Swinney focused on his 'purpose' this season

Each year before the season begins, Dabo Swinney makes every player on the team, every member of the coaching staff and himself choose a word of the year.

CLEMSON— Each year before the season begins, Dabo Swinney makes every player on the team, every member of the coaching staff and himself choose a word of the year.

That word is the thing they want to focus on throughout the grind of the season, fall camp, the long summer workouts and the postseason. Last season, his word was joy. This year, his word is purpose.

"My word is purpose and something I'd always always share that with the team on opening night," Swinney said. "So something we talked about...whenever we started there but my word is purpose."

The word purpose has a special meaning for Swinney, who sees his purpose not in winning championships or game, but in being the kind of father and husband he is called to be.

"This year, my purpose as a man my purpose as a father my purpose as a husband," Swinney said. "I know what my purpose as a man is and and as to glorify God that's to be a great husband and father and it's to use the game of football - you know equip young people for life I mean that's just that simple that's what my purpose"

But that is not the only purpose that Swinney has, he also believes that he has been entrusted helping those young men that call him coach, and those that call him boss, to find their purpose.

"Then you know our purpose as a program. Our purpose as a program, and then also you know helping my staff and my players you know find and fulfill their purpose," Swinney said. "So you know, just just really convicted on that. I mean, we've had a lot of success. I'm going into Year 11, but we've stayed true to who we are the whole way."

Swinney has been living out his purpose as a program since he took over full-time in 2009.

Since Swinney’s first full season as head coach, Clemson has earned eight NCAA Public Recognition Awards for finishing in the Top 10 percent in APR. 

Last season's national championship winning team won the AFCA Academic Achievement Award for the first time in school history, becoming just the third program to win it and the national championship in the same year since the award began in 1981 (Notre Dame 1988 and Alabama 2017). In addition to the on-field success, Clemson produced team records in team GPA and number of players with recording a 3.0 or better GPA (66). Clemson placed seven players on the All-ACC Academic team, tied for second-most in school history and one shy of the school record.

"Our purpose as a program is to graduate our players to give them the tools that they need to go be successful," Swinney said. "To make sure they have a good experience and win a championship and that has not changed since day one it's been the same it's been an exact same and everything is centered and driven by that and then again you know doing everything with purpose. You know working hard to to help my players and help my staff you know fulfill their purpose find their purpose in life.

I think we've got 97 percent job placement from last year's senior group and that's awesome I think Trevion Thompson the only one right now and he's rehabbing and and and trying to to work his way back from his injury but everybody else...that's a big deal for us. And so, just keeping the main thing the main thing again my purpose as a man our purpose is a program and just staying focused on that and that's that's that's inside-out you know are not getting distracted you know about things that don't matter."