?
Swinney says his players have simply gotten the “you suck poison” after a shaky start to this season – a season that the Tigers came into with no shortage of hype and expectations, something Swinney doesn’t think this team has managed well.