Clemson star linebacker Barrett Carter is not a fan of losing in anything he’s doing in life.
With the Tigers at 4-4 this season, their latest loss against NC State was as bad as they come and something head coach Dabo Swinney took full blame for. This did not sit well with Carter, but not for a reason, you’d think.
For Carter, Swinney standing up for his team like this is nice, but at the same time, hard for him. Carter has high standards, and Swinney having to do this for his team has lit a fire in him.
“With Coach Swinney doing that, it’s hard for me because I love Coach Swinney, and I appreciate him doing that,” Carter said. “But for me and the competitor that I am and never wanting to lose anything that I’m doing… it’s cool to see, but at the same time, it also kind of lights a fire inside me.”
“You don’t want your coach to have to stick up for you and take the blame for anything like that because I feel like it’s also on us players to go out there and execute whatever’s being called… it’s on us to line up and dominate the person in front of us, so it’s great that Coach Swinney does that, but I don’t want him to have to ever do that again.”
The frustration makes sense, as the Clemson defense has not been the issue this season. Even if they haven’t been the problem, Carter isn’t pointing fingers at one group or a single person. For Carter, it is on all the players to go out there and execute.
Like Swinney for the team, Carter has his head coach’s back.