Dabo Swinney
William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tigers seven games into the 2008 season, following the resignation of Tommy Bowden. Swinney's team won national championships in 2016 and 2018. His 2018 Clemson Tigers have often been considered one of the greatest college football teams of all time. He is the winningest head coach in Clemson football history and Atlantic Coast Conference football history.
Early life and education
Swinney's parents, Carol McIntosh and Ervil Swinney, married shortly after Carol's high school graduation. The couple had three boys: Tracy, Tripp, and William.Although born in Birmingham, Swinney was raised in Pelham. He attended Pelham High School, where he played a number of sports, including baseball and football.
Facing financial troubles after his parents divorced, Swinney and his mother were temporarily homeless and lived with various friends for a period of time. Nevertheless, Swinney was an honor student and continued to excel in football.
His high school coach encouraged Swinney to pursue basketball at a number of colleges; however, Swinney insisted on the University of Alabama—his father's favorite football team—once he learned that he was admissible. Swinney once revealed, "I didn't know what a Pell Grant was, and I didn't know how to do student loans. I had no clue. I had no collegiate background in my family of how to do that type of stuff."
While in college, his mother stayed with him and a classmate in an off-campus apartment for three years until she could afford her own home. Swinney worked a number of low wage jobs during the summer of his sophomore year in order to pay for tuition, rent, and other expenses. That fall, he received a notice that he owed the university $550 that was due the next day or his classes would be dropped and he would be disqualified from the football team. That same day he opened a credit line with Discover credit card, which allowed him to pay the outstanding balance along with his rent.
Swinney was involved in Greek Life during college, and was initiated as a brother of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He received his bachelor's degree in commerce & business administration in 1993 and two years later, he earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the same university. At one point, his career goals included being a doctor and running a hospital.
Playing career
Swinney joined the Alabama Crimson Tide as a walk-on wide receiver in 1989. He earned a scholarship and lettered on three teams, including the Crimson Tide's 1992 National Championship team. During his time as an undergraduate at Alabama, Swinney was twice named an Academic All-SEC and SEC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll member. In three seasons at Alabama, he caught seven passes for 81 yards.Coaching career
Alabama
While completing work on his MBA, Swinney served as a graduate assistant at Alabama under Gene Stallings.In December 1995, Swinney received his MBA from Alabama and became a full-time assistant coach for the Crimson Tide in charge of wide receivers and tight ends. He retained these posts under Stallings' successor, Mike DuBose. He was fired with all of DuBose's staff in early 2001.
Swinney sat out the 2001 season while receiving his contractual payments from Alabama. His former strength coach at Alabama, Rich Wingo, had become president of Birmingham-based AIG Baker Real Estate and offered him a job. From April 2001 through February 2003, he did not coach and instead worked for AIG Baker Real Estate as a commercial real estate salesman.
Clemson
In 2002, Tommy Bowden—Swinney's former position coach at Alabama— offered him the position of wide receivers coach at Clemson, and Swinney joined in 2003. He also took over as recruiting coordinator from popular longtime coordinator Rick Stockstill. Swinney proved to be both an excellent wide receivers coach as well as recruiting coordinator, coaching ACC-leading receivers and being named one of the nation's top 25 recruiters in 2007 by Rivals.com.2008 season
Swinney was named the interim head football coach on October 13, 2008, after head coach Tommy Bowden resigned six games into the season. The Tigers had started the year ranked #9 in the preseason polls, but then went 3–3 in their first six games. At the time he was informed of his promotion, he was working with the wide receivers on their upcoming game.With a reputation as a top-notch recruiter, Swinney was chosen over Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning, and associate head coach Brad Scott. Swinney's first actions as interim head coach were to fire offensive coordinator Rob Spence and introduce a new tradition, the "Tiger Walk", where all players and coaches walk through the parking lot outside Memorial Stadium about two hours before a game as they head inside for final game preparations. On October 18, in his first game as interim head coach, the team lost to Georgia Tech 21–17. On November 1, 2008, Swinney claimed his first victory as the Tigers' head coach by defeating Boston College, breaking Clemson's six-game losing streak against the Eagles. On November 29, 2008, Swinney coached Clemson to a 31–14 win over South Carolina in the annual rivalry game, after which Clemson became bowl eligible. After a vote of confidence from athletic director Terry Don Phillips, Swinney was formally named as Clemson's 27th head coach on December 1, 2008. In his first game as the full-time head coach, he lost the 2009 Gator Bowl to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 26–21.
Swinney's recruiting reputation became evident when he produced five top-20 ESPN recruiting classes in a row, including top 10 classes in 2011 and 2012. As a result, Clemson was one of only 10 schools to be ranked in the top 20 of recruiting five years in a row, and as of 2014 Swinney was one of only four active head coaches at the time to accomplish the feat.
Despite his recruiting reputation, Swinney was an unpopular hire among some Clemson fans. Some fans and pundits noted that he had never been more than a position coach. Others were skeptical that Clemson had opted to retain one of Bowden's assistants.
2009 season
During the 2009 season, which was Swinney's first full season at the helm, Clemson achieved several accomplishments. The 2009 team finished the season with a record of 9–5 to win the Atlantic Division title of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The 2009 season included three marquee wins: a win over #8 Miami in overtime on the road, a 16-point win over Florida State at home, and a win over Kentucky 21–13 in the 2009 Music City Bowl. Swinney coached the Clemson Tigers to a #24 AP Top 25 final season ranking for the 2009 football season.2010 season
In 2010, Swinney led Clemson to a 6–6 regular season. Of the six losses in the 2010 season, five were by less than 10 points and four were by six points or less. The season included close losses to Cam Newton and the eventual national champion Auburn Tigers, and the eventual division champion Florida State Seminoles. After the conclusion of the regular season, many fans called for the firing of both Swinney and athletic director Terry Don Phillips. Swinney would say years later he expected to be fired after the regular season ended with a loss to South Carolina. Phillips instead gave Swinney another vote of confidence and allowed him to return for the 2011 season. Discontent with Swinney grew even more after a bowl loss to South Florida made Clemson's final record 6–7, Clemson's first losing season since 1998. Swinney, who was 19–15, entered the 2011 season widely considered to be a coach on the hot seat. Despite a disappointing 6–7 record, the 2010 team featured one of the nation's top defenses and the Bronko Nagurski and Ted Hendricks award winner, Da'Quan Bowers.2011 season
In 2011, Swinney led the Tigers to a 10–3 record that included an ACC Championship, the Tigers' first since 1991. They earned a trip to the Orange Bowl, their first major-bowl appearance since the 1981 national championship season. During a pre-game ESPN interview prior to the 2012 Orange Bowl, Swinney said, "Hopefully when this thing is over, people are going to be talking about the Clemson defense." The comment proved to be prescient as #15 Clemson went on to lose to the #23 West Virginia Mountaineers, 70–33, conceding an all-time record number of points scored in a quarter, half and game in the 109-year history of bowl games. Defensive coordinator Kevin Steele was fired after the game.A notable addition to the Clemson coaching staff in 2011 was offensive coordinator Chad Morris, who had previously only coached at the high school level. Morris brought in a fast-paced, up-tempo spread offense that shattered many Clemson offensive records and influenced other coordinators around the country and in the NFL.
Swinney was the 2011 winner of the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award, which was established to honor the NCAA Division 1 football coach whose team excels on the field, in the classroom, and in the community. The award is named for Bobby Dodd, longtime head football coach of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. The award was established in 1976 to honor the values that Dodd exemplified.