As he watched his alma mater, the University of Alabama, take Michigan State to the woodshed in the Cotton Bowl Classic last Thursday night from his hotel room in Miami, all Dabo Swinney could do was smile. A few hours before, his Clemson Tigers, the No. 1 team in the country, had just taken down No. 4 Oklahoma in an equally as impressive win in the Orange Bowl.

With the Crimson Tide’s win, the stage set for Tuesday’s National Championship Game in Glendale, Ariz. – No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 2 Alabama.

“It’s kind of cool. I mean, you know, I think it’s neat. I think God has got a sense of humor. I really do. I think it’s great,” Swinney said.

Dabo Swinney grew up an Alabama fan. He was that kid on fan day at his elementary school that came in dressed from head to toe in Crimson and White colors, with one of those big “We’re No. 1” foam hands.

Bear Bryant was his hero, making sure he watched the legendary coach’s show every Sunday morning with his father, Ervil, from the time he was old enough to remember until Bryant retired in 1982.

If anyone could claim they were Alabama’s No. 1 fan, it was Dabo Swinney.

“You’re looking at a guy that grew up in the state of Alabama, and I mean, my dream was to play there, to go to school there,” he said. “I was the one first in my family to get a college degree, and to be able to get it from the University of Alabama was a dream come true for me and for my family.”

Swinney loved Alabama so much, he did not leave it. After walking onto the football team, earning a scholarship and becoming a contributor on the 1992 National Championship team, he joined Gene Stallings staff as a graduate assistant and eventually took a job as his wide receivers coach.

From the age of 18, when he first enrolled in school as a freshman, until the age of 31, Swinney was an Alabama Crimson Tide in every sense.

“I grew up in Tuscaloosa, basically. That was kind of the most normal time of my life,” the Clemson coach recalled. “I lived in that little apartment there for five years. I lived there longer than — that was kind of my spot until I got married. It was a special 13, almost 14 years for me before I moved away from Tuscaloosa.

“Going there, walking on, earning a scholarship, my last game as a player, we win the National Championship, and I get the opportunity to be a graduate assistant coach, what was a special privilege for me. Then for Coach Stallings to hire me as a full-time coach shortly after that – there are just a lot of great memories for me, obviously.”

But Stallings retired, and not too long after Mike DuBose took the job he was let go. Suddenly, Swinney was out of football. After floundering around for two years as a successful commercial real estate salesman, Swinney got back into coaching and landed in Clemson working for his first position coach at Alabama, Tommy Bowden.

Of course we all know the rest of the story after that. In 2008 he became the interim coach after Bowden resigned following a Week 6 loss to Wake Forest, and later that year, after becoming the first interim coach to take his team to a bowl game, Swinney was named the permanent head coach.

In 2009 he had the Tigers in their first ACC Championship Game and by 2011 they were holding up the ACC Championship Trophy.

“You move on, you go on with your life, and I’ve been at Clemson 13 years, and I’ve been trying to get back to the National Championship as a coach for 20-plus years now,” Swinney said. “You know, to have the opportunity to be in my first National Championship game as a coach, and it comes against Alabama, I just … I just have to smile at God on that one.”

Only Alabama (61), Florida State (58) and Oregon (58) have won more games in the last five years than Clemson. After going 21 years without a 10-win season, Clemson won 10 games in 2011, 11 in 2012 and ’13, 10 in 2014 and then of course 14 so far this year.

The Tigers are again ACC Champions and are the only team in the country to win four consecutive bowl games. Now they have an opportunity to win the program its second national title of all-time.

“I think it’s special. And for me personally, my dad died in August, and we haven’t been undefeated since 1981, and Big Erv goes home to be with the Lord in August and here we are 14-0. I just have to believe he’s having a lot of fun up there and smiling down,” Swinney said. “This would have been like his little shop down there, that little M&M Hardware Store down there in Alabaster (Ala.). It would have been a scene right now. People would be coming in to see my dad and talking about Alabama and Clemson, because that’s his two teams.

“It’s just really neat from that standpoint.”

But as special as it all is, it’s time to get to work. Swinney has to go lead his Tigers to a victory and bring the national championship back to Clemson – his new favorite team. He no longer bleeds Crimson and White, but instead its Orange and White. And he would love nothing more than to come back to Clemson dressed in orange from head to toe holding up an orange No. 1 foam hand.

“It didn’t take long to get past, ‘Well, that’s a neat match-up,’ until you turn the film on. You watch the tape, and you go, ‘Oh, boy.’ This is a great football team we’re getting ready to play,” Swinney said. “So it’s going to be a lot of fun.

“I just think I’ve got a lot of friends in Alabama, and for all of them – I’ve got a few of them that are conflicted. I’ve kind of found out where I stand with some of them (laughter), but it’s a great match-up, and the two best teams. That’s just the way it’s worked out, and I think it’s special.”