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No doubt Clemson's Swinney belongs in elite club (w/video)

 
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney reacts during NCAA college football practice Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, in Davie, Fla. Clemson is scheduled to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve. Linebacker J.D. Davis (33) looks on. (AP Photo/Joe Skipper) FLJS113
Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney reacts during NCAA college football practice Monday, Dec. 28, 2015, in Davie, Fla. Clemson is scheduled to play Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on New Year's Eve. Linebacker J.D. Davis (33) looks on. (AP Photo/Joe Skipper) FLJS113
Published Dec. 31, 2015

MIAMI

Oct. 16, 2008. It was a Thursday.

Just three days earlier, Dabo Swinney, only 38 years old at the time, was named interim head coach at Clemson, taking over for the fired Tommy Bowden. Just a day earlier, Swinney made the hard choice of moving his stuff into Bowden's old office.

"I was just overwhelmed," Swinney said. "That (Thursday) morning when I got up, I was exhausted. It was dark and I was driving to work, and I always pray when I go to work. I just thought, 'Man, what have I done? I don't know if I can do this.' I was worn out."

Normally, Swinney parked on one side of the lot outside Clemson's football building. But because he switched offices, it made sense to park in Bowden's old spot.

"When I pulled into the parking lot and my (car) lights hit the curb and the curb lit up," Swinney said, "the number 88 lit up on the curb in that particular parking spot."

No. 88 was Swinney's number when he played at Alabama.

"To me," Swinney said, "it was God was tapping me on the back, putting his arms around me, saying, 'I got you. You're right where I want you to be.' "

Where is he now? Two victories away from a national championship.

Today, college football's playoffs feature three programs with rich histories and respected coaches. There's Alabama and Nick Saban taking on Michigan State and Mark Dantonio. And here in Miami, there's Oklahoma and Bob Stoops.

Then there's Dabo and Clemson. The Tigers are undefeated and the No. 1 team in the country, yet they go into the Orange Bowl as underdogs and, to many, the least likely of the four remaining teams to win it all.

That's just how it is with Clemson. Until the Tigers do it, no one is convinced they can do it. But Swinney has news for the critics.

"What can people say?" Swinney, now 46, said. "They're going to try to come up with something else to say, but there's nothing else to say. We're at that point now we're definitely one of the top programs in the country. We're not going away because we've done it the right way."

That's a culture created by Swinney, and it started that 2008 season when he made the move down the hall and across the parking lot. Clemson was suffering from a crisis of confidence and Swinney decided to introduce his players to the elephant in the room. Or, in this case, elephants — plural.

Clemson hadn't won an ACC title in 17 years. It hadn't won a national title in 18 years. It hadn't won 10 games in a season in 18 years. It couldn't beat out Florida State in the conference.

"It was like a mountain," Swinney said.

So he did what you do when you start a long climb. You prepare. You plan. You ready yourself.

Then you take the first step.

Bolstered by an athletic director who believed in him, Swinney didn't consider himself an "interim" head coach, but a real head coach. Soon the tag was removed.

Since then, Swinney has gone 74-26 and he has crossed off all the things Clemson couldn't do. His Tigers have won at least 10 games in five consecutive seasons. They have won their ACC division four times. They have won the conference twice.

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And a national championship is within reach. But it has not been an overnight success. It all goes back to that rocky 2008 season.

"It's like the hotel we're staying in here in Miami," Swinney said. "I'm staying on the 36th floor. You get on the elevator, hit the button and, boop, the doors open and you're on the 36th floor. Doesn't work that way in college football. … You have to take the stairs and work your way up."

That means doing things the right way, on and off the field. Example: Swinney sent three players home Wednesday for violating team rules. That includes wide receiver Deon Cain, a Tampa Bay Tech product who is second on the team in receiving yards (582) and touchdowns (five).

"You don't do the right things," Swinney said, "there are consequences."

In the Orange Bowl semifinal, Swinney takes on Stoops, a coach who never had issues with doubt. The former Gators assistant took over at Oklahoma in 1999 and won a national title the next season. Even when his Sooners went 8-5 last season and the doubters wondered if Stoops had lost it as a head coach, Stoops never wavered.

"It's pretty evident that a lot of that isn't true, that we've got a strong program," Stoops, 55, said. "It wasn't nearly as weak as people wanted to say it was a year ago. … A few things don't go your way, and you go 8-5. That isn't our standards and, listen, I'm the one who set the standards."

High standards also have been set under Saban and Dantonio.

Saban, 64, is going for his fifth national title, and fourth in the past seven seasons at Alabama. It was Saban, the former Michigan State coach, who endorsed Dantonio for the Spartans job. As Saban pointed out this week, Dantonio, 59, hasn't disappointed, winning three Big Ten titles and winning at least 11 games five of the past six seasons.

So there you have it. Four great coaches. Four outstanding programs. And, yes, include Dabo Swinney and Clemson on the list.

"Just be great at what you're doing," Swinney said, "because you never know who is paying attention."

After what Swinney has done at Clemson, everyone is paying attention now.