'One': Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney Explains His Word for 2025 Season

The Clemson Tigers are expected to be contenders not only for the ACC but for a national championship. However, head coach Dabo Swinney mentioned a word that will describe the way he coaches the team this season.

If they run the table and win many games this season, they will have to be “one.”

“From a football standpoint, we have to be 'one',” Swinney said. “We are stronger together; we’ve got to be one. As I said, there were so many times last year we didn’t compliment each other. We’ve got to truly mean to be one.”

The Clemson head coach spoke about it to the media on Tuesday ahead of the team’s clash with LSU this Saturday. It’s been a mantra that’s been seen on practice equipment, player gear and across messages from Swinney, defensive coordinator Tom Allen and offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.

He has spoken about it before, referring to the games throughout the long season, and said to just “win the One.” However, he went more into detail about it on Tuesday’s conclusion to the press conference, with it meaning more of an attitude than a message to follow on gamedays throughout the season.

Swinney referred to the New Testament with the mentality, speaking that the team has to work together as one unit to succeed. He uses the metaphor of the triple braided cords in the book of Ecclesiastes.

“A triple braided cord is not easily broken,” he said. “So, we need all three phases of our team to be one, to be one group. And then, I think, it’s a message from a mentality standpoint because sometimes, especially with young people, you can get so overwhelmed, and we don’t have to win the 10. Let’s just win the one.”

It comes from the internal problems that the team had experienced throughout the last two seasons. Aborted snaps, poor special team blocking, dropped passes, and missed tackles were nightmares for the team across the two seasons, taking away from Swinney’s emphasis on complementary football.

That’s why his importance on one thing, regardless of what it is, has been echoed throughout the practice facility over the last several weeks.

“Giving every play, every moment the attention in detail that that moment deserves,” Swinney said. “That’s how you win the one. So, just a mindset more than I think. That’s really what it’s about.”

“Just trying to create a mentality. First of all, it’s an audience of one. I mean, that’s really what matters, just an audience of one.”

Especially with the expectations that the team has, it’s easy for young athletes to buy into the media buzz and be removed from the task at hand. While the season is promising, which Swinney agrees with, the habits and the focus on one thing at a time drowns out the noise and speeds up time.

“It’s a mindset of this one meeting, this one meal, this one night sleep, this one decision, this one practice, this one play, this one quarter, this one half, this one game, this one week,” Swinney said. “Just that mentality. Then, you look up and you go, ‘Whoa, it’s game 11,’ as opposed to going and winning all 12 games. You’re not going to win all 12 games in one week. “

Another staple in his coaching habits it’s about gearing his young players up for success in the end. Not every player on the team will be a consistent NFL player, and the lesson of “the one” is easily transferable to any situation.

“Who knows? Maybe, in the end, you’ll be the one,” Swinney said. “Maybe you’ll be the one in your family who creates the change that you want to see in your family. Maybe you’ll be the one in your field of what you’ve chosen to do. But, instead of focusing on that, let’s just focus on winning the one, the one moment that we’re in.”

With a mentality like that, focusing on the particular things and learning the task at hand, it can create mountaintops of excitement, which the team has a great possibility of doing this season.

“That’s all we need to focus on,” Swinney said, “and you start stacking those moments and I think, again, that’s how you have joy in your journey.”