Best Is The Standard: Swinney, some fans have differing opinions on what slogan means

Swinney says doing your best at all times is the meaning of Best Is Standard.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Oct 18 13:03:47 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – The messages have started to pile up as some Clemson fans grow more and more disgruntled with the direction of the program since the last College Football Playoff appearance (2020) – and ask Dabo Swinney why Best Is The Standard no longer applies to the football program, in their mind.

Clemson made six straight appearances in the CFP from 2015-2020, winning two National Championships. Since then, the program has fashioned a 23-7 record, including a 4-2 mark this season, with almost no chance at making the CFP and a very slim chance at making the ACC Championship Game.

Over the last few days, Swinney has responded to criticism of his program, saying in his Tuesday press conference that it’s just a small segment of fans that complain and saying during his call-in show Monday that that losing can sometimes weed out the bandwagon fans.

Ask ten different fans, and you might get ten different opinions on what Best Is The Standard means, and to one of my friends, it means you never lose a game. To another, it means you get mad at the coaches and hire and fire with reckless abandon. To a third, it means never settling for a 10-3 record with making changes. To a fourth, it means using the transfer portal and asking for NIL (Name/Image/Likeness) dollars.

But what does it mean to Swinney, the man who has the phrase written all over the football facilities? He told us a few weeks ago.

“Best Is (The) Standard is about being and doing your best in everything that you do,” Swinney said in a news conference. “And that’s an inward focus. And I think that’s what a lot of people, as our program has developed, they take that the wrong way. It’s never been about being the best. When you’re just focused on being the best, then, to me, that’s dangerous because you’re comparing yourself to other people.”

Swinney added that each letter of each word in the word “Best” coincides with a specific word or phrase — “B” is for believe, “E” is for effort, “S” is for seize the day and “T” is for toughness.

Swinney said if the players and coaches follow those tenets, they can do something special.

“I do believe if you get a group of people, together, collectively committed to that standard, committed to being and doing their best, hey, you might have a chance to be the best, we’ll see,” Swinney said. “But you got no chance to be the best at anything you do in life until you learn how to be your best.”

A few years ago, Swinney was talking to the media about changes he wanted to see made to Death Valley – changes that have either happened or are in the process of happening, like the new tunnel, locker rooms, and Tiger Walk – and dished on Best Is The Standard.

“If you're a walk-on, commit to be the best you can be. You probably won't be a starter, but be the best you can be with what God gave you and you can live with whatever the results are,” Swinney said. “When you're trying to be THE best, that's comparing yourself to other people. We want to be the best Clemson can be. It's effort, preparation, work ethic, attitude -- all the things that you can control and relevant to you being your best. It's sleep, nutrition, what you do when no one is watching."