When Jody Drake first came to Pelham High School in Pelham, Ala., he was the lonely new kid in school. Like all teenagers that are new to an area, he felt out of place, like he did not fit or would not be accepted.

But then the most popular guy in school—one of the star athletes on the football, basketball and baseball teams—put his arms around him one day and asked Drake, “What’s your name?”

“He has always been super nice. He is a super guy,” Drake said.

That guy is now Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney. Before he was that walk-on at Alabama that earned a scholarship and played and started on the Tide’s 1992 National Championship Team, before he became an assistant under Gene Stallings and Tommy Bowden, and before he started sprinting down the Hill and into Death Valley on game days, Dabo Swinney was that guy in high school everyone loved. The one everyone wanted to be friends with and hang out with.

He wasn’t just the most popular guy in high school, he was the most respected.

“He was the popular guy that wrapped his arms around the unpopular guys,” said Drake, who played football for one year at Pelham. “That is how I got to know him. I was new to the school. I did not know anybody and he came up to me and said, ‘Hey man, what are you doing today? Come swimming at my house if you want to.’ From then on, he was like the coolest guy in the world.”

That’s why Drake and 15 other of Swinney’s closest high school friends, known as “The Pelham Posse,” come to Clemson at least once a year to cheer on the guy who always cheered for them.

“He is the same as he is now,” said Mike Goodwin, who grew up two houses down from Swinney.

Clemson is 7-0 when “The Pelham Posse” comes up to support their friend and his Clemson Tigers. Those wins have come against Virginia, Georgia Tech, Auburn, LSU, North Carolina and Boston College, twice.

None of the 15 to 25 friends that come every year are surprised by Swinney’s success as head coach, the way he is with his players and the way he engages with the media.

“We knew he would do well, but this is really impressive,” said Steve Levant, who played baseball with Swinney at Pelham.

Swinney has posted a 67-26 record at Clemson in his seven years as head coach. He has victories over national powers like Oklahoma, Ohio State, LSU, Georgia and Auburn. He has won an ACC Championship and has been the National Coach of the Year.

“I think this is amazing because it is all encompassing,” friend Dennis Clements said before Saturday’s game against Boston College. “He is such a leader for these kids. He is an excellent football coach. In the long-range scope of things, it really is amazing.”

In the long run, maybe Dabo Swinney will run for President of the United States. There is already a group of tailgaters outside Memorial Stadium pushing his candidacy with a booth full of buttons, flyers and tags.

“I’m interested in his stance for the Ukraine, but we will leave it at football for now,” said friend Tom Robinson, who was sporting a Dabo for President Button on his shirt. “But we already voted for him for President of the Student Council so why not.”

If Swinney did run for President, there is no doubt he would win the popular vote in Pelham.

“He has always had the ability to engage everyone, and everyone loved him,” Drake said. “He never knew how popular he was.”