Belichick’s Words of Encouragement Give Clemson's Swinney Perspective

Before the two faced off over the weekend, the six-time Super Bowl winner shared some wisdom with the Clemson Tigers head coach

A competing coach can sometimes bring wise words | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Saturday’s game featured two coaching legends, who are both getting off to unusually rough starts to the season

Similar to University of North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl championship–winning coach, Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney hasn’t done much losing since taking over as the Tigers’ head coach 18 years ago

Ahead of Clemson’s 38-10 win over North Carolina, Swinney explained that Belichick offered him some words of encouragement amid his disappointing start to the season.

“You have highs and lows. Football is hard. Coach Belichick told me that before the game. He said ‘Coach you are five plays away from being undefeated,’ Swinney said. “Hes watched a lot of tape in his day. I appreciated his encouragement.”

Belichick may have forgotten about Syracuse’s decisive 34-21 win over Clemson, but his general point holds some truth. After all, the Tigers’ losses to LSU and Georgia Tech both ended as one-score games decided in the 4th quarter

While Clemson’s season could be on a completely different track if they had pulled off victories in both, or even one of those games, Swinney mentioned that his team is exactly where they deserve to be.

The team’s record may not be ideal, but earning a blowout victory over an ACC opponent could help them gain some momentum as they enter the second half of the season.

“At the end of the day, we are what we are. But to see a group of guys fight and pick themselves up to go play a great game was fun.” Swinney said.”Its one game, but hopefully we can build some morale and some competition.”

Now holding the same 2-3 record as the Tigers, Swinney explained that while North Carolina may be starting slow, he expects Belichick to eventually turn things around for the Tar Heels.

“He’s a great coach. They are where they are right now, but he’ll get them going,” Swinney said. I’ve got a lot of respect for him. It was an honor to be able to compete against him today. 

Although there are nearly 50 years of head coaching experience between the two legends, Belichick’s move to the college ranks allowed them to finally face off against each other for the first time.

Next, the Tigers have another ACC matchup ahead of them as they prepare to head to Boston College, which will be broadcast on the ACC Network on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.