Dabo Swinney literally dreamed of winning a national championship at Clemson. In fact, it was Alabama the Tigers beat in his dream.

“I have seen this,” Swinney said to nearly 70,000 Clemson fans at Saturday’s national championship celebration in Death Valley. “I still think I am dreaming, but I have seen this. And it is great, but it is how we won that matters the most to me.

“I have always told these guys that one of these days we are going to hold that trophy up and when we do we can be transparent because we know that we did it right.”

Swinney went on to say winning this year’s national championship, or any of the other big wins he and his program has achieved in the last eight years will not define him or his teams. It’s the culture he says it what makes them so successful as a program.

Only Alabama, the team Clemson beat last Monday to win its first national championship in 35 years, has more wins than the Tigers in the last six years. The Tigers have won 70 games, three ACC Championships, five divisional championships, six bowl games, won two Orange Bowls, a Fiesta Bowl, played for the national championship twice and won it once.

“Best is the standard, and every single year we are on a quest to be the very best we can be,” Swinney said. “It is important that everybody here understands what I’m fixing to say, and these players understand it. Winning the national championship is great … These trophies, they are beautiful and it is going to be displayed and it is going to be great. But these trophies, they are not going to define us. The culture of our program is what we will be defined by.”

The culture Swinney is referring to is based on how Clemson is building men through their Clemson experience. Swinney says they have built a culture that is based on love, serving and caring for their players. It’s a culture built on serving and doing things right in the community. It is a culture to teach young people to love and care for other people.

“That is what our culture is going to be defined by,” Swinney said. “Coach Gene Stallings taught me that the fun is in the winning, and I have carried that to my players. The fun is in the winning, but it is how we win that will sustain us. That is our focus. It is a daily commitment to being the very best that we can be and we will continue to do that.”

— Photo Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports

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