Swinney interview, part two

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed May 15 12:00:28 GMT-04:00 2013

CLEMSON – In part two of our 1-on-1 with Dabo Swinney Dabo Swinney
Head Coach
View Full Profile , Clemson’s head coach talks about the mistakes he made early on and the hires he has made since that time, the losing season and whether he thinks he can win a National Championship.

Since those early and trying days, Swinney has won the ACC’s Atlantic Division twice, won the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship in 2011, earned an appearance in the Orange Bowl and has made the Tigers a mainstay in the rankings.

This season holds even more promise – the Tigers might be poised to make a run at another ACC title and a possible national title - and Swinney admitted that a lot has changed since late 2008.

“Probably the biggest thing is that I get a little more sleep now than I did then because I never slept,” Swinney said. “I’ve grown immensely. It’s just like anything you do- the more experience you get, the better you get. You make mistakes, you grow from them. You have success, you grow from that. All of the success that we’ve had, the credit goes to the players and the staff.”

Part of learning on the job was admitting that some hires weren’t always the best fit, and making the necessary changes to his staff sometimes meant saying goodbye to a dear friend.

The players then took notice, and have bought in to what Swinney is trying to accomplish with the program.

“The one thing I know is that if you are going to be successful, you surround yourself with good people and I’ve got really good people around me- both as coaches and support staff and most of all players,” he said. “These players believe and have bought in. We don’t hope to win. We expect to win and that expectation comes from paying a price. I’m really proud of what we’ve accomplished in my first four years here, but there’s obviously still things that we haven’t gotten done that are important. From a program standpoint and for me, we’ve grown a lot.”

Swinney said the losing season of 2010 was a learning experience for everybody.

“That was a tough year and we probably grew as much as any year. I’m as proud of that team as I am of any other because they fought hard. They never quit,” Swinney said. “I’ll never forget walking off that field at Florida State. We were going up and down the field, leading the game and lose with two seconds on a 55-yard field goal. They battled all year long and because of that I knew we had a chance.

“We had a good foundation. Things happened for the best. It was an opportunity to go in a different direction. The biggest thing with me is that I just tried to get better every year. Just like our players- I want them to get better every year. I was a better player as a senior in college than as a freshman- a lot better player. And hopefully I’m a better coach with four years under my belt than I was with one year under my belt.”

Swinney made staff changes following the 2010 season – including hiring offensive coordinator Chad MorrisChad Morris
Offensive Coordinator / QBs
View Full Profile – and the Tigers broke a long drought by winning the ACC Championship in 2011.

“It was awesome. It’s just further confirmation that when you have a plan, you believe in your plan, you stick to your plan, and you surround yourself with your great people, you have a chance to be successful,” he said. “If you don’t let adversity or failure kill you, you’re going to be fine. It was neat because of how far we’d come in one year. It was the same thing last year- we win the ACC and we go and have a nightmare bowl game in the Orange Bowl and then a year later we beat one of the best teams this country has seen in the last 10 years. It’s just continual improvement. That’s all we’re trying to do and be consistent- from a coaching standpoint and a personnel standpoint and everything we do within the program.”