Dabo Swinney is responsible for creating Clemson football’s unique “All In” culture. When he first got the head coaching job, Swinney said that he wanted to “build a model program” and that is exactly what he has done. His coaching style has resulted in much success and has made him the best coach in college football.
Some people will argue that Alabama’s Nick Saban is superior; however, this 2018 season has pushed Swinney to the front. It is indisputable that Saban has reached legendary status for what he has accomplished at Alabama. But this year, Swinney showed that he is creating something legendary too. Clemson not only beat Alabama in the National Championship for the second time in three years, but they dominated the game in a 44-16 victory. Furthermore, the Tigers are the one and only team to beat the Crimson Tide in the Championship. The victory made Clemson the first team to have a 15-0 season with a National Championship win, and Clemson’s senior class finished 55-4, tying Alabama’s record for most wins by one class.
Swinney does not approach football in the same way as other successful coaches, such as Saban. In a recent interview with both Swinney and Saban, Swinney commented on a time when the two were vacationing on the same island.
“You got to kind of go through gates to get to his house and any old redneck could pull up to my place,” he said.
Even with all the success Swinney has had, he remains humble and relatable to many people. Thus, the culture of Clemson football is a unique one. One of the first things Swinney did as head coach was ask his players to be “all in”, meaning to believe in themselves, each other and the coaches. In addition to getting his players “all in,” Swinney also got the university to invest in them too. To do this, Swinney invited Clemson students to attend their practices and watch. Clemson’s players and coaches love the atmosphere Swinney has created, resulting in many of them staying longer, rather than entering the NFL draft earlier or accepting other coaching offers. This has allowed the team to have experienced players, like Christian Wilkins, mentor lower classmen.
Young recruits are seeing Clemson’s football culture and wanting to be a part of it. Justyn Ross, Alabama’s best high school football player in 2017, gave insight about why he chose Clemson over Alabama.
“[Clemson’s] culture that they have there and the family tight bond that everybody has…it’s unbelievable and there is nothing like it,” he said.
A big reason why Clemson football has that culture is because Swinney recruits good people who are good players. He will not recruit someone that is one or the other. Additionally, he does not care how many other offers a recruit is getting or what their ranking is because he knows what he is looking for. While every other big name school was offering Trevor Lawrence scholarships, Swinney did not because he did not want to offer one until Lawrence was older. Lawrence respected this, and it impressed him and his family. Swinney believes that “recruits and their families want and deserve to know who you are as a person, not just what kind of coach you are.”
Before Swinney, Clemson had not won more than 10 games in a season in 28 years. Now within the last four years, they have had four playoff appearances and two National Championships. Swinney is a competitive guy, but he knows winning isn’t everything. He recognizes that life is bigger than the game, and that the reason him and every player is there is because they love the game of football. Swinney loves his team and they love him. He has set the standard and has made Clemson the team to beat.
