Swinney Honored By Sporting News

By MikeBullock  |   Wednesday, December 23, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Clemson Tigers
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When the Sporting News doled out their yearly awards, Tiger coach Dabo Swinney had to make room on his mantle for his latest achievement, ACC Coach of the Year. After narrowly missing an Orange Bowl berth in his first full year behind the Clemson wheel, the award is most likely bitter sweet for Swinney, who would prefer gridiron glory to off field accolades. In reality, Coach Swinney is more charged up by watching young people give life their all than anything else.

While many may think the Coach of the Year honor comes strictly based on the on field results of Clemson’s 2009 campaign that brought them an ACC Atlantic Division Title and saw them narrowly miss their first ACC Championship since 1991, it has more to do with his off field behavior.

Swinney is the epitome of what a great ball coach should be, because he is a great motivator of young people. His unorthodox methods brought his team together prior to this season, after trips to the cancer ward in the local children’s hospital, and opening up practice to the entire student body. However, Swinney’s need to motivate youth doesn’t stop there. Swinney was a keynote speaker at the recent Coaches 4 Character seminar held on December 17th in Greenville, NC.

While there, Swinney spoke of overcoming tough odds, reaching for lofty goals, striving to be the best you can and encouraging all in attendance to go for their dreams. This is the sort of behavior that brings with it awards such as the Coach of the Year, not as a result, but more a byproduct.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Swinney is already focused on the upcoming season, but hasn’t lost track of the Music City Bowl, where his Tigers will face the Kentucky Wildcats on Sunday. This will be the final outing for Clemson stars C.J. Spiller and Jacoby Ford, as well as Kavell Conner, Jamarcus Grant, Cory Lambert and Ronald Watson who all graduated and will either head for the NFL, or off into other post-collegiate lives.

Regardless of where these young men wind up, be it playing on Sundays or working 9-5 during the rest of the week, one thing is for sure, their days with Coach Swinney in 2009 will remain with them forever.

This is the kind of impact a football coach should have on young men. Anything less is unacceptable.
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