Last Saturday night, Dabo Swinney found himself in precarious position. He was driving his father’s truck on the way to his mother’s house to go to sleep when all the emotions from the day’s events went racing through his body at one time.
Swinney’s father, Ervil, had just passed away earlier in the day, and with all that still needed to be done to that point, Clemson’s head football coach had that one moment when the reality of the situation hit him.
“I was just sitting there going, ‘How did I get here?’ You know? Then to kind of just get plucked out of a world, and all of sudden you are kind of dealing with something you wish you were not dealing with,” Swinney told reporters following Wednesday’s practice.
Swinney laid his father to rest in his hometown of Pelham, Ala., on Tuesday, and then flew back to Clemson later that night so he could re-join his football team for a situational scrimmage on Wednesday. The 12th-ranked Tigers had completed three days of fall camp without their leader, and Swinney was itching to get back to work.
“It is just good to be able to come back and get back into the grind. I appreciate the grind. I really do,” he said. “I appreciate the good day. Sunshine, waking up and doing something you love to do. I really do.”
Swinney’s team loved having him back as well.
“It was such a tragedy that he experienced,” offensive guard Eric Mac Lain said. “Obviously, I feel very passionate for that man and we all love him very dearly. To see him hurt so bad, it just really hit home for a lot of us, I think. But it is great to have him back. He did not miss a beat. So he is ready to get back and working for his dad.”
Swinney’s father lived with him and the family for three months this summer, while he battled cancer. Recently, the elder Swinney moved back to Alabama so he could get back to work and do some of the things he loved to do. He was feeling good, according to Dabo Swinney, but eventually, the cancer caught back up with him, and he lost his battle on Saturday.
“He died peacefully and happy,” Swinney said. “We had a great celebration of his life (on Tuesday), but I was telling the team, mentally as you go through those things, you get exhausted.”
Swinney, who grew as close to his father as he ever has in the last 10 years, knew his dad would not want him to be somber for too long. He knew his father would want him to get back to work.
“My dad would have been yelling at me. Literally, as soon as they put him the grave, ‘Alright, that’s enough. Get yourself back to work. We have some football games to win,” Swinney said with a smile. “That was big Erv. We will miss him greatly. But I know he is at peace. I know he is with our Lord.
“I take great peace and comfort in that. I was excited to get back at it today. It is just good to be with the team.”