Faith, Forgiveness, and Football

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by Connor Bauknight

William. Christopher. Dabo. Swinney. If you ask anyone who is a Clemson fan, the man was born December 25, 0000; the birthday of their savior. Now pardon my blasphemy, but Dabo has given so much to Clemson fans since 2008 when he was named the interim head coach. But I actually don’t want to talk about the Dabo everyone in the country knows today. The man who has brought Clemson to the college playoff three years in a row, won a national championship, three ACC titles, and more.

Image from the Charlotte Observer

This post is about why I believe Dabo is my favorite college coach. I have tried to explain this before to friends of mine (one of them happens to be one of the co-founders of this blog). But Dabo is my favorite coach because of the man and mentor he is. I hear all the time from people in passing that, “Dabo puts on an act,” “Dabo is just too much, always thanking God and playing the small-town hero role.” I sometimes cannot understand how Dabo’s humility, faith, perseverance, and positivity somehow make him a disliked coach. So, I want to explain the events that molded Dabo into the person he is today. I want to talk about who he was prior to 2008.

Dabo was a small boy from Pelham, Alabama and was the youngest of three children. When Dabo was a teenager, his brother was involved in a serious car accident. This accident caused serious brain injuries and put his brother in a coma over the next couple of weeks following the accident. After waking up, he suffered serious memory loss issues and later battled addiction issues. Dabo paid for his brother to attend rehabilitation centers for up to half a year to help his brother battle these issues.

Image from Orlando Sentinel

When Dabo was in high school, his father’s businesses struggled financially and eventually, debt ensued. Debt led to alcohol. Alcohol led to violence. Dabo’s mother shielded her children from these violent outbursts to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, these outbursts lead to a divorce and the family separated from the father.

After his elder siblings moved out of the house, financial trouble took its toll on Dabo and his mother. Dabo and his mother did not live in a home at this point; they bounced around from motels to friends’ homes and other temporary living arrangements, often being evicted for lack of rent money. However, Dabo’s positivity and character never faded and he was able to maintain being a great student and athlete. Dabo decided to attend the University of Alabama for college and invited his mother to live with him there. He even shared a room with his mother while at school. Dabo was never ashamed of this. He embraced it.

Dabo (88) started as a walk-on at Alabama

Dabo decided then that he might try his hand at football once again. It was his dream since being a young boy to play for the University of Alabama. He was one of two people that were offered a walk-on position out of the other 45 candidates who tried out. Sweeny did not have enough money to pay for school most of the time and was almost unable to pay his tuition at Alabama. Although Dabo was not a starter or anywhere near a star, Gene Stallings saw leadership and hustle from him and gave him a scholarship. Stallings knew about Dabo’s financial situation and his living arrangements with his own mother.

By the end of his college career, Dabo showed great character and forgiveness as he was able to make amends with his father. A man who was too violent to keep around the family. Dabo put his faith in God many times throughout his young life. When things were falling apart or others leaned on him for strength, he put his faith in God and found the strength he and others around him needed.

Image from Alabama Athletics

After Dabo received an offer to work for Gene Stallings at Alabama, he continued to pay for his mother’s rent when he had to move out of the apartment he once shared with his mother. Dabo was later fired from this coaching position at Alabama three years later, and his dream of coaching seemed to be at an end. He then pursued a career in Real Estate.

However, in 2003, Dabo was given another opportunity to coach under Tommy Bowden at Clemson. Dabo distinguished himself at Clemson as a wide receiver’s coach and a recruiting coordinator. By 2007, Dabo was considered one of the nation’s top recruiters according to Rivals. About half-way through the 2008 season, head coach Tommy Bowden resigned and Dabo was appointed as the interim head coach.

Featured Image from Huffington Post

Now, we all know what happened from here (or at least most of us who have not lived under a rock) and for that reason, I am not going to talk about it. But this is why Dabo Swinney is my favorite college coach. Our society has forgotten that college athletes are still in college; this means that they are still young men. They still need time to grow and learn and mature. College coaches are the closest role models these young men have outside of their home lives. Sometimes, they have more influence than anyone else in that athlete’s life. Dabo has shown over the course of his life the kind of characteristics and morals I want to be around. I believe that is why parents are able to trust him with their children. Dabo displays humility, compassion, devotion to God and his players, faith, and sincerity as a coach and as a mentor. He not only tries to win football games but tries to build great young men. He is one of the few elite coaches left that truly wants his players to be great in all aspects of their lives and not just good football players. That is why he is my favorite coach.