By Ed McGranahan.

Dabo Swinney was a victim of domestic violence decades before it became a hot button issue this week in the NFL.

The suspensions in short order of players Ray Rice, Greg Hardy and Adrian Peterson,  the investigation into accusations facing a fourth
player and the league’s slow reaction in each instance have again brought the topic to the table, one for which Swinney has no tolerance.

“This isn’t a football problem,” the Clemson coach said Tuesday. “This is a society problem.

“Football is a reflection of society. Period. You name it, whatever’s going on in society, it’s in football too,” he said. “It’s a shame to me
that it took a football player to finally create a platform and the awareness that it deserves.”

Swinney’s story became common knowledge shortly after he was named interim head coach at Clemson in 2008, and he has not been shy about sharing the ugliness he faced as a child in Pelham, Ala., occasionally recounting in detail the violence and fear.

“Listen, I grew up around that,” Swinney said. “So I have firsthand knowledge. I can’t tell you how many times as a kid I was in a car and
drove off … just to go find a place to sleep somewhere or knock on somebody’s door and go find a place to spend the night.  I understand
all of that.”

One of the beneficiaries he and his wife’s All-in Team Foundation has been Safe Harbor, a non-profit that operates shelters for battered women
in several Upstate locations. Swinney serves on the board that oversees Safe Harbor and several family support organizations.

“The good part is, okay, it finally has gotten brought to light and it’s gotten the attention,” he said, “and hopefully (it) will create all
kinds of great awareness and provide opportunities for a lot of women out there that are in bad situations.  They’re helpless.”

In February 2012 wide receiver Joe Craig was arrested for assaulting the mother of his child. Swinney dismissed Craig from the team that same
day.

“Sometimes people just want to go, ‘Oh, this is a football thing.’ Until you’ve been in that situation you just don’t know, you don’t
know,” he said. “It sounds easy, but it’s a very difficult thing to be a part of.

“So it’s great that there are places out there that provide shelter for women, provide counseling, whatever it may be, but it’s a society
problem in every sense of the word.”