On the eve of their final home game of the season, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney steps aside and lets the parents of his senior class deliver the message for the following day’s game. It’s a tradition under Swinney, and one he enjoys more than any other.
Through a video the entire team watches, the parents talk about their sons, what their sons have accomplished at Clemson and what Clemson means to them and their family.
“I kind of get out the way and I let the parents deliver the message,” Swinney said. “It’s powerful. It really is. You always have some of those freshmen and sophomores that kind of snicker here and there from the back of the room, but there is no snickering going on from the front of the room. Those guys have an appreciation … It just kind of hits you. It really does.”
Swinney says it especially hit him when he thinks about what this group of seniors has done for him and for Clemson. Besides improving to 11-0 with Saturday’s 33-13 victory over Wake Forest, the seniors on the nation’s No. 1-ranked team set a record with 43 career victories.
They have helped Clemson win 20 of the last 21 games, that’s something that has never happened at Clemson before. They have helped the Tigers win 14 straight games, the longest active winning streak in the country.
They finished their careers at Death Valley with a school-record 16 straight home wins. They have won 11 games three out of the last four years … that has never happened at Clemson.
“That’s a direct reflection of the leadership from the seniors that we have on this team,” Swinney said. “They got their forty-third win today. The reason we have had success … and a lot of people had questions about our team this year, especially defensively, but we have tremendous leadership.
“Every week we here, ‘When are you going to get distracted’ and every game has been a trap game every week all year long, but our leadership on this team and the culture we have on this team is what drives the behavior.”
Saturday’s win was also the program’s 700th win of all-time. Left guard Eric Mac Lain even set a milestone.
“Today was about coming together and completing part of a journey,” the senior captain said. “The last home game in the Valley is pretty special. It’s a little known fact that I became the winningest player in Clemson history today. Tim Bourret just told me that in the locker room. That’s a pretty cool accomplishment, but there are a lot of games to go, four more hopefully.”
It was an even better day for reserve offensive guard Daniel Stone. After running down the Hill one final time on senior day, he ran over to his girlfriend, Morgan, and then got on one knee and asked her to marry him.
In front of 81,577 fans on Saturday at Death Valley, Clemson offensive guard Daniel Stone proposed to his girlfriend, Morgan. She said yes (video is below), and then Stone and the Tigers then went on to win the game over Wake Forest, 33-14.
“For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to come up with ideas to make this really special,” Stone said. “So I figured the whole senior day, and we were going to come down one at a time and receive special recognition … I thought to myself what better way to show off how special the Clemson family is. So how special would it be that I started my own family in Death Valley?”
By the way, Morgan said yes. So it turned out to be a real special day for Stone and his future family, as well as his extend Clemson family, too. It’s definitely a day they will all remember.
“I tip my hat to my seniors and the legacy they are leaving,” Swinney said. “It is all about making a place better and leaving it better than you found it, and impacting people’s lives. These guys have done that.
“There are some giants in men. They came here football players trying to figure life out, but they are giant men now and ready for whatever comes next. They are not done yet. We still have some work do to.”
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