Christmas and the Holiday Season are all about spending time with your family. It’s about showing how much you appreciate each other.

It works the same way at Clemson, where you hear the university, and the athletic department, talk about the “Clemson Family” and what makes it so special. Clemson is not unique in doing that, a lot of schools do the same thing. However, what makes Clemson different from all the rest is that its faculty, coaches and student-athletes practice what they preach.

Clemson President James Clements can always be seen at Clemson University sporting events. It’s not uncommon to see coaches from other Clemson sports on the sidelines prior to home football games. Dabo Swinney is a huge basketball fan and sits right behind Brad Brownell and his staff where he pulls for the Tigers as hard as the fans do.

Clemson football players and their staff always attend the basketball and baseball games as well. It’s not uncommon to see Swinney and Brownell at a few baseball games during the spring. Several football and basketball players are always at Doug Kingsmore Stadium—when they are not playing or practicing—taking in a game and cheering on their fellow classmates.

“I think that is what makes Clemson special,” Brownell said. “It is that kind of family atmosphere that everybody talks about, but I think very few schools really have it. I don’t think theirs is that genuine. I think guys act like they are friends with the other coaches and colleagues, but we really work at it here, and it has been that way ever since I got here with Dabo and Jack Leggett. I can go on and on. Mike Noonan (men’s soccer), Eddie Radwanski (women’s soccer), all the baseball guys … We spend time together. John (Boetsch) the tennis (coach) is right here. I think there is a genuine appreciation for each other. It is something I do not take for granted. It is something that we really enjoy.”

Following practice this past Friday, Swinney was asked about the basketball program and his thoughts on its 11-1 start to the 2017-’18 season. The Clemson football coach raved about the job Brownell and his staff is doing and said he loves the chemistry and makeup he is seeing from the players when they are on the floor.

“We love it. We are huge football fans,” Brownell said when hearing Swinney’s comments. “We watch games all the time when we are meeting for a night meeting. It’s always around a Clemson football game. We are never going to meet while a game is going on or doing anything like that. We go to most of the games. We love those guys. We appreciate how much they have done for our school, and obviously we have benefitted from that.

“So we are super close with their staff. We are constantly sending text (messages) back-and-forth to each other and encouraging each other. Talking about things with each other, so obviously, I love to hear that those guys are ‘All In’ with our team.”

And their all in with everything at Clemson because “Clemson Family” is not a phrase at Clemson, it is real.

—Photo Credit: Courtesy Clemson Athletic Communications