CLEMSON- DE T.J. Parker and OL Blake Miller met with the media on Tuesday to talk about the hirings of Matt Luke and Chris Rumph.
What We Heard
- On new DE coach Chris Rumph: "He brings high intensity. He came in saying he was going to coach us hard, and love us even harder, which I love. I am still getting to learn him, he has only been here a few days, but I can definitely feel the energy, the passion and the knowledge that he brings."
- On being coached hard by Rumph: "We love it. We talked as a group. We love that type of coaching. He is going to point out what you are doing wrong, how you can get better. We can have good insight that he is going to be a great coach for us."
- "When I first found out about the hire, (coach Swinney) said you are going to love him to death. He is going to coach you hard. So, I was prepared. I am used to that type of coaching growing up."
- "He brings in enthusiasm and that hard coaching that we love. You want to play for somebody like that. If you see your coach wanting it as bad as you do, it only amplifies the room."
- On bowl prep down some players on defense: "Next man up. We develop depth at every position. So, when someone leaves, that's fine, we are going to have someone ready to come in and play. The standard is the standard. Everybody has to learn how to play. Everybody has to be ready to play."
- On being the hammer or the nail: "Of course, we are the hammer. That was the first thing he said to us. You are either the hammer or the nail and I am going to coach you to be the hammer. Started off hot and I loved it."
- On Rumph calling players soft on practice field: "That is him trying to get the best out of you. It isn't nothing personal. We all know it isn't personal. It is just to get you better. That mindset. To be the dog that he wants you to be. We take that as a challenge."
- On bowl game: "Just finish. This is our last one. We want to make it our best game."
- On Matt Luke: "He is a very high energy guy. I thi k he really brings the energy to practice. And it's infectious with everyone. Everyone is flying around and doing great out there. Ther are some new technique things to learn, but he has told us he wants us to go 100-percent and we can work on the technique after, when we go over it in film. I really enjoy it."
- When he found out about Luke being hired to replace Thomas Austin: "Obviously, there is nothing I can do about it. All I can do is give him my all every day and try and do the best that I can. Try and be the best player that I can. It's a business at the end of the day and whatever coach Swinney does I'm going to roll with."
- On bowl game: "We want to make a statement. We want to show we are a physical OL. Coach Swinney was just saying after practice that these bowl games are won in the trenches and we definitely want to win this game in the trenches. We want to show that we are physically dominant and really show what we can do."
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