Clemson gift-wraps No. 150 for Swinney
Coach credits ‘great players’ and ‘great coaches’ for his success
A shower of Cheez-Its probably wasn’t how Dabo Swinney envisioned celebrating a milestone like 150 career victories. Still, the longtime Clemson coach didn’t even realize Wednesday’s win against Iowa State in the Cheez-It Bowl was so monumental.
“I can’t even — I really can’t process that, to be honest with you,” said Swinney following the Tigers’ 20-13 victory over the Cyclones. “But it’s not about me. I mean, I’ve got 150 wins because of a bunch of great players, a bunch of great coaches, a bunch of great people and the good Lord.
“I try to do my part, but I can tell you this, I’ve got a lot of guys on our staff, former players, that were a part of the first win. It was pretty cool to be here tonight and be a part of the 150th win — that was a pretty cool moment.”
Swinney joined Urban Meyer (165) and Bob Stoops (160) as the only coaches in the Football Bowl Subdivision to win 150 games in their first 15 seasons as a head coach. He also accomplished the feat in 186 games, making it the sixth-fastest FBS coach to reach the milestone trailing Meyer (176), Gil Dobie (180), Barry Switzer (180), Fielding Yost (184) and Joe Paterno (184).
The victory over Iowa State also secured the Tigers their school-record 11th straight season with at least 10 wins, moving them into third place behind Florida State (1987-2000) and Alabama (2008-21).
“[I’m] just proud of the team and the staff for getting it done,” said Swinney. “Eleven straight years of 10-plus wins, I mean, there are only a couple other teams in the history that have done that, so that’s not easy to do.”
The way Clemson ended up here came during one of the most challenging seasons in school history. The Tigers lost two of their first four games, dropping from a top 3 ranking to become unranked for the first time since 2014.
Injuries led to struggles, particularly on offense. Eventually, the team bounced back to win 8 of 9 games, including Wednesday’s bowl victory. Swinney believes
the program has continued to win the right way despite all of the hurdles.
“That’s what we set out to do back in 2009,” he said of his arrival. “Become a consistently winning program. [We’re] not going to win the National Championship every year. We’re not going to win the league every year, and we are not going to the [College Football] Playoff every year. But if we can be a consistent program on and off the field, then we’ll have those special moments.”
One of those moments occurred late in the third quarter, when senior cornerback Mario Goodrich intercepted Brock Purdy’s pass that had been tipped at the line of scrimmage and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown. It was Goodrich’s second interception of the season, his first career Pick-6, and it gave the Tigers a 20-6 advantage.
“I thought he [Purdy] was going to catch it or something,” Goodrich said of the ball that popped straight up in the air. “I don’t know what he was thinking, honestly, but once he did, I was happy. I started pointing — [I] saw my D-linemen out front and shoutout to them and the linebackers, but happy to get one.”
Swinney lauded Goodrich, who would claim Most Valuable Player honors.
“I’m not a big fan of the easy way out,” Swinney said. “I can tell you, if it [transfer portal] had been around his sophomore year, he would have been in it. He’s a perfect example of — and not that there’s not good, legit reasons from time to time — what happens when you grow through adversity.”
Swinney’s team faced tons of scrutiny for failing to match past success. The Tigers had won six straight ACC championships, qualified for the College Football Playoffs in each season since its inception in 2014 and claimed two national titles.
“I’m as proud of this team as the 15-0 team,” he said, referring to the 2018 national championship Tigers. “That team stayed healthy, and we didn’t have this team’s challenges. It’s incredible what they had to deal with this year.
“Then you have criticism and negativity and all that crap, and they never flinched. They kept fighting. They kept the faith, and they finished.
“They finished.”