Quietly, without anyone noticing, Dabo Swinney built a giant in college football.
Back in 2011, when Clemson won its first ACC Championship in 20 years, most college football fans acknowledged the accomplishment but perhaps thought, “Okay. Clemson finally lived up to its potential and won a conference title. That’s nice.” After that, they did not give it another thought.
When Clemson took down Les Miles and LSU in the Chick-fil-A Bowl the following year, people again noticed, but no one outside the state of South Carolina thought anything of it. Then the Tigers toppled big-bad Ohio State and three-time national championship Urban Meyer the following season, and that turned some heads.