Take That, Tyler: Clemson, Swinney upset Irish
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Andrea Adelson, ESPN Senior Writer
Tyler from Spartanburg and the fiery response from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney dominated the headlines going into the Tigers’ game against No. 15 Notre Dame on Saturday.
So after Clemson upset the Irish 31-23 for its best win this season, it was only natural to ask whether that phone call into Swinney’s radio show earlier in the week served as a way to fire up the Tigers and defend their longtime head coach with their performance.
Swinney says no, but his players said otherwise. Phil Mafah, who had a career-high 186 rushing yards on 36 carries and two rushing touchdowns starting in place of the injured Will Shipley, said there was “a big chip on everyone’s shoulder.”
“There’s no one that loves us more than he does, so I take it personal,” Mafah said. “I know a lot of guys on the team do, so we had to bring our all today, fight for him especially.”
The radio show clip went viral on Monday night, after the caller — who identified himself as Tyler from Spartanburg — questioned Swinney and the direction of the program after a 4-4 start — the worst at Clemson since 2010. Swinney delivered an impassioned defense of himself, his players, and their accomplishments during his tenure, including two national championships and 12 straight 10-win seasons.
He has insisted throughout this season that the Tigers are only a few plays away from being undefeated, pointing specifically to all the turnovers that have cost them in their four losses. Against Notre Dame, Clemson won the turnover margin for the first time since September, and did not have a penalty — the first time that has happened since 1951.
Dabo also won his 166th career game as Clemson coach, passing Frank Howard as the all-time winningest coach in school history.
“We definitely did have a chip on our shoulder knowing this was a game he needed for his 166th win and I really wanted that for him and I know all the guys did,” Mafah said. “We just had to get it done, find a way.”
Of breaking Howard’s mark, Swinney said, “I’m glad it happened here. And for it to come against a team like Notre Dame. I think coach Howard wanted to remind everybody it ain’t easy to win. That record’s been there 54 years for a couple reasons – one it’s hard to win. Two, it’s hard to stay somewhere long enough and win consistently enough where you can stay. That’s never been a goal, it’s just here we are.”
Clemson played without eight starters on Saturday, including multiple starters on the offensive line. Yet Mafah finished with more rushing yards than Notre Dame running back Audric Estime (87 yards, one touchdown), who came into the game as an All-America candidate.
The defense in particular harassed Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman, forcing him into two interceptions – including one pick-6.
“We never lost faith, and the identity that’s in this team, we had chapel last night and the guy who spoke to us he spoke on keeping our faith,” Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik said. “Some things will try to steal that from you, but one thing we haven’t done once is lose our faith in this team.”
Swinney said he told his players all week that this was an opportunity to show that, “we don’t quit, even when people count you out, we don’t quit. We keep battling, keep fighting. It’s a really cool thing to watch.”
Was it Tyler from Spartanburg that Swinney was referring to when people count them out? Despite the performance and the way Clemson responded, Swinney said the narrative this week had nothing to do with the outcome.
“It nothing to do with it,” Swinney said. “I’m sure that guy’s a great guy. We all do things that sometimes we regret or say things that we probably shouldn’t say in the moment. We’ve all done that, but I don’t think that had anything to do with our team at all.”
BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora will miss Monday’s series opener against the New York Mets at Fenway Park so he can attend his daughter’s college graduation.
Cora’s daughter, Camila, will be graduating from nearby Boston College.
“It’s going to be a very special day — one that I’m not going to miss,” Cora said before Sunday’s game vs. the Atlanta Braves. “I 100% will miss the game for that. I will do that any given day. It’s going to be a very special day for us.”
Cora reflected on how the time has seemed to go quickly and spoke about how fast his daughter seemed to grow up.
“It went fast, it went really fast,” Cora said of her time in college. “For a girl from divorced parents, her mom did an amazing job, staying the course while I was playing and coaching and doing my ESPN thing. … She’s actually a reflection of her. I appreciate everything she’s done for her and for us.”
Asked if he’ll be able to hold back his emotions at the ceremony, Cora smiled and said “We’ll see,” before bringing up memories of when his daughter was at the 2018 World Series victory celebration and a postseason series wrap-up win over Tampa Bay in ’21 at Fenway.
“It’s going to be an amazing day. It happened fast,” he said. “You put everything into perspective, you go back to the videos of ’18, she was a little girl.
“Then you go back to ’21 when she hopped onto the field when we beat Tampa, she was still a little girl. Now, she’s not a little girl,” he said. “She’s a woman. She had fun with it. She’s a great student and the future’s bright for her.”
MILWAUKEE — Brewers pitcher Tobias Myers is going back to the minors as he continues to struggle to match the success he enjoyed as a rookie last year.
The Brewers optioned Myers to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday while selecting right-handed pitcher Easton McGee from Triple-A and transferring left-handed pitcher Connor Thomas to the 60-day injured list.
Myers is 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA in six appearances, including five starts. He allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings in a 7-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.
The right-hander had gone 9-6 with a 3.00 ERA last season and was selected the Brewers’ most valuable pitcher by the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He closed that season by pitching five scoreless innings in the decisive Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the New York Mets, a game the Brewers lost 4-2 by allowing four runs in the ninth.
“I love the kid, man,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Saturday’s game. “You saw it in Game 3, that’s in there. So we’ve got to get back to that.”
The Brewers had optioned Myers to Nashville a week ago, but he didn’t actually pitch there before rejoining the big-league club after left-hander José Quintana went on the injured list with a left shoulder issue. Now he’s heading back to Nashville.
Myers entered Saturday having walked 10 batters over 16 1/3 innings. He didn’t walk anyone Saturday, but gave up a career-high 11 hits.
“My goal was to fill the zone up and kind of get away from the walks I’ve been dealing with,” Myers said after the game. “I think I just filled it up a little too much.”
McGee went 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings in 13 relief appearances with Nashville.
McGee appeared in one game for Tampa Bay in 2022 and one game for Seattle in 2023.In the only two games he has pitched in the big leagues, McGee has allowed just one unearned run over 9 2/3 innings while striking out three and allowing five hits and one walk.
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