When Clemson coach Dabo Swinney was promoted from an interim role to his current position after the 2008 regular season, he made a lengthy list. "It was everything we hadn't done in a million years, had never done or couldn't do," Swinney said during a recent interview. "To change Clemson, we had to do it from the inside out. If we focused on the inside, eventually it'd blossom on the outside."
One of the items on Swinney's list was a 10-win season, which at the time Clemson hadn't achieved since 1990. Now, the Tigers have had five straight, which included a school-record 14 wins last season and a berth in the College Football Playoff championship.