Clemson HC Dabo Swinney Breaks Down Recent Conversation With Nick Saban

Throughout the 2025 season for the Clemson Tigers, many have seen that it hasn’t been the standard that head coach Dabo Swinney has wanted throughout the season.

However, over last week’s preparations ahead of Florida State, Swinney received a phone call from a former foe and now close friend about the season he is having: legendary head coach Nick Saban.

The longtime Alabama head coach has had three National Championship battles with Swinney from 2015-18, but with the season that Clemson is having this year, Saban wanted to encourage him to keep going, even when results aren’t showing.

“I mean, Nick, he’s awesome,” Swinney said after the Tigers’ win over Florida State on Saturday. “We just kind of went back and forth a little bit. The biggest thing, he’s just like, ‘listen, if you coach long enough, and you’ve coached long enough, sooner or later, you will have a season like this.’ And he said, ‘but there’s opportunity in every situation and I know you’ll take advantage of this opportunity,’ and just wished me well.”

Saban retired after the 2021-22 season with the Crimson Tide to eventually join ESPN’s College GameDay broadcast. In his second year on the team, there was a segment on Saturday morning’s show that involved fellow panelist Kirk Herbstreit asking Saban about if Swinney would leave Clemson with the season he was having.

The Hall of Fame head coach shut those rumors down quickly, revealing the phone call with him this week.

“It would surprise me,” Saban said. “In my conversation with him, he never mentioned that. He was totally focused on what his team needs to do to have success.”

Swinney was asked about the conversation after the win, saying that Saban was “supportive” about the head coach’s adversity over the course of this season. The Tigers are 4-5 on the season after entering the year as the No. 4 team in the country.

The Clemson head coach said that it was helpful to get an outside perspective, especially from a head coach who has won seven national championships.

“He’s got a great perspective,” Swinney said. “He’s coached a long, I mean, he’s 74, this guy’s coached a long time, a long time, and obviously, we’ve had some battles and always great respect for him, but I really appreciated that.”

Despite the record, that didn’t stop Clemson from bouncing back strong with its first win over a Power 4 opponent at home in over a calendar year. As the Tigers look to continue to stack wins, heading to Kentucky to face Louisville on Friday night, Swinney will have some of the wisdom from one of the best coaches of the 21st century for the remainder of the season.

Saban told Swinney to reach out anytime there was anything that he needed, which the Clemson head coach responded jokingly.

“I mean, he was great,” he said. “He’s just very supportive, said let me know if you need anything, and I said, ‘Can you come play corner for me this week?’ But he was great, I really appreciate him”.