Clemson Tigers College Football Pregame Quote, 12/26/2019

You weren’t here in ’16, were you?

JOHN SIMPSON: I was, yeah.

When you found out that you guys were coming back here, what were your first memories?

JOHN SIMPSON: Just how clean it is in Arizona. Arizona is clean compared to South Carolina. They don’t have anything on the road. You probably weren’t looking for an answer like that, but Arizona is clean.

No, that’s perfect. Can you explain that a little bit more, just what you mean by clean?

JOHN SIMPSON: It’s just so much more clean than everywhere else that I’ve been. The roads don’t have no trash and no debris. It is weird. But I just ‚Äì I think it is nice here. It is real nice. Since my freshman year, I’ve been telling people I want to live in Arizona because it is so nice. Yeah. That’s all I remember.

When they announced you guys were coming to the Fiesta Bowl, is that what you weretelling the younger guys, I think is where I want to live?

JOHN SIMPSON: For sure.

Football-wise, what do you think of when you think back to ’16?

JOHN SIMPSON: How good our team was. We had skilled players and all of that stuff but it was just like we left a little bit of doubt in 2016. We won but it left a little doubt.

Speaking of doubt, how much has that kind of fueled you guys? How much do you talk about the idea that people are doubting you this year?

JOHN SIMPSON: We try not to listen to the outside noise and do what we need to do. We leave that to Coach Swinney. We put our head down and go to work every day. That’s how it’s been all year. Go to work. Do what you’ve got to do.

You guys are used to being in the spotlight. Do you get used to stuff like this where thereare a million people walking around asking questions and stuff?

JOHN SIMPSON: I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. It is different. It is something you don’t really get used to.

What do you tell the younger guys about how to handle it?

JOHN SIMPSON: I said before, just stay focused and put your head down and go into work and don’t let anything like this throw you off your pivot. Just keep going and work.

You said Arizona is really clean. What’s been your favorite thing in Arizona?

JOHN SIMPSON: I would say going to Topgolf. Topgolf was really fun. That’s crazy! That’s insane. The most fun I’ve had here so far was probably Topgolf. I didn’t really do much. I was just trying to chill and relax. Just get some time to myself and focus on the game.