MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -- Shortly after Dabo Swinney was promoted from Clemson's interim coach to head coach on Dec. 1, 2008, he talked to the Tigers' players about what was wrong with their program.
Among Clemson's deficiencies:
Clemson hadn't won an ACC title in 17 years.
The Tigers hadn't won a national championship in 27 years.
Clemson hadn't won 10 games in a season in 18 years.
The Tigers had never won the ACC's Atlantic Division after the conference split into two divisions in 2005.
"It was like a mountain," Swinney said.