Dabo Swinney
My dad was a great man, and I loved him, but he had some demons he fought. It was tough to see some of those things as a kid, but I believe God doesn't save you from things; he saves you through them.
I'm not perfect. I don't claim to be perfect. So, when people point out I'm imperfect, so what? That's just who I am.
I had a lot of time as a kid to dream. There wasn't much else left to do.
You better have an anchor in life. It doesn't matter if you're a Division I head football coach or Joe Schmo from Okemoh. Bad things happen. If you're not anchored, you're going to be washed away.
My father figures were my coaches.
I want guys that are sincerely interested in coming to Clemson. I don't need any practice recruiting, and I don't like wasting time. I want to be transparent, and I want prospects to be transparent, and if they're really interested in Clemson, then they're going to come here unofficially on their own.
My vision is for other schools to be like Clemson. My vision is to build a model program.
You got to be a champion on the inside.
When you get a young group of people that believe, are passionate... and committed to a single purpose, you better look out. Great things can happen.
For me personally, joy comes from focusing on Jesus, others, and yourself.
We're all going to experience death and failure and setbacks and disappointments and cancer and, you know, it's a really difficult world. And for me, God has always - in my relationship with Christ - He's given me hope and peace.
My dad was the biggest Alabama fan ever, and I was brainwashed.
I always told people Alabama was the smartest state because it has four As and a B.
I think God has got a sense of humor. I really do.
In Alabama, when you come out of the hospital, they have to stamp your birth certificate with either Alabama or Auburn, or you don't leave.
I ain't never going to apologize for a 21-point win over a state rival, ever.
When you win by three touchdowns in a state championship and you've got people who can't appreciate that? That's really sad.
All I know is, there's nothing we can't do at Clemson. I don't have to go somewhere else to win at the highest level, to recruit great players, to have great support - I really don't. I'm just really fortunate.
I thought, 'If I ever get a new football building, I want a slide.' Now I go down it every day.
I have an MBA, but my Ph.D. is in people. Everything I do is about relationships.
If my coach told me to go run them bleachers, you didn't ask no questions. I turned around and started running until he said stop.
I've never really hired anybody that people thought I should hire.
I just think there is a right way to do things, and I don't think two wrongs make a right.
I think we have a sin problem in the world. It's so easy to say we have a race problem, but we got a sin problem.
A lot of these things in this world were only a dream for Martin Luther King. Not a one-term, but a two-term African-American president. And this is a terrible country? That was a dream for Martin Luther King.
I go to a church that's an interracial church.
That's just my - I think that I made a decision when I was 16 - I grew up in a family that I was taught there was a God and all that, but I didn't really have a relationship with Christ until I was 16. And that was a game changer for me. That's really become the foundation of my life.
Everybody sees me now, and I'm the head coach at Clemson and this and that, but my life hasn't always been this way.
Trust me, people that know me know I ain't perfect, but I do try to live my life in a way that hopefully can be pleasing to my maker because I know I'm going to meet Him one day, and He's not going to pat me on the back and talk about how many wins I had or how many Coach of the Year trophies we got or how much money I made.
I'm a big believer in the student-athlete part. I value the education and what it provides for you. Football is a vocation. Only 1.67 percent of these athletes go on to the NFL. An education provides you an opportunity for a career. A lot of people just don't get that. To say they aren't getting anything is misinformed.
I didn't get into coaching to make money. I got into this for the coaching and teaching part.
For me, and I've been on record saying it, let's create two leagues: one for players who want the college football experience, and another for those that want to get paid, have the NFL help fund it, whatever. Guys who don't want to go to school to get an education, let them go to work.
I've never failed at anything in my life.
I'm kind of a bottom-of-the-barrel guy.
I don't think it's good to be a distraction to your team.
Let's not be miserable when we win. There's definitely people in places that, even when they win, they're not happy. That's sad.
There's nobody tougher on the players than me. Nobody.
Everybody runs, but only one wins first prize. So, run your race in such a way as to win.
Colin Cowherd? I never met him; I don't know him.
If you grow up with traditions in your family, it's always nice to be able to get home and have those moments.
You may not have any interest in Clemson whatsoever, but if Clemson calls, and they want to pay for you to come, and feed you and put you in a hotel, well, who doesn't want to go do that? Sign me up. Let's go, man.
I'm not trying to be like everybody else. I want to be Clemson, and Clemson's not for everybody.
When a guy comes unofficially, then he, to me, is sending you a message that, 'You know what? Hey, I'm interested in Clemson.' Now, he may hate it when he gets here. But at least he came on his own. That's just my personal philosophy.
There's some criminals that wear badges. Guess what? There's some criminals that work in the media. There's some criminals that are football coaches. There's some criminals that are politicians. There are criminals that work in churches.
I'm a Christian, but I've coached and played with Muslims and all kind of different religions.
A football team is really just a reflection of society. You've got 118, 120 guys on the team, you got a little bit of everything.
Everyone will be judged one day, but it's not up to me to judge somebody.
As long as I've been at Clemson, there's not a guy that's more committed to Clemson than Kelly Bryant. There's not a better leader. This guy, he's the epitome of what you want. He's what you want your son to be like. I love him like a son.
Everything in life is how you respond to it. If everything went perfect all the time - you never lost a game, you got to the championship every time, you always won, you always got the top recruit, you always made the A - you really wouldn't truly appreciate all that goes into it.