Dabo Swinney talks about life, death of former Red Bank player
Victor Ellis always on Clemson coach Swinney’s mind
As Clemson football coach Dabo Swinney prepares for Monday night’s showdown against Alabama, which could deliver the Tigers their first national title since 1981, he is never far away from the lowest of the lows.
There are two pictures in Swinney’s office of former Red Bank Lions and Alabama linebacker Victor Ellis, who died of a rare and brutally aggressive form of cancer in March 2008. Swinney had recruited Ellis to Tuscaloosa a decade earlier and spoke at his funeral at Lookout Mountain Presbyterian Church.
“When you deal with certain things like that, it brings in perspective and helps keep things in perspective,” Swinney said Monday afternoon. “It’s also a reminder to me of the opportunity that we have as coaches every day to impact these young guys’ lives. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to recruit Victor to Alabama and the relationship that I developed with him, and it’s just one of the saddest things I’ve ever had to deal with.”
Swinney has been a continual overachiever, walking on as a Crimson Tide receiver and playing three seasons under former coach Gene Stallings. He was a senior in 1992 when Alabama won its lone national championship in that erratic quarter century between the Bear Bryant era and the current Nick Saban era.
After earning a master’s degree in business administration while working as a graduate assistant, Swinney became a full-time Crimson Tide assistant coach from 1996 to 2000 and encountered another overachiever — Ellis.
Despite a stellar senior season at Red Bank, where he intercepted five passes as a safety before moving to middle linebacker and racking up 35 tackles in his first two games at that position, Ellis was a decent recruit but not spectacular. He would thrive in Tuscaloosa, playing eight games as a true freshman and racking up 94 tackles as a junior in 2000.
After trying out for the Jacksonville Jaguars and getting released, Ellis remained an ambassador for Alabama by working in its admissions department. He had been moved to Charlotte to recruit the Carolinas early in 2007, which is when he was diagnosed with medullary renal cell carcinoma.
There were only 50 or so known cases at that time, and prospects didn’t even qualify as grim: No one diagnosed with his type of cancer had lived another six months.
Tim and Kathy Miller, whose daughter Kristyn had befriended Ellis when they were Alabama students, took
“WHEN YOU DEAL WITH CERTAIN THINGS LIKE (CANCER), IT BRINGS IN PERSPECTIVE AND HELPS KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE. IT’S ALSO A REMINDER TO ME OF THE OPPORTUNITY THAT WE HAVE AS COACHES EVERY DAY TO IMPACT THESE YOUNG GUYS’ LIVES. ...”
– CLEMSON COACH DABO SWINNEY
the once imposing linebacker into their Lookout Mountain residence during the summer of 2007 and housed him for the final months of his withering condition.
“I flew to Chattanooga to meet with him to try to help him come to grips with what he was dealing with,” Swinney said. “He was in denial on some things, so I flew over and met with him at the Millers, and I knew that would be the last time I would see him. He would die two or three weeks later. It was just a really sad situation, but I know that he died with peace and that he was right with the Lord.
“That’s one of the reasons I keep those pictures in my office, because it helps me keep the right perspective. It’s so much more than just football, and I’m thankful what the University of Alabama did for Victor Ellis, because I know where he came from and I know the man he developed into.”
The Millers and Swinney still keep in touch, and the fact Swinney’s Tigers are facing their beloved Tide has made this both a joyous and bittersweet time.
“We’ve talked about it at the house, and we’re pulling for Alabama,” said Tim, a past president of the Chattanooga chapter of the Alabama Alumni & Friends Association, “but we would also be really happy for Dabo if Clemson won.”
Said Kathy: “I have to say that this game is a tough one. I’m sure Vic is smiling ear to ear.”
Ellis lived essentially a year after his diagnosis, proving the doubters wrong the same way he did when coming out of Red Bank. He was honored at Bryant-Denny Stadium before Alabama’s 2007 game against Louisiana-Monroe but became so nauseous that he didn’t stay long after kickoff, and he was invited by Swinney to Clemson’s locker room before the Tigers faced Auburn in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
Swinney was an assistant at that time, but the fight he observed in Ellis is something he hasn’t forgotten as his underdog Tigers face their most towering task yet in their quest for an unprecedented 15-0 season.
“He was sick when he came over to our bowl game in Atlanta and died just a few weeks after that,” Swinney said. “He fought all the way to the end and did everything he could do, and I think that’s what life is all about. We need to maximize the time we have here on this side of heaven and be the best we can be.
“Victor certainly did that. His life was too short, but he was impactful in the 28 years he had on this Earth. He was a special person, and I think about him all time.”