Great Honor for Swinney
By: Robert MacRae January 26, 2025

Clemson’s head man received a great honor at his high school alma mater on Saturday night.

Dabo Swinney was inducted into the Pelham Athletics Hall of Fame as part of its inaugural class Saturday night.

Swinney looked back at his journey during the ceremony at the school’s football facility.

“I just think God’s had his hand on my life for a long time. That’s what I think,” Swinney said, via ABC 33/40 News (Birmingham, Alabama). “I’ve had a lot of great moments in my life. Everything great in my life has come through team. My wife is a Pelham grad. We grew up together, first grade all the way up, and we’re going on 31 years of marriage. Nothing happens without somebody else. And in my business, especially having a great partner in life like Kathleen. Just so many great people, teachers, coaches, mentors. Hopefully, I’ve made some right decisions along the way. But everything great in my life has come through team. Just God’s favor. It’s been God’s plan for my life, and I’ve just tried to honor Him as I’ve gone about my business.”

A three-sport standout at Pelham, Swinney graduated in 1988 before lettering three times (1990-92) at Alabama. A walk-on who went on to earn a scholarship, Swinney was a wide receiver on the Crimson Tide’s 1992 national championship team. He was also named Academic All-SEC along with being an SEC Scholar-Athlete Honor Roll member in 1990 and 1992.

In his 17 seasons (and 16 full seasons) as Clemson’s head coach, Swinney has become both the program’s all-time winningest coach and the all-time winningest coach in ACC history, along with becoming the first in program history to lead Clemson to multiple national championships. Swinney has also guided the Tigers to nine ACC titles.