SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Dabo Swinney gritted his teeth. The southern draw with which the Alabama-born football coach speaks fought through an honest and friendly smile.
“This guy has won a million games for a reason,” Swinney said on Friday morning. “I'm no dummy.”
"This guy" is Urban Meyer, the Ohio State head football coach with three national championships and only five losses during his five seasons in Columbus. One was to Swinney in the 2014 Orange Bowl, a feather in the cap of a Clemson head coach who then was still building his program to a level where it would be considered among the nation's elite.