In December of 2008, Dabo Swinney officially took over the Clemson football. While he was at the podium, Swinney said be believed Clemson could win another national championship and would while he was the head coach at Clemson.
A lot of people chuckled. Some questioned whether Swinney should be the head coach, much less lead the program back to national prominence.
Though there were some growing pains at the beginning, Swinney eventually won everyone over and at the end of his third year he delivered Clemson its first ACC Championship in 20 years. By the end of his fifth year, Clemson was back in the top 10 of the national polls and produced back-to-back 11-win seasons, a first for the program.