I'm a Christian, but I've coached and played with Muslims and all kind of different religions.
— Dabo Swinney
When a guy comes unofficially, then he, to me, is sending you a message that, 'You know what? Hey, I'm interested in Clemson.' Now, he may hate it when he gets here. But at least he came on his own. That's just my personal philosophy.
You may not have any interest in Clemson whatsoever, but if Clemson calls, and they want to pay for you to come, and feed you and put you in a hotel, well, who doesn't want to go do that? Sign me up. Let's go, man.
Always remember, the goals that we have achieved pale in comparison to the daily commitments it took to get there.
Everybody runs, but only one wins first prize. So, run your race in such a way as to win.
Let's not be miserable when we win. There's definitely people in places that, even when they win, they're not happy. That's sad.
I've never failed at anything in my life.
I didn't get into coaching to make money. I got into this for the coaching and teaching part.
Trust me, people that know me know I ain't perfect, but I do try to live my life in a way that hopefully can be pleasing to my maker because I know I'm going to meet Him one day, and He's not going to pat me on the back and talk about how many wins I had or how many Coach of the Year trophies we got or how much money I made.
I go to a church that's an interracial church.
I just think there is a right way to do things, and I don't think two wrongs make a right.
I have an MBA, but my Ph.D. is in people. Everything I do is about relationships.
I'm always just focused on being great where I'm at and blooming where I'm planted.
In Alabama, when you come out of the hospital, they have to stamp your birth certificate with either Alabama or Auburn, or you don't leave.
My dad was the biggest Alabama fan ever, and I was brainwashed.
For me personally, joy comes from focusing on Jesus, others, and yourself.
I had a lot of time as a kid to dream. There wasn't much else left to do.
There's some criminals that wear badges. Guess what? There's some criminals that work in the media. There's some criminals that are football coaches. There's some criminals that are politicians. There are criminals that work in churches.
I'm not trying to be like everybody else. I want to be Clemson, and Clemson's not for everybody.
If you grow up with traditions in your family, it's always nice to be able to get home and have those moments.
Continue to do common things in an uncommon way. Continue to be 'all in.' Continue to apply 'best is the standard.' Continue to be a person of excellence in everything you do.
The key to coaching is love. It's not knowledge; it's not discipline. If you love 'em, you can discipline them. If you love 'em, you can yell at them and laugh about it later.
I don't think it's good to be a distraction to your team.
I'm thankful for the experience and to be able to coach other young people on their journey through college football. It's a privilege.
I'm a big believer in the student-athlete part. I value the education and what it provides for you. Football is a vocation. Only 1.67 percent of these athletes go on to the NFL. An education provides you an opportunity for a career. A lot of people just don't get that. To say they aren't getting anything is misinformed.
Everybody sees me now, and I'm the head coach at Clemson and this and that, but my life hasn't always been this way.
A lot of these things in this world were only a dream for Martin Luther King. Not a one-term, but a two-term African-American president. And this is a terrible country? That was a dream for Martin Luther King.
I've never really hired anybody that people thought I should hire.
I thought, 'If I ever get a new football building, I want a slide.' Now I go down it every day.
When you win by three touchdowns in a state championship and you've got people who can't appreciate that? That's really sad.
I think God has got a sense of humor. I really do.
God creates us to compete. He creates us to win. It matters. But you've got no chance if you don't do your best.
When you get a young group of people that believe, are passionate... and committed to a single purpose, you better look out. Great things can happen.
My vision is for other schools to be like Clemson. My vision is to build a model program.
There's a lot of good police officers. There's thousands of perfect traffic stops. Lot of good men. Lot of good women. But those don't get the stories.
I want guys that are sincerely interested in coming to Clemson. I don't need any practice recruiting, and I don't like wasting time. I want to be transparent, and I want prospects to be transparent, and if they're really interested in Clemson, then they're going to come here unofficially on their own.
Colin Cowherd? I never met him; I don't know him.
No matter what's behind us in the rearview mirror, it's always about what's next.
There's nobody tougher on the players than me. Nobody.
I'm kind of a bottom-of-the-barrel guy.
For me, and I've been on record saying it, let's create two leagues: one for players who want the college football experience, and another for those that want to get paid, have the NFL help fund it, whatever. Guys who don't want to go to school to get an education, let them go to work.
You don't have to sacrifice your family to be a great coach.
That's just my - I think that I made a decision when I was 16 - I grew up in a family that I was taught there was a God and all that, but I didn't really have a relationship with Christ until I was 16. And that was a game changer for me. That's really become the foundation of my life.
I think we have a sin problem in the world. It's so easy to say we have a race problem, but we got a sin problem.
If my coach told me to go run them bleachers, you didn't ask no questions. I turned around and started running until he said stop.
All I know is, there's nothing we can't do at Clemson. I don't have to go somewhere else to win at the highest level, to recruit great players, to have great support - I really don't. I'm just really fortunate.
I ain't never going to apologize for a 21-point win over a state rival, ever.
I always told people Alabama was the smartest state because it has four As and a B.
We're all going to experience death and failure and setbacks and disappointments and cancer and, you know, it's a really difficult world. And for me, God has always - in my relationship with Christ - He's given me hope and peace.
You got to be a champion on the inside.
