Background and career
William Christopher "Dabo" Swinney (; born November 20, 1969) is an American college football coach, currently serving as the head football coach at Clemson University. Swinney took over as head coach of the Clemson Tigers seven games into the 2008 season, following the resignation of Tommy Bowden. Swinney's team won national championships in 2016 and 2018. He is the winningest head coach in Clemson football history and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) football history.
Swinney's parents, Carol McIntosh and Ervil Swinney, married shortly after Carol's high school graduation. The couple had three boys: Tracy, Tripp, and William (Dabo). Although born in Birmingham, Swinney was raised in Pelham. He attended Pelham High School, where he played a number of sports, including baseball and football. Facing financial troubles after his parents divorced, Swinney and his mother were temporarily homeless and lived with various friends for a period of time. Nevertheless, Swinney was an honor student and continued to excel in football. His high school coach encouraged Swinney to pursue basketball at a number of colleges; however, Swinney insisted on the University of Alabama—his father's favorite football team—once he learned that he was admissible. Swinney once revealed, "I didn't know what a Pell Grant was, and I didn't know how to do student loans. I had no clue. I had no collegiate background in my family of how to do that type of stuff." While in college, his mother stayed with him and a classmate in an off-campus apartment for three years until she could afford her own home. Swinney worked a number of low wage jobs during the summer of his sophomore year in order to pay for tuition, rent, and other expenses. That fall, he received a notice that he owed the university $550 that was due the next day or his classes would be dropped and he would be disqualified from the football team. That same day he opened a credit line with Discover credit card, which allowed him to pay the outstanding balance along with his rent. Swinney is a first-generation college student who was involved in Greek Life during college, and was initiated as a brother of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity. He received his bachelor's degree in commerce & business administration in 1993 and two years later, he earned a master's degree in Business Administration from the same university. At one point, his career goals included being a doctor and running a hospital.
Swinney joined the Alabama Crimson Tide as a walk-on wide receiver in 1989. He earned a scholarship and lettered on three teams (1990–1992), including the Crimson Tide's 1992 National Championship team. During his time as an undergraduate at Alabama, Swinney was twice named an Academic All-SEC and SEC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll member. In three seasons at Alabama, he caught seven passes for 81 yards.
While completing work on his MBA, Swinney served as a graduate assistant at Alabama under Gene Stallings. In December 1995, Swinney received his MBA from Alabama and became a full-time assistant coach for the Crimson Tide in charge of wide receivers and tight ends. He retained these posts under Stallings' successor, Mike DuBose. He was fired with all of DuBose's staff in early 2001 following a 3–8 season. Swinney sat out the 2001 season while receiving his contractual payments from Alabama. His former strength coach at Alabama, Rich Wingo, had become president of Birmingham-based AIG Baker Real Estate and offered him a job. From April 2001 through February 2003, he did not coach and instead worked for AIG Baker Real Estate as a commercial real estate salesman.
In 2002, Tommy Bowden—Swinney's former position coach at Alabama— offered him the position of wide receivers coach at Clemson, and Swinney joined in 2003. He also took over as recruiting coordinator from popular longtime coordinator Rick Stockstill. Swinney proved to be both an excellent wide receivers coach as well as recruiting coordinator, coaching ACC-leading receivers and being named one of the nation's top 25 recruiters in 2007 by Rivals.com.
Swinney was named the interim head football coach on October 13, 2008, after head coach Tommy Bowden resigned six games into the season. The Tigers had started the year ranked #9 in the preseason polls, but then went 3–3 (1–2 ACC) in their first six games. At the time he was informed of his promotion, he was working with the wide receivers on their upcoming game. With a reputation as a top-notch recruiter, Swinney was chosen over Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning (former head coach of Wyoming), and associate head coach Brad Scott (former head coach of South Carolina). Swinney's first actions as interim head coach were to fire offensive coordinator Rob Spence and introduce a new tradition, the "Tiger Walk", where all players and coaches walk through the parking lot outside Memorial Stadium about two hours before a game as they head inside for final game preparations. On October 18, in his first game as interim head coach, the team lost to Georgia Tech 21–17. On November 1, 2008, Swinney claimed his first victory as the Tigers' head coach by defeating Boston College, breaking Clemson's six-game losing streak against the Eagles. On November 29, 2008, Swinney coached Clemson to a 31–14 win over South Carolina in the annual rivalry game, after which Clemson became bowl eligible. After a vote of confidence from athletic director Terry Don Phillips, Swinney was formally named as Clemson's 27th head coach on December 1, 2008. In his first game as the full-time head coach, he lost the 2009 Gator Bowl to the Nebraska Cornhuskers 26–21.
