Dabo Swinney Can't Be a Christian and Yell at His Players
Last season, the Tigers were up 28-0 in the second quarter of their game against the Florida State Seminoles when the entire world saw the greatest sin in the entire world — a Christian yelling.
OK, if you cannot read sarcasm, please, stop reading now.
The aforementioned eighth deadly sin occurred when place-kicker B.T. Potter missed a 24-yard field goal. His second miss in a row after a 40-yard miss in the Tigers' one-point win at North Carolina.
Swinney expressed his displeasure with Potter by yelling at him on the sidelines—a scene that was caught by television cameras.
That was when the outrage happened—first on Twitter by armchair quarterback who's college football experience probably stopped with the release of EA Sports' NCAA Football '14 video game.
Almost as fast came the news reports with titles like, "Dabo Swinney Erupts Following Clemson Missed Field Goal', "Dabo Swinney Ripped Clemson’s Kicker, Then Got Destroyed for It" and "DABO SWINNEY GOES BONKERS, MERCILESSLY RIPS INTO KICKER FOR MISS UP 28-0 [sic]."
Did he not learn his lesson nearly five years ago?
It was in the ACC Championship that he yelled at former Tiger punter Andy Teasdall after he attempted an ill-advised fake punt in a tight game.
But hang on, if he is such a heathen and his yelling is the root of the Tigers' problems, why are the Tigers recruiting at a historic level?
Maybe the recruits don't have television, so they have not seen the Swinney rage. Or maybe they don't have telephones, so former players cannot get in touch with them to warn them of the evil man that Swinney is. Or maybe, just maybe they are football players and understand the difference in something being business and something being personal.
You didn't hear the media outrage when Will Muschamp, Nick Saban, Dan Mullen, Urban Meyer or that visor throwing Steve Spurrier mercilessly laid into players.
Why?
The answer is that none of the above coaches have been as outspoken about their faith as Swinney — making him the perfect target.
You see, most of the people that have a problem with Swinney yelling at a player have never stepped foot in a press conference and heard him talk about how he loves his players. How everything he does revolves around his desire to see his players grow into great men — not football players.
But that does not fit the narrative.
The narrative is that Swinney is an entitled, holier-than-thou coach who berates his players to get a paycheck. But that could not be further from the truth.
In fact, three years ago Swinney and family donated $1 million to IPTAY.
His explanation:
“This is a decision that Kath and I made back in May, and a decision where we felt like it was time for us to take a bigger leadership role,” We love this university. We love the state of South Carolina, and I love the players that I’ve had the privilege of coaching since I came to Clemson. This is our 14 year here. We’re incredibly invested.”
However, Swinney has not stopped there, as he founded the "All In Team Foundation."
The mission of the foundation is. "The mission is to raise awareness of critical education and health issues in order to change lives of people across the state of South Carolina."
The foundation serves five areas: Breast cancer research, The Family Effect — an organization in Greenville, SC that works to reduce addiction as a leading cause of family collapse and harm to children in South Carolina, Clemson’s Call Me MISTER®, ClemsonLIFE — program at Clemson University is designed for students with intellectual disabilities who desire a postsecondary experience on a college campus and a grants program — offering numerous grants for various people and groups.
I know what you are thinking, "That is great, but he still yells at his players."
Yes, he does.
But not for his own pride or glory. Let's be honest, the Tigers went easy on the Seminoles. If they had left their starters in the entire game, like some coaches, they could have named their score because the Seminoles simply could not stop them.
I know, what does that have to do with the fact he yells at his players?
It shows that he cares about them. My dad yelled at me, all the time if my aging memory serves me, and he did so because he wanted what was best for me. He wanted to see me succeed and to do my best in everything.
My best, not perfection, but he wanted my best. And that is the same thing with Swinney.
For a lack of better term, he is a father to 120 18-20-year olds and he wants the best from his "kids" because he loves them.
I understand that to some it may not look like he loves them when he is yelling at them, but ask yourself this. Does it show more love to let your children go through their lives being mediocre, or does it show more love to push your children, in love, to reach their potential?
Swinney chooses the latter. And it is always in love.
"That's part of coaching," Swinney said. "You have to know when to love them and when to chew them. They all need both. They all get both here. Every single one of them. Ask Deshaun Watson if I ever chewed his butt. Ask Travis Etienne. It took awhile before I yelled at Trevor. I was so excited when I got the chance to yell at him. He didn't give us an opportunity for awhile. I didn't have timeout in my house. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But we didn't have that. Swinney boys didn't have that. In a world like we're in, we have a bunch of men and it's competitive. Iron sharpens iron. If you watch that, sparks fly. It's part of the world that we live in."
