April 29, 2025 • 49 mins
Clemson Tigers Head Coach Dabo Swinney sits down with George Wrighster on Unafraid Show for a wide-ranging and heartfelt conversation. From the grit and faith that shaped his journey to the values that guide Clemson’s football culture, Coach Swinney opens up like never before.
He explains why he’s never worried about the outside noise, how his first staff meeting at Clemson laid the groundwork for a championship culture, and why “equipping men” off the field is even more important than developing talent on it. He also talks about seeing his hero Deion Sanders.
Dabo speaks candidly about the impact of faith, how personal struggles became assets, and the mindset that’s helped him maintain both a thriving football program and a 30+ year marriage.
He also dives into the changing landscape of college football—from NIL and the transfer portal to Deion Sanders' influence and the need for a more streamlined NCAA calendar. Whether you're a diehard Clemson fan or just love the game, this is an inspiring and insightful look at one of college football’s most passionate and purpose-driven leaders.
🔥 Key Quotes: "It’s the greatest time in the history of football to go to college." "Serving their hearts matters more than serving their talent." "We need one portal window." The Unafraid Show is about US! Make sure to follow the Unafraid Show on all Social channels: -
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Chapters: 00:00 - Intro
01:30 - Why Dabo Swinney ignores outside criticism
03:55 - Clemson’s culture started with one staff meeting
06:17 - “Equipping men” is Clemson Football’s foundation
08:10 - How faith shaped Dabo Swinney’s journey
10:40 - From embarrassment to asset: Dabo’s life lessons
11:38 - Dabo’s secret to a lasting marriage
14:20 - How a GA role launched a Hall of Fame coaching career
17:30 - Dabo clarifies stance on NIL and professionalization
20:04 - “Best time ever” to play college football
21:24 - Dabo Swinney on Deion Sanders and his impact
22:05 - Inside Clemson’s P.A.W. Journey life-skills program
23:31 - Transfer Portal: Clearing up misconceptions at Clemson
27:35 - What defines a “Clemson Man” in recruiting
29:00 - Dabo’s relationship with Woody McCorvey
30:52 - Dabo’s famous crackback block at Alabama
32:51 - Fixing the NCAA football calendar 36:45 - “We need one portal window” — Dabo on reform
37:55 - School-by-school calendar changes to develop players
40:41 - Faith’s resurgence in college football
42:14 - How non-conference scheduling built Clemson’s brand
44:55 - Dabo Swinney breaks down Clemson’s elite résumé
#DaboSwinney #ClemsonFootball #UnafraidShow #GeorgeWrighster #NIL #CollegeFootball #FaithAndFootball #TransferPortal #DeionSanders #CoachingLeadership #cfb #cfbnews #accfootball #cfbplayoff
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
I got a chance to interview the head coach of
the Clemson Tigers, mister Dabo Sweeney. Now, the cool part
about this interview is that Dabbo doesn't do a lot
of interviews, and so I asked him why did he
choose to come on the On Fraid Show And he
was like, well, a lot of people ask me about football,
a lot of people asked me about faith, but never
(00:21):
really both in the same interview. And you know, here
we are faith, family, fatherhood, food and sports. So it
was really interesting to see the dynamic in the locker room,
the dynamic with the players, the dynamic with everybody on staff.
They are all bought into Dabo's vision, and just the
fact that he has so many former players on staff.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And I just loved it.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And the coolest part about it is their Paul Journey
pa W Journey and it's their program that they turn
young men or boys who come into their program.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
And put out men at the end. And the fact
that they don't.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Push a lot of players to the well, sorry excuse me,
that they don't push players to the portal, and that
they are all about development makes them a very unique program.
And I did come in with some preconceived notions about
Dabbo Sweeney, but I left a full believer in what
he's doing, so much so that I would send my
son to go play for this man. I hopefully you
(01:26):
guys enjoyed this interview. Hopefully you love it and make
sure that you guys like to subscribe, Tell a friend
about the Unafraid Show and up share.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I mean, I think there's two ways to be successful.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
You can do what everybody else does and just try
to outwork them, out smart on this and that.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Or you can be unique and different.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
We've been unique and different for sixteen years. People see
this version of me. I've never forgotten where I've come from.
I know who I am, and I always said if
I got a chance to be a head coach, I
wanted to do it in a different way, and that's
what we've been able to do here. I was really
to be successful. I never chased money. I just chased
my happiness and my passion. You don't hear anything bad
about Clemson from inside Clemson. It's always from people on
(02:10):
the outside of our program that don't know me.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
They don't know our program.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
We've won the most games, got the most national championships,
most conference championships, most draft picks, most first round picks,
highest graduation rate.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I think our process is fulfilling our purpose.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
If it's not fulfilling somebody else's purpose, well I'm not
trying to fulfill somebody else's purpose. Fourteen consecutive years with
a postseason win, that's never been done in college football history.
But we've beaten Alabama and two out of three national championships.
We've been to seven out of ten playoffs, we've been
to won the league.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Eight out of the last ten years. So why do
I want to be like everybody else?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
And now we are on with the head coach of
the Clemson Tigers, mister Davos Sweeney, a man who has
won nine ACC championships, who national championships.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Thank you, good to be on with it.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
That's not too bad for a D plus higher.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
That's a good thing that the plus was across.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Right, that's exactly you've done your homework.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
So in this era of college football, right, you have
so many people who are concerned about wins and losses,
and I think that you get lost, like the just
being proud of putting a good product on the field
and being.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Proud of what it is.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So how are you dealing with that in terms of
the noise on the outside of Oh, how come we
haven't won another national championship yet when you're graduating ninety
eight percent of your players you are, you know, the
highest retention in college football.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Well, I don't listen to it. So it's really that simple.
I think we all have a choice every day.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
You know.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
First of all, you know, the attitude we think that
we choose to have that kind of drives your habits.
And we also have a choice on what we let in.
We always tell our players all the time, you know,
ships don't sink because of the water around them. They
sink because the water gets in them. And you know,
that's kind of how it is in life, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And we live in a world now where.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
There's a lot of noise and you have a decision
every day on what you're going to listen to. And unfortunately,
a lot of times we wake up the first thing
we do is we start taking buckets of water and
just throwing it in our ship. With those phones and
with other people's opinions and other people's thoughts and and
and things like that, and then we wonder why we're
dragging through life. So I don't really I just I
(04:29):
block all that out. But how I deal with it
is perspective, you know. I think that's very important. And
you know, I stay focused on the main thing, you know,
and that's that's my fate, number one. But the purpose,
my purpose as a man, and then the purpose of
this program. And yeah, I mean it's a it's an
interesting thing, you know, to kind of you know, kind
(04:51):
of be on the inside and kind of you know,
see you know some of the narratives that people put
out there. But in the reaction is we've won three
national championships in one hundred and thirty years. So if
winning a national championship is simple, and I.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Mean, who else has done that exactly?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
But we've been We've been to the playoffs seven times
in ten years. You know, we're the only team to
go to six final fours. We've won our lead eight
out of the last ten years. So we didn't go
to the playoff ten out of ten years. But nobody
else has been seven out of ten years. I think
maybe Alabama. Nobody's won eight out.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Of ten years. In their league championship. I think the
last five years we're fifth in the country and wins.
But we are fulfilling the purpose that we talk about here.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So when I got the job here sixteen years ago,
you know, first staff meeting, what's that going to be like?
It's a big meeting. It's your first staff meeting, a
group of people. Okay, what's what we're gonna be about?
And you know, literally sixteen and a half years ago,
walk in that meeting room and and my message was simple,
as long as I'm the head coach, this is what
(05:57):
this program's gonna be about. But then I also told them,
and we're gonna graduate our players, We're gonna equip them
as men. We're gonna we've now created this Paul Journey
in our program. It's a curriculum. It's it's we've been
doing this for a long time. It's we're gonna make
sure they have a great experience. And I want everybody
to win a championship. And as long as I'm the
(06:18):
head coach, it's what we're gonna be about. Everything we're
gonna do is and we'll be about that. But we're
never gonna put winning ahead of those other things. So
if that's your purpose, and you say your purpose driven,
and you've got sixteen years, shouldn't the results reflect that.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yes, Well, we.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Just posted the highest graduation success rate posted in twenty
years of college football.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
We've got ninety eight percent graduation rate.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
I mean three hundred and ninety something seniors, three hundred
and eighty nine graduates, you know. So, so we're fulfilling
the graduate Thirteen out of the last fourteen years, we've
been top ten academically, Clinton Duke in Northwestern and I
don't think they've won national championships or conference championships. And
then you sit there and you say, Okay, you know graduation,
(07:06):
that's the number one thing in your program. Well, we're
the only team in America one hundred and thirty five
schools fourteen years in a row, top twenty five in
football and academics. So we've kept the main thing the
main thing, and then equipping them as men. Paul Journey's
a curriculum. You'll see that college experience. We're topping the
country in retention the past two years in this crazy
free free agency world, topping the country and retention. So
(07:29):
that means they're having an experience and then oh, by
the way, winning a championship when I got the job,
all right, Clemson hadn't won the ACC in twenty years,
and that was an eight to ten team league. It's
a seventeen team league. Now we've won it eight out
of ten years. We've won it nine times. We're nine
and won the championship game we had. Clempton hadn't won
ten games in twenty years. We've won ten games thirteen
(07:51):
out of the last fourteen years. But we've done it
by being purpose driven.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
So can you talk about you obviously set the purpose
for the but how do you help the young men
set their own purpose for their life to create not
just great football players, but great husbands, great fathers, great sons,
and everything else that they'll be in their life.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
That's what we do best, and that is a part
of the purpose.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
That is equipping them as men and not just being
a guy that can run around, throw a ball, sack
a quarterback. You know, teach them the proper place for football.
We teach them that football can't be the foundation of
your life. You know, we're faith based here. We talk
about that there's opportunity for them to grow, but we
truly through Paul Journey, our Paul Journey program. It is
(08:37):
a curriculum. It's what we do for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors.
This is how we teach them, you know, how to
be great men, how to be great husbands. It's financial literacy,
it's tax education, it's micro internships across the world. It's
service abroad trips to Cape Town, South Africa, to Thailand,
to Costa Rica. They're going to Positano, Italy in May.
(08:58):
It's BusinessWeek, been in La the past couple of years.
They're going to Vegas next week.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know. We we invest in them holistically. So that's
it's how we meet. It's it's how we meet. There's
there's not a meeting.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
There's not a meeting that we have ever where we're
not sowing in the seeds of competitive greatness to life,
not just football. So it's just a holistic approach. It's
what we do daily, every single day. And we try
to transform them through their Paul Journey because they all
come into a certain spot and it's our job to
figure out where they are, meet them where they are,
(09:33):
and then and then transform their lives. So we we
like to say We're a leadership development organization.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
We just happen to play football doing it. That's that's
what we do best.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
So when you're when they're on that Paul journey and
you're looking at what they're going to be out out
in life, I look at your journey right. And it's
funny because I think that you can understand people once
you understand their backstory in life. You were a kid
who was dirt poor, Ye, parents divorced, all that. So
(10:05):
how did all of those things shape your life to
be the man of purpose that you are now?
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Yeah, We're all shaped by our circumstances, by the things
we experienced, people in our life, mentors, all those things.
And I'm no different. But you know my I did.
I just thought my life was normal until I knew
it wasn't normal. But my family was simple. My mom
and dad married at eighteen. My mom was pregnant with
my oldest brother. Mom cut hair, Dad was an appliance man.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Picks Washington drivers.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
That's what I grew up doing, you know, addiction in
the home, divorce, you know, on the move, just staying here,
staying there. But I had great coaches, I had great
mentors in my life. You know, I was involved in
a lot of things, you know, and you know, played
three sports and did a lot of things that kind
(10:53):
of kept me focused. But the main thing that happened
to me is I got saved when I was sixteen,
and that that created a found to life for me.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, so many people they.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Don't have a foundation to life, and I got a
foundation to life when I was sixteen, and I've been
building on it ever since. And whether and as storms
have come, as they come for all of us, you know,
that foundation has allowed me to stay anchored. And storms
are not always bad things too. Storms are good stuff too.
(11:26):
There's a lot of times sometimes the storms, the worst
storms are the good stuff that happens.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
In your life.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
You can get really off course and distracted by that.
That's been my journey and that shaped me, that equip
me when I now, when I look back, people see
this version of me.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
But I've never forgotten where I've come from.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
I know who I am, I know who the people
who've helped me get where I am.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Most importantly, I know my savior.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
And I look back and a lot of people say
we serve a god you can't see, but I see
him when I look back, and I'm just thankful that,
you know, I've been able to have peace and whatever
I've dealt with in life, and that served me as
I've gone. But as I look back, the things that
I hated most in life, the things that were the liabilities,
(12:14):
things that I was embarrassed by.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
What are my greatest assets?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
What are some of those things that you were mean?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
You know, you know, when you're a kid and your
father shows up and you know, everybody knows he's an alcoholic,
and or they nobody's there to see you score twenty
four points in a game or score a touchdown, nobody's there,
or you know, you have you're living with a friend
sleeping on the floor and your girlfriend's got to come
decorate his door because that's where.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You don't have a home, or you don't have a car.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
You know, So those are things that as when you're
going through those things as a kid, you know, you
can you can be hardened by those things, you can
be embarrassed by those things, you know, whatever, But those
those are my greatest assets today because it gave me perspective,
and that's it goes back to your original question, you know,
(13:07):
on how I deal with all everything, whether it's good bad.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, it's perspective. It's keeping perspective.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
And the way I keep perspective is keeping my eyes
on the Good Lord in the good and the bad.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
So you've been married for over thirty years now, going
on thirty one. Yeah, first of all, congratulates it. In
this business of college football, how do you stay married
for this long and and how has your wife been
a part of the program.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Yeah, well, I think it's got to be. It's got
to you got to be team. It's got to be
a partnership, and you gotta you gotta you know, I don't.
I don't think it should be work and home. I
think you you've got to involve your family and everything
that you do. And that's been the best part about
being the head coach, honestly, is I've been able to
create what I always envisioned it should be. And I've
(13:54):
been able to do that for my staff too. But
you know, kath and I we met in the first
grade and we started going together other than the sixth grade,
and then.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
We started dating in high school when I.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Could drive, so I'd drive her car, and then were
you know, all through college and been married going on
thirty one years.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
So you know, we just have been together.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
We're a team, and I think you've got to have
everybody on the same page in this profession.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And so she was with me my whole life.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
She comes from a different Everybody in her family's you know, PhDs, masters,
their teachers.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Cath was a teacher, or dad as a professor.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
And you know, that's why I always knew she was
the right one, because she never judged me or or
you know, she saw the potential in me. I'm the
first college graduate in my family. Nobody in my family
had a college degree, parents, grandparents, great great grandparents, and
so that was a game changer for me, which is
why I'm passionate about education. I went to Alabama when
I was eighteen. I left when I was thirty one,
(14:49):
and so who does that. So I saw a lot
of guys that I played with, and I was still
there when I was twenty eight, and now all of
a sudden, you know, I saw the game use a
lot of guys they didn't have to. And I always said,
if I got a chance to be a head coach,
and I really wanted to, I wanted to do it
in a different way, and that's what we've been able
to do here and that's why our purpose is what
(15:10):
it is. But you have to have someone in life
to do life with, and you know, Cas been that
person for me.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And so she's been there from.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
When I was a ga, you know and getting my
MBA and never at home for two and a half
years because I was either you know, at the office
or in a classroom or whatever. To you know, watch
just this journey that we've been on. Coached eight years
at Alabama, head coach gets fired. Now I'm out of
coaching for eighteen months. And then you know, when Clemson
(15:41):
called and said, hey, you're interested in getting back and coaching,
she was like she knew my heart and she said,
let's go.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Never lived any lived anywhere else at Alabama.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
So here we came in February three thinking well I
would be here for a year or two and now
I'm on my twenty third season.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
But it was God's plan.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So that how much well, because I because I know
that as a man, one of the greatest things that
that gives me pride and joys to be able to
take care of my my family, provide for my family.
How does that make you feel that cath believed in you.
Her family, I don't know whether they supported it or
didn't at the time, but you made good on on.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That for for her and for your family.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well, our relationship was built on the right stuff, and
I think that's that's, you know, the way it always was.
And then as I went to college, and honestly, we
made I never dreamed of coaching.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I didn't have any desire to coach.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
I wanted to go make money, you know, and I'm
gonna I had all these great plans and because I'd
never made any money, and I had all these great plans.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
And her dad was so helpful to me.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
And you know, when we first got married, he would
send us a check every month so that I could
pay for my mom's rent because my mom lived with me, yeah,
with me for three years of college. And then then
we got married at two, and you know, he helped me.
He'd give me a check every month to help me
pay for my mom's rent. And so I was really
(17:08):
driven to be successful. And when I say be successful,
it's it's to be able to provide for my family,
to be able to have a good job, to be
able to have a great relationship, you know, with the Lord,
and to be a good father, to be a good husband,
and to whatever platform God was going to give me,
(17:28):
to use it to goify him. And so, you know,
all of a sudden, next thing, I know, coach McCorvey,
coach Stars, you know, asked me if I want to
be a GA, and I'm like, well, so I'll get
my NBA yeah, because I wanted to go run a hospital.
I've got my degree in hospital administration and that was
my plan. And so a week into coaching, it was
like clarity of life, all of a sudden.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I still love to play, I still love to compete.
I love the game.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
The first time I had never been a part of team,
we won the national championship my senior year and that
spring I'm like, man, next thing, I know, I'm coaching,
And so it was awesome.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
But the other thing that.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And I tell people all the time, especially young coaches today,
getting into coaching, because coaching wasn't that way in nineteen
ninety three the way it is now. In nineteen ninety three,
you know, you had nine full time coaches and two
gas and.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Nobody made any money.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
The head coach made a little money, but you But
we made a conscious decision, Kathy and I. She was
going to teach school. She was a teacher, and I'm
on coach football. And we knew we would make a
good living, but we were never gonna you know, but
we were so at peace with doing what we love
to do. And I felt like it was what God
called me to do. I really felt that, and I
(18:38):
had that clarity. So I didn't get into coaching to
make money. I got into coaching because it's what I
love to do and I felt like I could impact
people's lives and that was the best way to do it,
and I wanted to be a part of team.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Everything great in my life had come through team. Never.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
In fact, I took a big pay cut to come
to Clemson from the job I had in the business world,
and so I just I never chased money. I just chased,
you know, my happiness and my passion. And you know,
this just God's.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Favor that we are where we are now.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Say, I'm glad you brought that up, because that's something
I think that people get confused about at times, right,
because you're one of the highest paid head coaches in
college football, and people and you know, people have their
opinions about oh, well, he say he doesn't do it
for the money, but he's one of the highest paid coaches.
But when you talk about your purpose, like, that's the
(19:32):
thing that clicks for me. But then there was some
comments that you made a few years ago about you know,
if players, if they get get paid, I'll go do
something else. And in understanding your backstory, I feel like
I have a better understanding of what you meant by that.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
But can you.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Elaborate What I said was they if they professionalize college athletics, yeah,
it doesn't become scholastic anymore. Okay, that's because I'm passionate
about education. That's what I said. People have taken and
they right. Ever, I have no problem with these guys.
You know, they're basically their their rev share, the scholarship
being enhanced, all those things, and it's never made sense
(20:10):
to me that a kid can't go to his own
camp or stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I worked all through college.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
I mean, I've cleaning gunters, cutting grass. I mean, you know,
I probably wasn't supposed to, but I wouldn't have made
it impiring. There was never a time that I wasn't
working but what I know is we have a responsibility
to educate our young people. Ninety eight percent of college
players do not play in the NFL. Football is not
a game of longevity, all right, and we have to
(20:37):
emphasize and incentivize education.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
People make up their own stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
And you know it's say whatever they want. But these
are people that don't know me, They don't know our program.
All you got, dudes, look at our program. Judge me
by my fruit, you know, Judge me by the fruit
of this program and the kids that have come through
here and the graduates and the live that have been changed.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So we've lived out our purpose.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
My main thing about college football is, you know, we
have to keep it scholastic.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
We have to. We have to keep it scholastic, and
we have to help these kids.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
You know, seventy eight percent, almost seventy eight percent of
NFL players within two years of being out a league
or bankrupt. Yep, you know that bankrupt and most of
them right. So I've never wanted my guys to be
a statistic like that. You think we're gonna get those
are mid twenties to thirty year olds. You think we're
going to get a different result with an eighteen nineteen
(21:34):
twenty year old. Now it's gonna be worse, especially if
we don't have the right structure that emphasizes education.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And we have to graduate these players.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
And if we do it right, it's the greatest time
in the history of football to go to college because
we have a chance to educate and equip these young people,
teach them financial literacy, tax education. They don't have to
wait until they get to the Pros to know with
a W two or ten ninety nine or anything kindie
is we can truly equip them, so, you know, and
then also when they come out of college. You know
(22:08):
a lot of these kids in the past that might
leave early, they'll stay now and they'll graduate. And then
if and then and then when they come out of college,
if we do it right, they whether they make the
Pros or not, they've got a great foundation financially for
life to set them up on a great head.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Start for life.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
No matter how much money you make in college, it's
not it's not going to last forever. And so there's
this perception out there and so we have to we
just have to. We just have to do it in
a scholastic way and not get away from that. And
that's what I've always believed. And the reason I believe
that is because I know that if, if, if, if
these young people get their degree, then they have it's
(22:47):
not and you don't have to have a degree to
be successful in life. There's a lot of things. There's
there's there's trades, there's a lot of things that you
can do to be very successful. But the statistics and
the odds and the data says that you have a
better opportunity and that you will make more money in
the course of your life if you do have an education.
I think that's important. I mean, like, I love Deon Sanders.
He's one of my heroes growing up. You know, what
(23:10):
a shame if he couldn't go do that job. He
couldn't be the head coach he didn't have his degree.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Rights yep.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
And he's not coaching for money. He's coaching because he
loves to teach. He knows and he sees where he
can impact people's lives, especially for you.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Know, for the kingdom.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
He sees that, he knows that he's called to that,
and man, what a shame if he didn't have that degree.
Wouldn't matter how many Hall of fames he was in.
How many of this stuff he wouldn't be qualified to
go do that? And so I think that's important. And
that's that's what I think sometimes gets lost that you're
playing football at twenty seven, twenty.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Eight year old.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yes, yeah, I finished it right before I turned thirty,
and I remember coming out and trying to figure out
what I was going to do. And it's a journey
TI to have that sort of mentorship leadership with you
guys as this platform, I think.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Is there's a transition. And what we try to teach
in paul journey is we teach these guys to transition
from football before they ever have to transition from football.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
And you know what that does. That frees them up
just to go play.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But coach, I thought, I thought that that if you're
focusing or you're paying attention to anything except football, then
you're not focused on the main thing.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Now, football is not the main thing. It's it's it's
it's the type of young men that were developed. It's
the thirty year old version of these men. That's the
main thing.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
What are we doing? How are we serving their heart?
If football is the main thing, you.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Just serving their talent We're here to serve their heart,
not their talent. All right, We're here to We're here
here truly to build transformational leaders through the through the
platform of football. That's that's Football is important, but it's
but it needs to be right here with the risks
above the elbow and six points and five points of
pressure and the offhand with that six point of pressure
right there.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
It's not it's not.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Shouldn't be the foundation, and it is for somebody, for
a lot of people, and that's fine. Everybody has to
do things the way they want to do them.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
I'm not judging. I don't judge anybody.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Yeah, I just focus on what we do and what's
best for Clemson and fulfilling the purpose that I've been
called to live out.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
So as we get to like this era of college football,
there's the transfer portal, which I've noticed the statistics say
that less and less players.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Are graduating now because of the transfer portal.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
And one of the things that you've been criticized about
is not taking enough transfer portal players. And initially I
was in that camp, but then I thought about it.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I would say, hold up, hold up. This feels like.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
A coach who's to use a term that people use
now standing on business, that you hold your coaches to
a higher calling of Listen, you got to get your
recruiting right and you got to develop these players. Is
that what the mentality or the coaching of you know
what you're coaching your coaches or the expectation for your
(25:59):
coaches is.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I mean, I think there's two ways to be successful.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
You can do what everybody else does and just try
to outwork them out smart on this and that, or
you can be unique and different.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
We've been unique and different for sixteen years.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
I mean, just like again, everybody's got a lot of opinions,
but anybody ever talks about facts.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
The facts are now that Nick.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
Saban's gone, We've won more games than sixteen years than
anybody in the country. And I got the most draft picks,
got the most first round picks in the past sixteen years,
never had a number one recruiting class. We're like usually
average about thirteen. But we've beaten Alabama in two out
of three national championships. We've been to seven out of
ten playoffs, we've been to won the league eight out
(26:37):
of the last ten years.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
So why do I want to be like everybody else.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
We got the highest graduation rate in America. We got
the best retention in the country. So why do I
feel this need. I'm not against the portal, but when
you have the highest retention rates in the country, that
means kids in highest graduation rates, kids are staying. So
this is not a release Probram. This is not a
(27:01):
place where we're gonna run guys off. We're at the
bottom in the class of twenty six and offers right now,
fewest offers, but we've offered like sixty one guys and
at the top will be like five hundred and something.
Whoever's first up there, I've got a list of it.
You know, we don't offer many guys. We don't offer
freshmen and sophomores. I won't offer anybody that won't come here.
(27:21):
You know, like we value who we know exactly what
we're looking for. We're unique and we're different in our approach.
But that's not to judge other people. That's what's worked
for us. Who's won more national championships, who's been to
more playoffs, who's won more conference championship, and who's had
more draft picks and first round picks.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Nobody in the past.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
Now the Knick's gone nobody nobody, So who's got graduate who?
We're fulfilling our purpose and we're not worried about what
other people do. We're just trying to be the best
version of Clemson and do what's best for Clemson. And
that's what we've done, and so we're not against the portal.
We've used the portal three out of four years. Nobody
wants to talk about it that we've used it for.
(28:01):
It's a great tool. It's a great tool. If I
left today and took a job somewhere, half the team
would leaves. Yeah, well, you can't go sign forty freshmen.
You got to go build a team. I don't judge anybody.
Everybody's situation is different, but our retention is pretty unique.
And the reason it's so high is our process on
(28:22):
the front end, and so we're getting the best high
school kids that we think.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
So again, if we're if.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Our Alabama, they've been number one about every year in recruiting,
but we beat them in two out of three national championships,
and if it wasn't for an on side kick, would
have beat them three out of three forty five forty
So I mean the last one we won. They had
eighteen first rounders. We had eight and we beat them
forty four to sixteen. You win with people, you win
with synergy close to two plus two weekals ten. So
you got to get the people part right. So portal wise,
(28:49):
you know, we just as long as we're getting the
best high school kids. So like this past year we
signed three, but we didn't have a choice. And everybody
has to use the portal now because if you have
kids even the spring, and that hasn't been the case
for us. Yeah, if you have kids leave in the spring,
who you gonna go get in made? There's no high
school kids yep. But it just hasn't been our situation.
And that's just goes back to our process, our relationship.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
So what what is that process of finding Clemsing men
or they what will be Clemson men.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Yeah, so you've got to be a lot more just
good football players, a lot of good football players. You
got to you know, we're looking for your character, your academics,
We're looking for those intangibles as a guy love football,
you know, and then again we want to force semester transcript.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Can you play a couple of years of varsity football?
Is that too much to ask?
Speaker 4 (29:37):
You know, like the reason you see all these these
you know, some of the schools signing thirty guys a year,
but look how many guys are leaving their program. So
it's it's just kind of catching release or it's just
you know, transactional, and that's not who we are. We're
there's a transaction in today's football, but kids aren't coming
here because of that. They're coming here because they really
(29:58):
align with who we are and they're staying here. You
don't think Peter was and TJ. Parker and Katy you
don't think these guys could go in the portal and
get sure, they could, but they're happy.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
And so you know that's.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
What people You don't hear anything bad about Clemson from
inside Clemson. It's always from people on the outside of
our program. They don't know me, they don't know our program.
So you know, again, we've won the most games, got
the most national championships, most conference championships, most draft picks,
most first round picks, highest graduation rate. So I think
(30:31):
our process.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Is fulfilling our purpose.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
If it's not fulfilling somebody else's purpose, well I'm not
trying to fulfill somebody else's purpose.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
You've had a lot of continuity of coaches as well.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And I remember when I went to Oregon it was
kind of like.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
That with Mike Bellotti until Mark Helfrid was fired. Then
everybody like you had Don Pelham who was on the
staff for a long time, Coach Campbell, all of these coaches.
How is it important for you know, a guy like
Woody who you was your wide receiver coach and has
now been with you this entire time.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
It's nineteen ninety, uh, you know, and then ironically he
came from Clemson to be my receiver coach at Alabama
and you know, he's he's been one of the top
two or three mentors in my life.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I mean, he's like a father to me.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
He's been with me from you know, day one that
I got this job, and uh, you know, just just
one of the great blessings. You know, God puts people
in our lives along the way that that are, you know,
just rocks in your life, and that's who he's been.
So it's been awesome, I mean, to do life with
coach mccorby has been you know.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Just amazing.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
To meet him when I was twenty, you know as
a young red shirt sophomore at Alabama, and and you know,
I don't get a scholarship if it's not for him.
He believed in me as a young at a young
age and mentored me and had a great experience playing
for him, and then and then I was a GA
for him, and then when he became the offensive coordinator.
(32:02):
You know, I'm twenty six years old coaching receivers and
tight ends at Alabama's.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Youngest assistant in the SEC.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
I mean, twenty six And that doesn't happen if it's
not for coach mccorby and coach Stallings, who really believed
in me and gave me that opportunity. So you know,
I had no idea what was down the road, but
man to going on my seventeenth year as the head
coach here and for Woody to be right by my side.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
It's been It's been awesome to do life with him.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
You mentioned Jene Stallings, and that reminds me of a
story that I heard about you, is that when you
were playing at Alabama that he was calling for more
physicality in practice. And there is a famous crackback blocking
by by mister Devils.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Can you tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Yeah, we were just scrimmaging, and you know, I mean
the game was different then.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Yeah, I mean that.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
Was like if you didn't do that in those days,
you know, you were going to the you're getting to
you're going to the bench, and uh you know, and
as a receiver, you you sought those type of opportunities out,
you know, but they've taken blind side blocks and back backs.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
That's all out of the game now. But in those days,
that was just it was just part of it. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Yeah, we were having a scrimmage my sophomore year, actually
it was my junior year ninety one, and just we
ran a reverse with Kevin Lee.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Uh and so I was the X and he was
the Z.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
And we ran a reverse and so you know, everything
was flowing and and uh man, we had a safety
and I mean, I'm coming full speed and I got
I got a beat on him, and I mean as
soon as he recognized this reverse and he starts, and
I mean, just it was it was it was a
pretty explosive hit. And you know, of course, you know
back in those days, that's where again everybody went crazy
(33:46):
and it was this and that was a part of
the game and so yeah, that was. It was like
the headline of the news the next day, so it
was it was a physical scrimmage.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, that reminds me of a play that when I
was in college, when I was at Oregon, Wesley Mallard
hit Michael Jolivette when we were playing again. We were
playing in onto the Stadium against Arizona Punk return and
Keenan out of Keeny Howery starts one way, breaks back
the other way, going towards the right. I'm standing on
the sideline at about the fifty yard line and Wesley
(34:20):
hit some helmet pops off areas, probably the hardest hit
I've ever seen in my whole life.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
And I was like, oh, he'd be throwing to jail
right now.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Oh yeah is that where? Yeah you'd be gone? Yeah,
yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
And in college football now right.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Like you talk about education and graduating players, one of
the things that I found problems with and other coaches
have as well, is the calendar is that the transfer
portal opens up in December, but then if you play
for a national championship this year, you didn't finish until
January twentieth, so classes are already started again. What's the
(34:59):
fix to it, like, should the season in January first?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Should what's your idea on that?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Yeah, I mean I think we definitely need to compress
the calendar a little bit. I mean, there's a lot
of a lot of things. That's a that's a deep conversation.
Having lived it for a long time and having been
in seven playoffs, six final fours, yeah, and four national championships,
it's a long time to play, and it's a lot
of games, and so you know, to play a potential
(35:25):
of seventeen games. It's a lot in college football because
it is scholastic and what you mentioned earlier graduation rates
with the portal because what's happening is as these kids transferred,
that doesn't mean your hours don't all of a sudden transfer.
So you might be twenty hours away from graduating when
you transfer and you go somewhere else and now you're
forty five hours.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
You know.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
So there's a lot of things to consider there. I think,
first of all, you know, I'm all for the kids
being able to go.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Great.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We need a new government structure, number one.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Yes, it's you know, one of the reasons that we
have such a chaotic time a mess right now is
you know, forever and ever and ever, we've tried to
make it all.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
The same and it's just not the same, you know.
I mean at Clemson as it is.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Some of these a small group of five or even
a one double a because division one is division one
and it's not and it's not the same sport to
sport either. And I think we're finally at a place
where people have realized that. And I think we're going
to get a new government structure which can bring more autonomy,
which which then you have like minded problems and people
(36:35):
that can solve the problems that are relevant to them in.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Their world, because we do need that.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
So I think that's part of it. And then I
think the next thing is we need to we need
to look at the calendar. There's some adjustments that we
need to make there. But you know, you know, having
done it many times to ask these kids to start
earlier and to play later and to practice more, play
more games, it's a lot. And so man, it's lad
that they're having opportunities with the rev share and all
(37:03):
of that stuff is great.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
We just have to have some structure and that's.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Coming, like we're about to enter in I think one
of the best errors ever in college football. You know,
because there is going to be some order, there is
a cap, there is it's got to make sense. I
think that all that's going to be good. I think
the kids should be able to leave. But we don't
need free agency right in the middle of the season.
Nobody does that like it makes zero sense at all,
(37:27):
and it puts the kids in a bad situation.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
I think we need five years for five years. Number one. Okay,
we got all these waivers, we got all this stuff.
I just think you should be able to play five years.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Play five years that way, because when they put in
the play four year, four games and you can keep it, well,
the unintended consequence of that is now, all of a sudden,
here comes the portal.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Here's in il Well.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Now kids are playing four games and they're saying, hey,
I'm out.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
You know, I don't want to lose my eligibility.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
I'm going well, a lot of these kids would play
if they're if it's five for five, and you know,
if you played four games, you played seven, you played
them all.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
It doesn't matter five years.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
And especially with the financial opportunity now, a lot of
these kids that are in a hurry to go pro
would stay in college and they would graduate.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
So now we've been centivized education.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
We've been centivized graduation because why you make more money
in college than going to be in a fifth or
sixth rounder in the pros, and and and it's more guaranteed,
and you're fin you're developing, you're playing, you're getting your degrees,
all those things. I think that's a part of it.
But we need one portal window. I don't care where
it is. There's a lot of debate.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
Is it January, is it February, is it March? Whatever?
All right?
Speaker 4 (38:36):
I mean personally, I think, you know, we should give
these kids the opportunity. Like every if you look at
the final four the past few everybody's had kids opt
out because they feel this pressure.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
And you shouldn't.
Speaker 4 (38:52):
Yeah, you feel this pressure because kids are like, oh,
I got to get there in January. So I think
one fix for that is we need to change how
spring practice is done.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Spring practice is important, though all this chatter and chit chat.
Speaker 4 (39:05):
These guys have played all these yeah, some guys have,
but most of these kids have it.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
In college is developmental, Like if you get to the pros. Yeah,
you can have a bunch of OTA's and it's that.
But y'all got four preseason games to figure it out
to go play some football.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
We don't get that in college.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
When we play, we play LSU, and so we don't
we don't get preseason games.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
We don't get jamborees, we don't get.
Speaker 4 (39:28):
It's the only level of football that you know, we
don't get a practice against anybody else.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
We only have each other to compete against each other.
Speaker 4 (39:35):
And so college, I like, when we get kids at Clemson,
it's the first time in their life that they've had
a peer. Like my left tackle Brandon Jacob's son, Braden
Jacobs just got here, who's six seven three and thirty pounds.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Let me just tell you something.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
He's never had a peer at practice or on Friday
night maybe every blue moon, he might play against somebody.
So now he's got Peter Woods and teach every day TJ. Parker,
and he's got dudes every day, and so he needs
to develop. He needs to learn how his stance and
fund how do you pull on a counter? How do
we do those things? At this level at the pros,
(40:10):
it's not developmental. If you don't know how to win
on a slant versus inside leverage. At the next level,
they just bring somebody.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
In who can.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
If you don't know how to pull on the counter
that you don't know how to spill a guy, they
bring somebody in who can.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
You're a pro.
Speaker 4 (40:24):
And these kids have spent their career playing college ball
at a high level. All right, So the kids, we
get what what received? What corner has walked up on
westco TJ. Moore and like me and you all night
on Friday night.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Never all right?
Speaker 4 (40:40):
So now he's got Abon Terrell, he's got Ashton Hampton,
He's got he's got. So college has to be developmental.
So my point in that is, I think we need
to look at spring practice. We just need to say,
you know what, everybody gets twenty days. Everybody's calendar is different.
Some re quarters, some are semesters. Some people start earlier
in January, some people start later in January. Some people
(41:00):
are out early May, some people are out mid May. Whatever,
why don't we just some people don't sign a lot
of portal guys.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
Some people sign all portal guys.
Speaker 4 (41:09):
And the portal problem is okay, well, they want them
there for spring ball kids want to get there, So
why don't we just say, you know what, you get
twenty days from March one or whatever, late February through June.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
Do it however you want.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
So that way, if you want to sign a bunch
of portal guys, if we're going to make the window
in April or whatever, then you get a bunch of
kids in May. Well, those kids have an op they
can they'll stay in school, they can continue their academic course,
they can make a good decision, and then they can
they can get there and they can have spring practice
in May and June to get acclimated, to get ready.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
And so I think, you know you can.
Speaker 4 (41:45):
There's a lot of things we can do to fix it,
but we definitely need one portal window for sure, and
we need to create an opportunity for these kids to
be able to finish. Now, you got some coaches out there,
they're like, well, I don't want these guys around for
a semester.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
I don't think that's the right mentality. But to each
his own, you know.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
That's why I was like, why don't we make it
end of January first of February, And so what if
we got some guys that are going for at least
they can finish school, yep, and we know what our
roster is in the off season, in the spring practice,
and then we can address that, you know, with kids
in May, and then we can do our spring practice. Hey,
I'm gonna save these practices in May, these practice in Junie.
We can get on the field with these kids.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
So it feels like there's been a return to, like
players talking about their face right and being more open
about it. You saw this year with Ohio State with
some of their players and some of the fans were like,
stop talking about God, like focus on football. And I
believe that those things are interconnected like that you talked about.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Why do you think that?
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Is it just a feeling that it is a more
return to people being more vocal about whatever their faith is,
or do you believe that that it's.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Been going on the exact same the whole time.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
I mean, I think it's a fate's a personal decision.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
I think it's always been a part of certainly always
been a part of my life and what I've done,
And I mean probably for most I just think you
probably have seen people be more vocal about it. You know,
we live in a world now that where there's constant
you know, and kids see things or whatever, and so
I mean, I love it though, I mean it's great.
(43:21):
I mean, but for me, I mean, it's always been
a part of what we do. I've never shot away
from that. Again, I've always said, it's not my job
to save people, you know, my job is to win
football games.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
I get that.
Speaker 4 (43:33):
But I do think it's my responsibility as a Christian
and as a person of fate to live my life
in a way and hopefully be a great example and
be a light, you know. And that's that's really what
I try to do. And I know I get judged
by that by other people, but you know, that's just
part of it comes with it.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Thirteen out of the last fourteen years, Clemson has won
at least ten football games. A lot of twelve win
football games along the way, which is very difficult to
do because in the era of the college football playoff
eleven years, there's only been six teams to win at
least six games every single year, and Clemson is one
(44:15):
of them. Why do you schedule the way that you
do when other people are trying to get as many
easy games as possible this year. You start out with LSU,
you could put anybody else on the schedule and then
still have your South Carolina game. Why are you doing
that when other people are shying away from that.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Yeah, that's that's how we built the program. That's what
I've done from day one. When I got this job, again,
we had won ten games in twenty years. We hadn't
won the ACC in twenty years. Much let's think about
a national championship. And I met with the ad and
I'm like, look, here's what I think we need to do.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
The only way.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
I mean, I spent thirteen years at Alabama, so you know,
that was my background. I've only been at two schools,
and so that was my background of you know, how
do you how do you you need? We need to
compete and I need to teach these guys. And the
only way I'm going to teach these guys and prepare
these guys is, man, we got to go play people.
And yeah, you know, and I've had a lot of
(45:10):
conversations about that over the years. Yeah, I mean, like,
you know, you played George last year six nothing at
the half of the battle, didn't have a great third quarter.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
Those games are hard. They're great when you win, but
they're hard.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
But I just believe in totality, you know, for what's
right for the long term of your program and teaching. Guys,
we only play this game six percent of the time.
The other ninety four percent, you're preparing, you're practicing your training,
you're lifting weights, you're doing football life with each other.
And that's what I've always believed is an advantage for us.
(45:43):
Here is who we practice against every day, iron sharpened
and iron like. It's prepared us for those moments. But
there's nothing that prepares you more than from feeling it,
breathing the air, you know, seeing it. And so I've
just always believed that we got to play ten. Let's
play ten power five opponents. And that's been my philosophy
(46:06):
from day one. Let's play ten all ends, all right,
and then let's play one group of five. And you know,
like we we scheduled at last year, I'm like, why
are we scheduled? And this year I got Troy, I'm like,
why are we can we not find somebody in Troy
is like the two of the best group of fives.
Speaker 3 (46:20):
But but we we played.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Ten all ends a group of five and then I've
always believed in playing one FCS school in our state.
It's great for the state, it's great for everybody. So
that's been our philosophy from day one, and that's how
we've built our program. And if you look at the
trajectory of our Clemson again, we've nobody's won more games.
I mean, Alabama has won more games in the past
(46:43):
sixteen years, but Nick's gone.
Speaker 3 (46:45):
So let's just let's just start it right there.
Speaker 4 (46:48):
Clemson most wins, most championships, and I think a big
part of that is who you practice against every day,
how you practice, how you meet, how you recruit, how
you Again, we averaged thirteen point six in my recruiting classes,
all right, but we got the most draft picks, most
first round picks. So we've evaluated well, we've developed well,
(47:10):
we've retained well, and we've played the best of the
best in the playoff air. I mean, we've beaten Auburn
four in a row. We've beaten Texas A and M
two in a row. We've beaten Oklahoma two in a row.
We were three and one against Ohio State since I've
been the head coach, was four and two against Notre
Dame and Notre Dame prints their own money, makes their
own rules, got their own world right, and one of
those losses was double overtime at their place without Trevor Lawrence.
(47:32):
All Right, we've beaten Alabama. We're two and one in
national championships against Alabama. You know, we've played all these people.
We've beaten Georgia, We've beaten LSU. We've lost to them too.
We've I don't know, we've won eight out of the
last ten against South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
We have.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
We've played a lot of people, and I think that's healthy.
Obviously we've played in the championship games. But we just
set a record this year. We actually broke wrong record
fourteen consecutive years with a postseason win. That's never been
done in college football history. Nobody's even close. The next
closest team is I think they got six postseason wins.
(48:12):
We've had fourteen consecutive years where they postseason win and
with our trajectory, that means you're in championship games, you're
in playoffs, big bowl games. I mean, we've played a
lot of people. That's incredible. And you mentioned the ten
with fourteen straight years, we've had nine plus wins and
everybody goes, oh, nine plus wins, Well, that's happened four
times in one hundred and sixty years of football. Nebraska
(48:34):
with coach Osbond in the eighties, Alabama with Nick Saban,
Florida State with coach Bowden in the late eighties and nineties,
and now Clemson nine plus wins fourteen years. The consistency
is our calling card at Clemson. We're not perfect, we
don't do everything right, we don't make all the right decisions,
but we're consistent and that's what drives everything in this program.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
And I was going to ask you why Clemson, but
you answered that question right there, you guys. He is
the head coach of the Clemson Tigers. Mister Dabo Sweeney,
thank you so much for joining the show.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
I appreciate it.
I got a chance to interview the head coach of
the Clemson Tigers, mister Dabo Sweeney. Now, the cool part
about this interview is that Dabbo doesn't do a lot
of interviews, and so I asked him why did he
choose to come on the On Fraid Show And he
was like, well, a lot of people ask me about football,
a lot of people asked me about faith, but never
(00:21):
really both in the same interview. And you know, here
we are faith, family, fatherhood, food and sports. So it
was really interesting to see the dynamic in the locker room,
the dynamic with the players, the dynamic with everybody on staff.
They are all bought into Dabo's vision, and just the
fact that he has so many former players on staff.
Speaker 2 (00:44):
And I just loved it.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
And the coolest part about it is their Paul Journey
pa W Journey and it's their program that they turn
young men or boys who come into their program.
Speaker 2 (00:59):
And put out men at the end. And the fact
that they don't.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
Push a lot of players to the well, sorry excuse me,
that they don't push players to the portal, and that
they are all about development makes them a very unique program.
And I did come in with some preconceived notions about
Dabbo Sweeney, but I left a full believer in what
he's doing, so much so that I would send my
son to go play for this man. I hopefully you
(01:26):
guys enjoyed this interview. Hopefully you love it and make
sure that you guys like to subscribe, Tell a friend
about the Unafraid Show and up share.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
I mean, I think there's two ways to be successful.
Speaker 4 (01:42):
You can do what everybody else does and just try
to outwork them, out smart on this and that.
Speaker 3 (01:45):
Or you can be unique and different.
Speaker 4 (01:46):
We've been unique and different for sixteen years. People see
this version of me. I've never forgotten where I've come from.
I know who I am, and I always said if
I got a chance to be a head coach, I
wanted to do it in a different way, and that's
what we've been able to do here. I was really
to be successful. I never chased money. I just chased
my happiness and my passion. You don't hear anything bad
about Clemson from inside Clemson. It's always from people on
(02:10):
the outside of our program that don't know me.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
They don't know our program.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
We've won the most games, got the most national championships,
most conference championships, most draft picks, most first round picks,
highest graduation rate.
Speaker 3 (02:20):
I think our process is fulfilling our purpose.
Speaker 4 (02:23):
If it's not fulfilling somebody else's purpose, well I'm not
trying to fulfill somebody else's purpose. Fourteen consecutive years with
a postseason win, that's never been done in college football history.
But we've beaten Alabama and two out of three national championships.
We've been to seven out of ten playoffs, we've been
to won the league.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Eight out of the last ten years. So why do
I want to be like everybody else?
Speaker 1 (02:45):
And now we are on with the head coach of
the Clemson Tigers, mister Davos Sweeney, a man who has
won nine ACC championships, who national championships.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Thank you, good to be on with it.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
That's not too bad for a D plus higher.
Speaker 3 (03:02):
Right, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
That's a good thing that the plus was across.
Speaker 3 (03:05):
Right, that's exactly you've done your homework.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
So in this era of college football, right, you have
so many people who are concerned about wins and losses,
and I think that you get lost, like the just
being proud of putting a good product on the field
and being.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Proud of what it is.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
So how are you dealing with that in terms of
the noise on the outside of Oh, how come we
haven't won another national championship yet when you're graduating ninety
eight percent of your players you are, you know, the
highest retention in college football.
Speaker 4 (03:40):
Well, I don't listen to it. So it's really that simple.
I think we all have a choice every day.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
You know.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
First of all, you know, the attitude we think that
we choose to have that kind of drives your habits.
And we also have a choice on what we let in.
We always tell our players all the time, you know,
ships don't sink because of the water around them. They
sink because the water gets in them. And you know,
that's kind of how it is in life, you know.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
And we live in a world now where.
Speaker 4 (04:06):
There's a lot of noise and you have a decision
every day on what you're going to listen to. And unfortunately,
a lot of times we wake up the first thing
we do is we start taking buckets of water and
just throwing it in our ship. With those phones and
with other people's opinions and other people's thoughts and and
and things like that, and then we wonder why we're
dragging through life. So I don't really I just I
(04:29):
block all that out. But how I deal with it
is perspective, you know. I think that's very important. And
you know, I stay focused on the main thing, you know,
and that's that's my fate, number one. But the purpose,
my purpose as a man, and then the purpose of
this program. And yeah, I mean it's a it's an
interesting thing, you know, to kind of you know, kind
(04:51):
of be on the inside and kind of you know,
see you know some of the narratives that people put
out there. But in the reaction is we've won three
national championships in one hundred and thirty years. So if
winning a national championship is simple, and I.
Speaker 3 (05:08):
Mean, who else has done that exactly?
Speaker 4 (05:11):
But we've been We've been to the playoffs seven times
in ten years. You know, we're the only team to
go to six final fours. We've won our lead eight
out of the last ten years. So we didn't go
to the playoff ten out of ten years. But nobody
else has been seven out of ten years. I think
maybe Alabama. Nobody's won eight out.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
Of ten years. In their league championship. I think the
last five years we're fifth in the country and wins.
But we are fulfilling the purpose that we talk about here.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
So when I got the job here sixteen years ago,
you know, first staff meeting, what's that going to be like?
It's a big meeting. It's your first staff meeting, a
group of people. Okay, what's what we're gonna be about?
And you know, literally sixteen and a half years ago,
walk in that meeting room and and my message was simple,
as long as I'm the head coach, this is what
(05:57):
this program's gonna be about. But then I also told them,
and we're gonna graduate our players, We're gonna equip them
as men. We're gonna we've now created this Paul Journey
in our program. It's a curriculum. It's it's we've been
doing this for a long time. It's we're gonna make
sure they have a great experience. And I want everybody
to win a championship. And as long as I'm the
(06:18):
head coach, it's what we're gonna be about. Everything we're
gonna do is and we'll be about that. But we're
never gonna put winning ahead of those other things. So
if that's your purpose, and you say your purpose driven,
and you've got sixteen years, shouldn't the results reflect that.
Speaker 3 (06:32):
Yes, Well, we.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Just posted the highest graduation success rate posted in twenty
years of college football.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
We've got ninety eight percent graduation rate.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
I mean three hundred and ninety something seniors, three hundred
and eighty nine graduates, you know. So, so we're fulfilling
the graduate Thirteen out of the last fourteen years, we've
been top ten academically, Clinton Duke in Northwestern and I
don't think they've won national championships or conference championships. And
then you sit there and you say, Okay, you know graduation,
(07:06):
that's the number one thing in your program. Well, we're
the only team in America one hundred and thirty five
schools fourteen years in a row, top twenty five in
football and academics. So we've kept the main thing the
main thing, and then equipping them as men. Paul Journey's
a curriculum. You'll see that college experience. We're topping the
country in retention the past two years in this crazy
free free agency world, topping the country and retention. So
(07:29):
that means they're having an experience and then oh, by
the way, winning a championship when I got the job,
all right, Clemson hadn't won the ACC in twenty years,
and that was an eight to ten team league. It's
a seventeen team league. Now we've won it eight out
of ten years. We've won it nine times. We're nine
and won the championship game we had. Clempton hadn't won
ten games in twenty years. We've won ten games thirteen
(07:51):
out of the last fourteen years. But we've done it
by being purpose driven.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
So can you talk about you obviously set the purpose
for the but how do you help the young men
set their own purpose for their life to create not
just great football players, but great husbands, great fathers, great sons,
and everything else that they'll be in their life.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
That's what we do best, and that is a part
of the purpose.
Speaker 4 (08:14):
That is equipping them as men and not just being
a guy that can run around, throw a ball, sack
a quarterback. You know, teach them the proper place for football.
We teach them that football can't be the foundation of
your life. You know, we're faith based here. We talk
about that there's opportunity for them to grow, but we
truly through Paul Journey, our Paul Journey program. It is
(08:37):
a curriculum. It's what we do for freshmen, sophomores, juniors, seniors.
This is how we teach them, you know, how to
be great men, how to be great husbands. It's financial literacy,
it's tax education, it's micro internships across the world. It's
service abroad trips to Cape Town, South Africa, to Thailand,
to Costa Rica. They're going to Positano, Italy in May.
(08:58):
It's BusinessWeek, been in La the past couple of years.
They're going to Vegas next week.
Speaker 3 (09:04):
You know. We we invest in them holistically. So that's
it's how we meet. It's it's how we meet. There's
there's not a meeting.
Speaker 4 (09:12):
There's not a meeting that we have ever where we're
not sowing in the seeds of competitive greatness to life,
not just football. So it's just a holistic approach. It's
what we do daily, every single day. And we try
to transform them through their Paul Journey because they all
come into a certain spot and it's our job to
figure out where they are, meet them where they are,
(09:33):
and then and then transform their lives. So we we
like to say We're a leadership development organization.
Speaker 3 (09:42):
We just happen to play football doing it. That's that's
what we do best.
Speaker 1 (09:45):
So when you're when they're on that Paul journey and
you're looking at what they're going to be out out
in life, I look at your journey right. And it's
funny because I think that you can understand people once
you understand their backstory in life. You were a kid
who was dirt poor, Ye, parents divorced, all that. So
(10:05):
how did all of those things shape your life to
be the man of purpose that you are now?
Speaker 4 (10:10):
Yeah, We're all shaped by our circumstances, by the things
we experienced, people in our life, mentors, all those things.
And I'm no different. But you know my I did.
I just thought my life was normal until I knew
it wasn't normal. But my family was simple. My mom
and dad married at eighteen. My mom was pregnant with
my oldest brother. Mom cut hair, Dad was an appliance man.
Speaker 3 (10:32):
Picks Washington drivers.
Speaker 4 (10:33):
That's what I grew up doing, you know, addiction in
the home, divorce, you know, on the move, just staying here,
staying there. But I had great coaches, I had great
mentors in my life. You know, I was involved in
a lot of things, you know, and you know, played
three sports and did a lot of things that kind
(10:53):
of kept me focused. But the main thing that happened
to me is I got saved when I was sixteen,
and that that created a found to life for me.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
You know, so many people they.
Speaker 4 (11:05):
Don't have a foundation to life, and I got a
foundation to life when I was sixteen, and I've been
building on it ever since. And whether and as storms
have come, as they come for all of us, you know,
that foundation has allowed me to stay anchored. And storms
are not always bad things too. Storms are good stuff too.
(11:26):
There's a lot of times sometimes the storms, the worst
storms are the good stuff that happens.
Speaker 3 (11:30):
In your life.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
You can get really off course and distracted by that.
That's been my journey and that shaped me, that equip
me when I now, when I look back, people see
this version of me.
Speaker 3 (11:41):
But I've never forgotten where I've come from.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
I know who I am, I know who the people
who've helped me get where I am.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
Most importantly, I know my savior.
Speaker 4 (11:52):
And I look back and a lot of people say
we serve a god you can't see, but I see
him when I look back, and I'm just thankful that,
you know, I've been able to have peace and whatever
I've dealt with in life, and that served me as
I've gone. But as I look back, the things that
I hated most in life, the things that were the liabilities,
(12:14):
things that I was embarrassed by.
Speaker 3 (12:17):
What are my greatest assets?
Speaker 2 (12:18):
What are some of those things that you were mean?
Speaker 4 (12:21):
You know, you know, when you're a kid and your
father shows up and you know, everybody knows he's an alcoholic,
and or they nobody's there to see you score twenty
four points in a game or score a touchdown, nobody's there,
or you know, you have you're living with a friend
sleeping on the floor and your girlfriend's got to come
decorate his door because that's where.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
You don't have a home, or you don't have a car.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
You know, So those are things that as when you're
going through those things as a kid, you know, you
can you can be hardened by those things, you can
be embarrassed by those things, you know, whatever, But those
those are my greatest assets today because it gave me perspective,
and that's it goes back to your original question, you know,
(13:07):
on how I deal with all everything, whether it's good bad.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
Yeah, it's perspective. It's keeping perspective.
Speaker 4 (13:14):
And the way I keep perspective is keeping my eyes
on the Good Lord in the good and the bad.
Speaker 1 (13:19):
So you've been married for over thirty years now, going
on thirty one. Yeah, first of all, congratulates it. In
this business of college football, how do you stay married
for this long and and how has your wife been
a part of the program.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Yeah, well, I think it's got to be. It's got
to you got to be team. It's got to be
a partnership, and you gotta you gotta you know, I don't.
I don't think it should be work and home. I
think you you've got to involve your family and everything
that you do. And that's been the best part about
being the head coach, honestly, is I've been able to
create what I always envisioned it should be. And I've
(13:54):
been able to do that for my staff too. But
you know, kath and I we met in the first
grade and we started going together other than the sixth grade,
and then.
Speaker 3 (14:01):
We started dating in high school when I.
Speaker 4 (14:03):
Could drive, so I'd drive her car, and then were
you know, all through college and been married going on
thirty one years.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
So you know, we just have been together.
Speaker 4 (14:12):
We're a team, and I think you've got to have
everybody on the same page in this profession.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And so she was with me my whole life.
Speaker 4 (14:21):
She comes from a different Everybody in her family's you know, PhDs, masters,
their teachers.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
Cath was a teacher, or dad as a professor.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
And you know, that's why I always knew she was
the right one, because she never judged me or or
you know, she saw the potential in me. I'm the
first college graduate in my family. Nobody in my family
had a college degree, parents, grandparents, great great grandparents, and
so that was a game changer for me, which is
why I'm passionate about education. I went to Alabama when
I was eighteen. I left when I was thirty one,
(14:49):
and so who does that. So I saw a lot
of guys that I played with, and I was still
there when I was twenty eight, and now all of
a sudden, you know, I saw the game use a
lot of guys they didn't have to. And I always said,
if I got a chance to be a head coach,
and I really wanted to, I wanted to do it
in a different way, and that's what we've been able
to do here and that's why our purpose is what
(15:10):
it is. But you have to have someone in life
to do life with, and you know, Cas been that
person for me.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
And so she's been there from.
Speaker 4 (15:20):
When I was a ga, you know and getting my
MBA and never at home for two and a half
years because I was either you know, at the office
or in a classroom or whatever. To you know, watch
just this journey that we've been on. Coached eight years
at Alabama, head coach gets fired. Now I'm out of
coaching for eighteen months. And then you know, when Clemson
(15:41):
called and said, hey, you're interested in getting back and coaching,
she was like she knew my heart and she said,
let's go.
Speaker 3 (15:48):
Never lived any lived anywhere else at Alabama.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
So here we came in February three thinking well I
would be here for a year or two and now
I'm on my twenty third season.
Speaker 3 (15:59):
But it was God's plan.
Speaker 1 (16:00):
So that how much well, because I because I know
that as a man, one of the greatest things that
that gives me pride and joys to be able to
take care of my my family, provide for my family.
How does that make you feel that cath believed in you.
Her family, I don't know whether they supported it or
didn't at the time, but you made good on on.
Speaker 2 (16:22):
That for for her and for your family.
Speaker 3 (16:24):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (16:24):
Well, our relationship was built on the right stuff, and
I think that's that's, you know, the way it always was.
And then as I went to college, and honestly, we
made I never dreamed of coaching.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
I didn't have any desire to coach.
Speaker 4 (16:37):
I wanted to go make money, you know, and I'm
gonna I had all these great plans and because I'd
never made any money, and I had all these great plans.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
And her dad was so helpful to me.
Speaker 4 (16:47):
And you know, when we first got married, he would
send us a check every month so that I could
pay for my mom's rent because my mom lived with me, yeah,
with me for three years of college. And then then
we got married at two, and you know, he helped me.
He'd give me a check every month to help me
pay for my mom's rent. And so I was really
(17:08):
driven to be successful. And when I say be successful,
it's it's to be able to provide for my family,
to be able to have a good job, to be
able to have a great relationship, you know, with the Lord,
and to be a good father, to be a good husband,
and to whatever platform God was going to give me,
(17:28):
to use it to goify him. And so, you know,
all of a sudden, next thing, I know, coach McCorvey,
coach Stars, you know, asked me if I want to
be a GA, and I'm like, well, so I'll get
my NBA yeah, because I wanted to go run a hospital.
I've got my degree in hospital administration and that was
my plan. And so a week into coaching, it was
like clarity of life, all of a sudden.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
I still love to play, I still love to compete.
I love the game.
Speaker 4 (17:53):
The first time I had never been a part of team,
we won the national championship my senior year and that
spring I'm like, man, next thing, I know, I'm coaching,
And so it was awesome.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
But the other thing that.
Speaker 4 (18:04):
And I tell people all the time, especially young coaches today,
getting into coaching, because coaching wasn't that way in nineteen
ninety three the way it is now. In nineteen ninety three,
you know, you had nine full time coaches and two
gas and.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Nobody made any money.
Speaker 4 (18:17):
The head coach made a little money, but you But
we made a conscious decision, Kathy and I. She was
going to teach school. She was a teacher, and I'm
on coach football. And we knew we would make a
good living, but we were never gonna you know, but
we were so at peace with doing what we love
to do. And I felt like it was what God
called me to do. I really felt that, and I
(18:38):
had that clarity. So I didn't get into coaching to
make money. I got into coaching because it's what I
love to do and I felt like I could impact
people's lives and that was the best way to do it,
and I wanted to be a part of team.
Speaker 3 (18:50):
Everything great in my life had come through team. Never.
Speaker 4 (18:53):
In fact, I took a big pay cut to come
to Clemson from the job I had in the business world,
and so I just I never chased money. I just chased,
you know, my happiness and my passion. And you know,
this just God's.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Favor that we are where we are now.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Say, I'm glad you brought that up, because that's something
I think that people get confused about at times, right,
because you're one of the highest paid head coaches in
college football, and people and you know, people have their
opinions about oh, well, he say he doesn't do it
for the money, but he's one of the highest paid coaches.
But when you talk about your purpose, like, that's the
(19:32):
thing that clicks for me. But then there was some
comments that you made a few years ago about you know,
if players, if they get get paid, I'll go do
something else. And in understanding your backstory, I feel like
I have a better understanding of what you meant by that.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
But can you.
Speaker 4 (19:50):
Elaborate What I said was they if they professionalize college athletics, yeah,
it doesn't become scholastic anymore. Okay, that's because I'm passionate
about education. That's what I said. People have taken and
they right. Ever, I have no problem with these guys.
You know, they're basically their their rev share, the scholarship
being enhanced, all those things, and it's never made sense
(20:10):
to me that a kid can't go to his own
camp or stuff like that.
Speaker 3 (20:13):
I worked all through college.
Speaker 4 (20:15):
I mean, I've cleaning gunters, cutting grass. I mean, you know,
I probably wasn't supposed to, but I wouldn't have made
it impiring. There was never a time that I wasn't
working but what I know is we have a responsibility
to educate our young people. Ninety eight percent of college
players do not play in the NFL. Football is not
a game of longevity, all right, and we have to
(20:37):
emphasize and incentivize education.
Speaker 3 (20:40):
People make up their own stuff.
Speaker 4 (20:42):
And you know it's say whatever they want. But these
are people that don't know me, They don't know our program.
All you got, dudes, look at our program. Judge me
by my fruit, you know, Judge me by the fruit
of this program and the kids that have come through
here and the graduates and the live that have been changed.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
So we've lived out our purpose.
Speaker 4 (21:04):
My main thing about college football is, you know, we
have to keep it scholastic.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
We have to. We have to keep it scholastic, and
we have to help these kids.
Speaker 4 (21:14):
You know, seventy eight percent, almost seventy eight percent of
NFL players within two years of being out a league
or bankrupt. Yep, you know that bankrupt and most of
them right. So I've never wanted my guys to be
a statistic like that. You think we're gonna get those
are mid twenties to thirty year olds. You think we're
going to get a different result with an eighteen nineteen
(21:34):
twenty year old. Now it's gonna be worse, especially if
we don't have the right structure that emphasizes education.
Speaker 3 (21:44):
And we have to graduate these players.
Speaker 4 (21:46):
And if we do it right, it's the greatest time
in the history of football to go to college because
we have a chance to educate and equip these young people,
teach them financial literacy, tax education. They don't have to
wait until they get to the Pros to know with
a W two or ten ninety nine or anything kindie
is we can truly equip them, so, you know, and
then also when they come out of college. You know
(22:08):
a lot of these kids in the past that might
leave early, they'll stay now and they'll graduate. And then
if and then and then when they come out of college,
if we do it right, they whether they make the
Pros or not, they've got a great foundation financially for
life to set them up on a great head.
Speaker 3 (22:23):
Start for life.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
No matter how much money you make in college, it's
not it's not going to last forever. And so there's
this perception out there and so we have to we
just have to. We just have to do it in
a scholastic way and not get away from that. And
that's what I've always believed. And the reason I believe
that is because I know that if, if, if, if
these young people get their degree, then they have it's
(22:47):
not and you don't have to have a degree to
be successful in life. There's a lot of things. There's
there's there's trades, there's a lot of things that you
can do to be very successful. But the statistics and
the odds and the data says that you have a
better opportunity and that you will make more money in
the course of your life if you do have an education.
I think that's important. I mean, like, I love Deon Sanders.
He's one of my heroes growing up. You know, what
(23:10):
a shame if he couldn't go do that job. He
couldn't be the head coach he didn't have his degree.
Speaker 2 (23:15):
Rights yep.
Speaker 4 (23:16):
And he's not coaching for money. He's coaching because he
loves to teach. He knows and he sees where he
can impact people's lives, especially for you.
Speaker 3 (23:28):
Know, for the kingdom.
Speaker 4 (23:30):
He sees that, he knows that he's called to that,
and man, what a shame if he didn't have that degree.
Wouldn't matter how many Hall of fames he was in.
How many of this stuff he wouldn't be qualified to
go do that? And so I think that's important. And
that's that's what I think sometimes gets lost that you're
playing football at twenty seven, twenty.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Eight year old.
Speaker 1 (23:46):
Yes, yeah, I finished it right before I turned thirty,
and I remember coming out and trying to figure out
what I was going to do. And it's a journey
TI to have that sort of mentorship leadership with you
guys as this platform, I think.
Speaker 4 (24:01):
Is there's a transition. And what we try to teach
in paul journey is we teach these guys to transition
from football before they ever have to transition from football.
Speaker 3 (24:10):
And you know what that does. That frees them up
just to go play.
Speaker 1 (24:14):
But coach, I thought, I thought that that if you're
focusing or you're paying attention to anything except football, then
you're not focused on the main thing.
Speaker 4 (24:22):
Now, football is not the main thing. It's it's it's
it's the type of young men that were developed. It's
the thirty year old version of these men. That's the
main thing.
Speaker 3 (24:31):
What are we doing? How are we serving their heart?
If football is the main thing, you.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
Just serving their talent We're here to serve their heart,
not their talent. All right, We're here to We're here
here truly to build transformational leaders through the through the
platform of football. That's that's Football is important, but it's
but it needs to be right here with the risks
above the elbow and six points and five points of
pressure and the offhand with that six point of pressure
right there.
Speaker 3 (24:55):
It's not it's not.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Shouldn't be the foundation, and it is for somebody, for
a lot of people, and that's fine. Everybody has to
do things the way they want to do them.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
I'm not judging. I don't judge anybody.
Speaker 4 (25:04):
Yeah, I just focus on what we do and what's
best for Clemson and fulfilling the purpose that I've been
called to live out.
Speaker 1 (25:12):
So as we get to like this era of college football,
there's the transfer portal, which I've noticed the statistics say
that less and less players.
Speaker 2 (25:22):
Are graduating now because of the transfer portal.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
And one of the things that you've been criticized about
is not taking enough transfer portal players. And initially I
was in that camp, but then I thought about it.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I would say, hold up, hold up. This feels like.
Speaker 1 (25:38):
A coach who's to use a term that people use
now standing on business, that you hold your coaches to
a higher calling of Listen, you got to get your
recruiting right and you got to develop these players. Is
that what the mentality or the coaching of you know
what you're coaching your coaches or the expectation for your
(25:59):
coaches is.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
I mean, I think there's two ways to be successful.
Speaker 4 (26:01):
You can do what everybody else does and just try
to outwork them out smart on this and that, or
you can be unique and different.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
We've been unique and different for sixteen years.
Speaker 4 (26:09):
I mean, just like again, everybody's got a lot of opinions,
but anybody ever talks about facts.
Speaker 3 (26:15):
The facts are now that Nick.
Speaker 4 (26:16):
Saban's gone, We've won more games than sixteen years than
anybody in the country. And I got the most draft picks,
got the most first round picks in the past sixteen years,
never had a number one recruiting class. We're like usually
average about thirteen. But we've beaten Alabama in two out
of three national championships. We've been to seven out of
ten playoffs, we've been to won the league eight out
(26:37):
of the last ten years.
Speaker 3 (26:38):
So why do I want to be like everybody else.
Speaker 4 (26:40):
We got the highest graduation rate in America. We got
the best retention in the country. So why do I
feel this need. I'm not against the portal, but when
you have the highest retention rates in the country, that
means kids in highest graduation rates, kids are staying. So
this is not a release Probram. This is not a
(27:01):
place where we're gonna run guys off. We're at the
bottom in the class of twenty six and offers right now,
fewest offers, but we've offered like sixty one guys and
at the top will be like five hundred and something.
Whoever's first up there, I've got a list of it.
You know, we don't offer many guys. We don't offer
freshmen and sophomores. I won't offer anybody that won't come here.
(27:21):
You know, like we value who we know exactly what
we're looking for. We're unique and we're different in our approach.
But that's not to judge other people. That's what's worked
for us. Who's won more national championships, who's been to
more playoffs, who's won more conference championship, and who's had
more draft picks and first round picks.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Nobody in the past.
Speaker 4 (27:41):
Now the Knick's gone nobody nobody, So who's got graduate who?
We're fulfilling our purpose and we're not worried about what
other people do. We're just trying to be the best
version of Clemson and do what's best for Clemson. And
that's what we've done, and so we're not against the portal.
We've used the portal three out of four years. Nobody
wants to talk about it that we've used it for.
(28:01):
It's a great tool. It's a great tool. If I
left today and took a job somewhere, half the team
would leaves. Yeah, well, you can't go sign forty freshmen.
You got to go build a team. I don't judge anybody.
Everybody's situation is different, but our retention is pretty unique.
And the reason it's so high is our process on
(28:22):
the front end, and so we're getting the best high
school kids that we think.
Speaker 3 (28:26):
So again, if we're if.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Our Alabama, they've been number one about every year in recruiting,
but we beat them in two out of three national championships,
and if it wasn't for an on side kick, would
have beat them three out of three forty five forty
So I mean the last one we won. They had
eighteen first rounders. We had eight and we beat them
forty four to sixteen. You win with people, you win
with synergy close to two plus two weekals ten. So
you got to get the people part right. So portal wise,
(28:49):
you know, we just as long as we're getting the
best high school kids. So like this past year we
signed three, but we didn't have a choice. And everybody
has to use the portal now because if you have
kids even the spring, and that hasn't been the case
for us. Yeah, if you have kids leave in the spring,
who you gonna go get in made? There's no high
school kids yep. But it just hasn't been our situation.
And that's just goes back to our process, our relationship.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
So what what is that process of finding Clemsing men
or they what will be Clemson men.
Speaker 4 (29:20):
Yeah, so you've got to be a lot more just
good football players, a lot of good football players. You
got to you know, we're looking for your character, your academics,
We're looking for those intangibles as a guy love football,
you know, and then again we want to force semester transcript.
Speaker 3 (29:34):
Can you play a couple of years of varsity football?
Is that too much to ask?
Speaker 4 (29:37):
You know, like the reason you see all these these
you know, some of the schools signing thirty guys a year,
but look how many guys are leaving their program. So
it's it's just kind of catching release or it's just
you know, transactional, and that's not who we are. We're
there's a transaction in today's football, but kids aren't coming
here because of that. They're coming here because they really
(29:58):
align with who we are and they're staying here. You
don't think Peter was and TJ. Parker and Katy you
don't think these guys could go in the portal and
get sure, they could, but they're happy.
Speaker 3 (30:08):
And so you know that's.
Speaker 4 (30:09):
What people You don't hear anything bad about Clemson from
inside Clemson. It's always from people on the outside of
our program. They don't know me, they don't know our program.
So you know, again, we've won the most games, got
the most national championships, most conference championships, most draft picks,
most first round picks, highest graduation rate. So I think
(30:31):
our process.
Speaker 3 (30:33):
Is fulfilling our purpose.
Speaker 4 (30:35):
If it's not fulfilling somebody else's purpose, well I'm not
trying to fulfill somebody else's purpose.
Speaker 1 (30:40):
You've had a lot of continuity of coaches as well.
Speaker 2 (30:44):
And I remember when I went to Oregon it was
kind of like.
Speaker 1 (30:46):
That with Mike Bellotti until Mark Helfrid was fired. Then
everybody like you had Don Pelham who was on the
staff for a long time, Coach Campbell, all of these coaches.
How is it important for you know, a guy like
Woody who you was your wide receiver coach and has
now been with you this entire time.
Speaker 4 (31:07):
It's nineteen ninety, uh, you know, and then ironically he
came from Clemson to be my receiver coach at Alabama
and you know, he's he's been one of the top
two or three mentors in my life.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
I mean, he's like a father to me.
Speaker 4 (31:20):
He's been with me from you know, day one that
I got this job, and uh, you know, just just
one of the great blessings. You know, God puts people
in our lives along the way that that are, you know,
just rocks in your life, and that's who he's been.
So it's been awesome, I mean, to do life with
coach mccorby has been you know.
Speaker 3 (31:40):
Just amazing.
Speaker 4 (31:40):
To meet him when I was twenty, you know as
a young red shirt sophomore at Alabama, and and you know,
I don't get a scholarship if it's not for him.
He believed in me as a young at a young
age and mentored me and had a great experience playing
for him, and then and then I was a GA
for him, and then when he became the offensive coordinator.
(32:02):
You know, I'm twenty six years old coaching receivers and
tight ends at Alabama's.
Speaker 3 (32:06):
Youngest assistant in the SEC.
Speaker 4 (32:09):
I mean, twenty six And that doesn't happen if it's
not for coach mccorby and coach Stallings, who really believed
in me and gave me that opportunity. So you know,
I had no idea what was down the road, but
man to going on my seventeenth year as the head
coach here and for Woody to be right by my side.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
It's been It's been awesome to do life with him.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
You mentioned Jene Stallings, and that reminds me of a
story that I heard about you, is that when you
were playing at Alabama that he was calling for more
physicality in practice. And there is a famous crackback blocking
by by mister Devils.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Can you tell us about that.
Speaker 4 (32:51):
Yeah, we were just scrimmaging, and you know, I mean
the game was different then.
Speaker 3 (32:56):
Yeah, I mean that.
Speaker 4 (32:57):
Was like if you didn't do that in those days,
you know, you were going to the you're getting to
you're going to the bench, and uh you know, and
as a receiver, you you sought those type of opportunities out,
you know, but they've taken blind side blocks and back backs.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
That's all out of the game now. But in those days,
that was just it was just part of it. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
Yeah, we were having a scrimmage my sophomore year, actually
it was my junior year ninety one, and just we
ran a reverse with Kevin Lee.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Uh and so I was the X and he was
the Z.
Speaker 4 (33:24):
And we ran a reverse and so you know, everything
was flowing and and uh man, we had a safety
and I mean, I'm coming full speed and I got
I got a beat on him, and I mean as
soon as he recognized this reverse and he starts, and
I mean, just it was it was it was a
pretty explosive hit. And you know, of course, you know
back in those days, that's where again everybody went crazy
(33:46):
and it was this and that was a part of
the game and so yeah, that was. It was like
the headline of the news the next day, so it
was it was a physical scrimmage.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Yeah, that reminds me of a play that when I
was in college, when I was at Oregon, Wesley Mallard
hit Michael Jolivette when we were playing again. We were
playing in onto the Stadium against Arizona Punk return and
Keenan out of Keeny Howery starts one way, breaks back
the other way, going towards the right. I'm standing on
the sideline at about the fifty yard line and Wesley
(34:20):
hit some helmet pops off areas, probably the hardest hit
I've ever seen in my whole life.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
And I was like, oh, he'd be throwing to jail
right now.
Speaker 3 (34:28):
Oh yeah is that where? Yeah you'd be gone? Yeah,
yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (34:32):
And in college football now right.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
Like you talk about education and graduating players, one of
the things that I found problems with and other coaches
have as well, is the calendar is that the transfer
portal opens up in December, but then if you play
for a national championship this year, you didn't finish until
January twentieth, so classes are already started again. What's the
(34:59):
fix to it, like, should the season in January first?
Speaker 2 (35:03):
Should what's your idea on that?
Speaker 4 (35:05):
Yeah, I mean I think we definitely need to compress
the calendar a little bit. I mean, there's a lot
of a lot of things. That's a that's a deep conversation.
Having lived it for a long time and having been
in seven playoffs, six final fours, yeah, and four national championships,
it's a long time to play, and it's a lot
of games, and so you know, to play a potential
(35:25):
of seventeen games. It's a lot in college football because
it is scholastic and what you mentioned earlier graduation rates
with the portal because what's happening is as these kids transferred,
that doesn't mean your hours don't all of a sudden transfer.
So you might be twenty hours away from graduating when
you transfer and you go somewhere else and now you're
forty five hours.
Speaker 3 (35:44):
You know.
Speaker 4 (35:44):
So there's a lot of things to consider there. I think,
first of all, you know, I'm all for the kids
being able to go.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Great.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
We need a new government structure, number one.
Speaker 4 (35:54):
Yes, it's you know, one of the reasons that we
have such a chaotic time a mess right now is
you know, forever and ever and ever, we've tried to
make it all.
Speaker 3 (36:04):
The same and it's just not the same, you know.
I mean at Clemson as it is.
Speaker 4 (36:13):
Some of these a small group of five or even
a one double a because division one is division one
and it's not and it's not the same sport to
sport either. And I think we're finally at a place
where people have realized that. And I think we're going
to get a new government structure which can bring more autonomy,
which which then you have like minded problems and people
(36:35):
that can solve the problems that are relevant to them in.
Speaker 3 (36:38):
Their world, because we do need that.
Speaker 4 (36:41):
So I think that's part of it. And then I
think the next thing is we need to we need
to look at the calendar. There's some adjustments that we
need to make there. But you know, you know, having
done it many times to ask these kids to start
earlier and to play later and to practice more, play
more games, it's a lot. And so man, it's lad
that they're having opportunities with the rev share and all
(37:03):
of that stuff is great.
Speaker 3 (37:04):
We just have to have some structure and that's.
Speaker 4 (37:06):
Coming, like we're about to enter in I think one
of the best errors ever in college football. You know,
because there is going to be some order, there is
a cap, there is it's got to make sense. I
think that all that's going to be good. I think
the kids should be able to leave. But we don't
need free agency right in the middle of the season.
Nobody does that like it makes zero sense at all,
(37:27):
and it puts the kids in a bad situation.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
I think we need five years for five years. Number one. Okay,
we got all these waivers, we got all this stuff.
I just think you should be able to play five years.
Speaker 4 (37:36):
Play five years that way, because when they put in
the play four year, four games and you can keep it, well,
the unintended consequence of that is now, all of a sudden,
here comes the portal.
Speaker 3 (37:45):
Here's in il Well.
Speaker 4 (37:46):
Now kids are playing four games and they're saying, hey,
I'm out.
Speaker 3 (37:50):
You know, I don't want to lose my eligibility.
Speaker 4 (37:51):
I'm going well, a lot of these kids would play
if they're if it's five for five, and you know,
if you played four games, you played seven, you played
them all.
Speaker 3 (37:58):
It doesn't matter five years.
Speaker 4 (38:00):
And especially with the financial opportunity now, a lot of
these kids that are in a hurry to go pro
would stay in college and they would graduate.
Speaker 3 (38:08):
So now we've been centivized education.
Speaker 4 (38:10):
We've been centivized graduation because why you make more money
in college than going to be in a fifth or
sixth rounder in the pros, and and and it's more guaranteed,
and you're fin you're developing, you're playing, you're getting your degrees,
all those things. I think that's a part of it.
But we need one portal window. I don't care where
it is. There's a lot of debate.
Speaker 3 (38:30):
Is it January, is it February, is it March? Whatever?
All right?
Speaker 4 (38:36):
I mean personally, I think, you know, we should give
these kids the opportunity. Like every if you look at
the final four the past few everybody's had kids opt
out because they feel this pressure.
Speaker 2 (38:48):
And you shouldn't.
Speaker 4 (38:52):
Yeah, you feel this pressure because kids are like, oh,
I got to get there in January. So I think
one fix for that is we need to change how
spring practice is done.
Speaker 3 (39:02):
Spring practice is important, though all this chatter and chit chat.
Speaker 4 (39:05):
These guys have played all these yeah, some guys have,
but most of these kids have it.
Speaker 2 (39:09):
Yep.
Speaker 4 (39:10):
In college is developmental, Like if you get to the pros. Yeah,
you can have a bunch of OTA's and it's that.
But y'all got four preseason games to figure it out
to go play some football.
Speaker 3 (39:20):
We don't get that in college.
Speaker 4 (39:22):
When we play, we play LSU, and so we don't
we don't get preseason games.
Speaker 3 (39:26):
We don't get jamborees, we don't get.
Speaker 4 (39:28):
It's the only level of football that you know, we
don't get a practice against anybody else.
Speaker 3 (39:32):
We only have each other to compete against each other.
Speaker 4 (39:35):
And so college, I like, when we get kids at Clemson,
it's the first time in their life that they've had
a peer. Like my left tackle Brandon Jacob's son, Braden
Jacobs just got here, who's six seven three and thirty pounds.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
Let me just tell you something.
Speaker 4 (39:50):
He's never had a peer at practice or on Friday
night maybe every blue moon, he might play against somebody.
So now he's got Peter Woods and teach every day TJ. Parker,
and he's got dudes every day, and so he needs
to develop. He needs to learn how his stance and
fund how do you pull on a counter? How do
we do those things? At this level at the pros,
(40:10):
it's not developmental. If you don't know how to win
on a slant versus inside leverage. At the next level,
they just bring somebody.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
In who can.
Speaker 4 (40:18):
If you don't know how to pull on the counter
that you don't know how to spill a guy, they
bring somebody in who can.
Speaker 3 (40:24):
You're a pro.
Speaker 4 (40:24):
And these kids have spent their career playing college ball
at a high level. All right, So the kids, we
get what what received? What corner has walked up on
westco TJ. Moore and like me and you all night
on Friday night.
Speaker 3 (40:38):
Never all right?
Speaker 4 (40:40):
So now he's got Abon Terrell, he's got Ashton Hampton,
He's got he's got. So college has to be developmental.
So my point in that is, I think we need
to look at spring practice. We just need to say,
you know what, everybody gets twenty days. Everybody's calendar is different.
Some re quarters, some are semesters. Some people start earlier
in January, some people start later in January. Some people
(41:00):
are out early May, some people are out mid May. Whatever,
why don't we just some people don't sign a lot
of portal guys.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
Some people sign all portal guys.
Speaker 4 (41:09):
And the portal problem is okay, well, they want them
there for spring ball kids want to get there, So
why don't we just say, you know what, you get
twenty days from March one or whatever, late February through June.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
Do it however you want.
Speaker 4 (41:22):
So that way, if you want to sign a bunch
of portal guys, if we're going to make the window
in April or whatever, then you get a bunch of
kids in May. Well, those kids have an op they
can they'll stay in school, they can continue their academic course,
they can make a good decision, and then they can
they can get there and they can have spring practice
in May and June to get acclimated, to get ready.
Speaker 3 (41:42):
And so I think, you know you can.
Speaker 4 (41:45):
There's a lot of things we can do to fix it,
but we definitely need one portal window for sure, and
we need to create an opportunity for these kids to
be able to finish. Now, you got some coaches out there,
they're like, well, I don't want these guys around for
a semester.
Speaker 3 (41:59):
I don't think that's the right mentality. But to each
his own, you know.
Speaker 4 (42:01):
That's why I was like, why don't we make it
end of January first of February, And so what if
we got some guys that are going for at least
they can finish school, yep, and we know what our
roster is in the off season, in the spring practice,
and then we can address that, you know, with kids
in May, and then we can do our spring practice. Hey,
I'm gonna save these practices in May, these practice in Junie.
We can get on the field with these kids.
Speaker 1 (42:22):
So it feels like there's been a return to, like
players talking about their face right and being more open
about it. You saw this year with Ohio State with
some of their players and some of the fans were like,
stop talking about God, like focus on football. And I
believe that those things are interconnected like that you talked about.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
Why do you think that?
Speaker 1 (42:45):
Is it just a feeling that it is a more
return to people being more vocal about whatever their faith is,
or do you believe that that it's.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
Been going on the exact same the whole time.
Speaker 3 (42:57):
I mean, I think it's a fate's a personal decision.
Speaker 4 (43:00):
I think it's always been a part of certainly always
been a part of my life and what I've done,
And I mean probably for most I just think you
probably have seen people be more vocal about it. You know,
we live in a world now that where there's constant
you know, and kids see things or whatever, and so
I mean, I love it though, I mean it's great.
(43:21):
I mean, but for me, I mean, it's always been
a part of what we do. I've never shot away
from that. Again, I've always said, it's not my job
to save people, you know, my job is to win
football games.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
I get that.
Speaker 4 (43:33):
But I do think it's my responsibility as a Christian
and as a person of fate to live my life
in a way and hopefully be a great example and
be a light, you know. And that's that's really what
I try to do. And I know I get judged
by that by other people, but you know, that's just
part of it comes with it.
Speaker 1 (43:53):
Thirteen out of the last fourteen years, Clemson has won
at least ten football games. A lot of twelve win
football games along the way, which is very difficult to
do because in the era of the college football playoff
eleven years, there's only been six teams to win at
least six games every single year, and Clemson is one
(44:15):
of them. Why do you schedule the way that you
do when other people are trying to get as many
easy games as possible this year. You start out with LSU,
you could put anybody else on the schedule and then
still have your South Carolina game. Why are you doing
that when other people are shying away from that.
Speaker 4 (44:32):
Yeah, that's that's how we built the program. That's what
I've done from day one. When I got this job, again,
we had won ten games in twenty years. We hadn't
won the ACC in twenty years. Much let's think about
a national championship. And I met with the ad and
I'm like, look, here's what I think we need to do.
Speaker 3 (44:48):
The only way.
Speaker 4 (44:48):
I mean, I spent thirteen years at Alabama, so you know,
that was my background. I've only been at two schools,
and so that was my background of you know, how
do you how do you you need? We need to
compete and I need to teach these guys. And the
only way I'm going to teach these guys and prepare
these guys is, man, we got to go play people.
And yeah, you know, and I've had a lot of
(45:10):
conversations about that over the years. Yeah, I mean, like,
you know, you played George last year six nothing at
the half of the battle, didn't have a great third quarter.
Speaker 3 (45:17):
Those games are hard. They're great when you win, but
they're hard.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
But I just believe in totality, you know, for what's
right for the long term of your program and teaching. Guys,
we only play this game six percent of the time.
The other ninety four percent, you're preparing, you're practicing your training,
you're lifting weights, you're doing football life with each other.
And that's what I've always believed is an advantage for us.
(45:43):
Here is who we practice against every day, iron sharpened
and iron like. It's prepared us for those moments. But
there's nothing that prepares you more than from feeling it,
breathing the air, you know, seeing it. And so I've
just always believed that we got to play ten. Let's
play ten power five opponents. And that's been my philosophy
(46:06):
from day one. Let's play ten all ends, all right,
and then let's play one group of five. And you know,
like we we scheduled at last year, I'm like, why
are we scheduled? And this year I got Troy, I'm like,
why are we can we not find somebody in Troy
is like the two of the best group of fives.
Speaker 3 (46:20):
But but we we played.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Ten all ends a group of five and then I've
always believed in playing one FCS school in our state.
It's great for the state, it's great for everybody. So
that's been our philosophy from day one, and that's how
we've built our program. And if you look at the
trajectory of our Clemson again, we've nobody's won more games.
I mean, Alabama has won more games in the past
(46:43):
sixteen years, but Nick's gone.
Speaker 3 (46:45):
So let's just let's just start it right there.
Speaker 4 (46:48):
Clemson most wins, most championships, and I think a big
part of that is who you practice against every day,
how you practice, how you meet, how you recruit, how
you Again, we averaged thirteen point six in my recruiting classes,
all right, but we got the most draft picks, most
first round picks. So we've evaluated well, we've developed well,
(47:10):
we've retained well, and we've played the best of the
best in the playoff air. I mean, we've beaten Auburn
four in a row. We've beaten Texas A and M
two in a row. We've beaten Oklahoma two in a row.
We were three and one against Ohio State since I've
been the head coach, was four and two against Notre
Dame and Notre Dame prints their own money, makes their
own rules, got their own world right, and one of
those losses was double overtime at their place without Trevor Lawrence.
(47:32):
All Right, we've beaten Alabama. We're two and one in
national championships against Alabama. You know, we've played all these people.
We've beaten Georgia, We've beaten LSU. We've lost to them too.
We've I don't know, we've won eight out of the
last ten against South Carolina.
Speaker 3 (47:49):
We have.
Speaker 4 (47:50):
We've played a lot of people, and I think that's healthy.
Obviously we've played in the championship games. But we just
set a record this year. We actually broke wrong record
fourteen consecutive years with a postseason win. That's never been
done in college football history. Nobody's even close. The next
closest team is I think they got six postseason wins.
(48:12):
We've had fourteen consecutive years where they postseason win and
with our trajectory, that means you're in championship games, you're
in playoffs, big bowl games. I mean, we've played a
lot of people. That's incredible. And you mentioned the ten
with fourteen straight years, we've had nine plus wins and
everybody goes, oh, nine plus wins, Well, that's happened four
times in one hundred and sixty years of football. Nebraska
(48:34):
with coach Osbond in the eighties, Alabama with Nick Saban,
Florida State with coach Bowden in the late eighties and nineties,
and now Clemson nine plus wins fourteen years. The consistency
is our calling card at Clemson. We're not perfect, we
don't do everything right, we don't make all the right decisions,
but we're consistent and that's what drives everything in this program.
Speaker 1 (48:56):
And I was going to ask you why Clemson, but
you answered that question right there, you guys. He is
the head coach of the Clemson Tigers. Mister Dabo Sweeney,
thank you so much for joining the show.
Speaker 2 (49:09):
I appreciate it.
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