Over the past decade, Clemson Football has become one of the most popular and widespread teams in the entirety of College Football. With that comes a lot of praise and a lot of hatred from all over the country, whether you’re winning or losing.
Since their last National Championship appearance, the Tigers have gone 40-12, which is a great record for any College Football team, yet a multitude of college football fans from across the nation have tended to shed light on Clemson’s “downfall” or “dynasty tenure” and mention that Clemson will never be back.
At ACC Media Day on Thursday in Charlotte, Clemson linebacker Barrett Carter was asked about the team returning to dynasty status, and he had a perfect answer that made it known that he wants the disrespect to be just as loud as the praise once the time comes.
“We see everything, we keep receipts. We’re tired of the disrespect, we know we’ve had dudes the past couple years and we’ve fallen short in those years so we’re tired of that disrespect so it’s time for us to really show what Clemson’s about and really bring Clemson back to the top.”
Barrett Carter
The 2022 All-American emphasized what really has driven them to return back to that “dynasty status,” and it’s simply self-motivation from every single one of the guys on that team.
“We know we’ve had the talent to be the best team in the country and we haven’t been that. So I think that’s what motivates us more than ever, just looking at our roster knowing we have dudes at every single position.”
Barrett Carter
Head Coach Swinney challenged Carter to become more of a leader for this upcoming season, and he’s taken that and run with it since the season ended, saying, “I try to preach to our guys the right mentality and no matter what our coaches throw at us, just attack it head on.”
He relayed back to this sentiment later on in his interview when asked if Georgia, being their week one opponent, changes their mentality defensively.
“Regardless of who we’re playing first game, we’re gonna attack every single day like it’s the National Championship, and that’s playing Georgia or not.”
Barrett Carter
The commitment and motivation of this defense coming into this year is extremely evident as Carter repeatedly exclaimed how they’re going to come into every game prepared and hungry.
“Game one, play one, we gotta be playoff ready. We can’t get warmed up as the games go by, as the season goes by. From the first snap we gotta be playoff ready from the jump. That’s been coach’s emphasis this year, from the first snap we’re gonna be playoff ready.”
Barrett Carter
It’s clear to see that Coach Swinney has been drilling this into the player’s heads this offseason, as not only did Carter talk about it, but Safety RJ Mickens did as well.
“We are starving. I’m really excited to see the work. We got to get back to that grit, that grit that if we let up a touchdown, that game’s on us…I think we are trending in the right direction, we finished top 10 in the country in defense last year. But it’s still not good enough, we could always be better. Our pass defense from two years ago to last year increased a whole lot. Our coaches have done a great job…they really work and put together great plans for us and they really push us to be our best.”
RJ Mickens
As Carter reaches his final season at Clemson, he made sure to touch on the guys in his position group who have stuck out to him that might go unnoticed by the average fan, as well as his first impressions of Sammy Brown.
“I would say our young guys, specifically Jamal Anderson, Dee Crayton, Drew Woodaz, CJ Kubah-Taylor; just seeing those guys, they’ve really taken a step from last season to now, mentally and physically.”
Barrett Carter
“First of all, he looks the part already, and then physicality wise I would say he’s probably stronger than all of us already, and he’s 18-19 years old. He’s wired differently to say the least, he’s come in just hungry and driven with no ego at all. He’s tried to pick my brain as much as possible just to learn the playbook and the ins and outs of how to be successful at Clemson.”
Barrett Carter
