Neff says Swinney is fired up, there is "good mojo" in football program

Neff says there is good mojo in the football program.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Jan 14 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

New Clemson athletic director Graham Neff says head football coach Dabo Swinney is fired up about the future despite all of the changes in the program since the win over South Carolina in late November.

Former AD Dan Radakovich jumped into the news that same weekend as rumors swirled about his imminent departure to Miami, and then more rumors surrounded the football program as defensive coordinator Brent Venables went after the job at Oklahoma and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott went after the job at Virginia.

It was all quite a start for Neff.

“The really cool thing, even right off the start, it was about four days into officially being in the interim role in this transition period and our men's soccer team was in the national championship,” Neff told Packer and Durham on the ACC network Thursday. “I was up in Cary (NC) and with Coach (Mike) Noonan and the boys and President Clements was there and (ACC) Commissioner (Jim) Phillips, and so it was just an incredible moment, you know? And so I had some texts with colleagues now and even Radakovich and I was like, ‘Dan, I thought you said this job's hard. I'm not seeing it. Pretty straightforward, you know.’ The first week there's a natty.

“There's never a slow time really, but if it was more isolated or acute, I think it'd be a little different and probably I'd be able to have my arms wrapped around a little bit some more things here within the department…Football at this time with staff changes, particularly what we experienced here this past month, bowl game. Gosh, Omicron was really peaking with basketball and football and playing games, playing bowl games, playing basketball games, men's and women.”

Neff said it was a lot to take at one time, but he felt prepared after spending nine years with Radakovich.

“The proverbial fire hose. It’s from all of that time with Dan, so many of those meetings or sequences of phone calls, or just getting a task completed or talking things out, the communication aspect, I was right there with Dan,” Neff said. “And again, I say that not as far as my readiness for the job. Sure, there's an element of that, but more of just a testament and appreciation for those opportunities and experience that he afforded me and ultimately led to certainly the opportunity and the trust for me to slide the next chair over.”

Neff said Swinney is excited about all of the changes in the football program.

“Coach Swinney couldn't be more fired up and the energy out of our football building here with the staff changes and certainly losing Coach Venables and Coach Elliott,” Neff said. “Tony still being in the league is awesome, but that ... It's a little bit of a sea change, but that chapter turned for our football program and the energy and excitement that Coach Swinney has and throughout the building with the rest of the staff and those changes that we've had internal and external hires and then ultimately with the student-athletes, it's just ... It's a fun moment. It's been a fun month for Clemson football and now as we turn into '22 and obviously get into off-season camp and spring practice and all that, there's a lot of really, really good mojo out of our football program, let alone the rest of our department.”