Dabo Swinney still believes his Clemson program is behind what Nick Saban has built at Alabama, but he also admits that the Tigers are closer than anyone else to matching the Crimson Tide.
“I definitely think it’s Alabama and the rest of y’all, which we’re a part of that,” Swinney said Wednesday after Clemson’s first practice for the Cotton Bowl. “I still think we’re on the ROY bus. We’re driving, though. We’re in the front seat of the ROY bus. But I think it’s definitely the rest of us.”
Alabama has won five national titles since 2009, including last year’s, and the Crimson Tide have been in the playoff each of the five seasons it has existed.