Arizona State defensive lineman Zac Swanson made it clear he has a rooting interest in the first-round matchup in this year’s College Football Playoff between Texas and Clemson.
Swanson will be rooting for Texas on Saturday for no other reason than to have the chance to exact revenge on New Year’s Day against the team that “kicked me out” and told him he’d “never be good enough to play there.”
The defensive lineman transferred from Texas to ASU in May after he said the Longhorns coaching staff gave him a harsh assessment.
The Sun Devils went 11-2 this year and won the Big 12 Championship game.
Swanson recorded 16 tackles, two tackles for loss, half a sack and a quarterback hurry this season for the Sun Devils.
Now he wants to stick it to the team that didn’t have faith in him.
“That’s a team that kicked me out and said I’d never be good enough to play there, so that’s something that been on my agenda for a while,” Swanson told reporters, according to 12News’ Jake Garcia. “It’s like a dream scenario, so I’m very excited about that.”
Swanson went on to describe the comments that he was told by Texas coaches that resulted in him heading for the transfer portal.
“Exactly what was said was, ‘If you want to stay at Texas you might as well quit football and just go to school here.’ So, a lot of motivation there for me,” he said.
He called it the “worst thing” that had ever been said to him and that “it was just said so carelessly.”
Ultimately, Swanson said things worked out the way that he hoped they would have since he decided to transfer to ASU.
Swanson is an Arizona native and his Sun Devils earned a bye in the College Football Playoff to automatically put them in the quarterfinals.
For Swanson to get his wish, Texas will have to defeat the Tigers at home in Austin.
