“They Left Me”: Dabo Swinney Almost Quit Football After Alabama Firing

Sure, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney’s coaching career began at Alabama as an 18-year-old graduate assistant, but his roots with the Tide go way back. He spent time as a walk-on wide receiver there, too. However, following a disastrous 3-8 season, he had to leave the program. Once Alabama head coach Mike DuBose resigned under pressure, Swinney was forced into a break he didn’t want.

“Honestly, I didn’t leave Alabama, man. They left me,” Swinney said during his June 4 appearance on Next Up with Adam Breneman when asked about his situation after he left Alabama.

Instantly, Breneman replied: “I was trying to frame it in a different way.”

And then came Swinney’s reason behind his firing.

“I’d probably still be there. Honestly, I’m a ‘bloom where you’re planted’ guy, man. I mean, I went to Alabama when I was 18. I left when I was 31, and I left because I didn’t have a job, they made a coaching change,” the 56-year-old said.

Swinney was let go as part of a staff-wide clearing following Alabama’s 2000 season. When Alabama hired Dennis Franchione to take over the program following DuBose’s resignation, Dabo Swinney thought he would be retained, just as he had been when DuBose took over for head coach Gene Stallings. To top that, Swinney even had a good relationship with AD Mal Moore. However, Alabama chose not to retain any assistants from the DuBose era.

“I stayed around for a little while and kind of helped him [Franchione] transition recruiting, and then he called me in and, like, any great coach, I mean, he was loyal to his guys, and he had his guys kind of coming, and he didn’t have a spot for me. And so yeah, that was a pack-up of 13 years of stuff, and it’s like, ‘Well, man. God, what do you have for me now?” Swinney added.

After Alabama fired him, many people called him and sympathized with Swinney because he was the father of two kids and had gotten no calls, even after applying to every possible place.

“Ironically, I tried hard to get the receiver job at Notre Dame because Urban Meyer was the receiver coach at Notre Dame and left to go to Bowling Green,” the Clemson head coach remarked.

Despite having eight years of coaching knowledge and experience, they didn’t hire Swinney, and at that time, broadcasting was not that popular. That phase was really frustrating for Swinney, but he remained calm and hopeful. As a result, his unemployment didn’t last long. Obviously, he didn’t get any coaching job, but a former Alabama strength and conditioning coach, Rich Wingo, hired Swinney as a shopping center leasing agent.

“It’s February, and I get a call. You know, we had a phone with an antenna. She (his wife Kathleen) was like, ‘It’s Rich Wingo,’ and I was like, I jumped up. I’m like, ‘Coach Wingo, I’m in trouble. I’m 31 years old.’ And he’s like, ‘Dabo, what are you doing?’ And I’m like, ‘Well, I’m not doing anything.’ He offers me an opportunity,” Swinney recalled. ” He saw me as a freshman. And this is 12 years later.”

In 2001, the president of AIG Baker Real Estate hired Dabo Swinney. The Clemson head coach worked at that real estate development company for roughly two years. He achieved success and worked with amazing people there. His team did projects in Olathe, Kansas; Las Vegas, Nevada; Grand Junction, Colorado; and Hoover, Alabama. Swinney even did a project in his hometown.

However, without any prior experience, Swinney accomplished a lot.

“I’m like, ‘I don’t know.’ He [Wingo] goes, ‘I’m not hiring you because you know that.’ He said, ‘I’m hiring you because of who you are,’” Swinney said.

Those achievements weren’t enough for Swinney, though, as coaching was his passion.

“I would just say, like, ‘God, I want to coach.’ I feel like there’s this void in my life because I think when you really have experienced impact in people’s lives and transformation in people’s lives and the joy that comes from that, it’s hard to kind of fill that void,” Swinney added. “Being out of coaching made me a better coach, and that’s something I experienced as a young coach.”

That phase made Swinney more fearless and ready to take on any challenge because he had lost the thing he loved most and learned to prioritize life over success. But this journey wasn’t easy for Swinney.

Football Faith was the key for Dabo Swinney

After his long Alabama tenure, Dabo Swinney experienced a totally new industry. At 31, he saw a different perspective on life. However, staying away from coaching for nearly 18 months was difficult for the Clemson head coach. Every single day, he prayed to God.

“My prayer was, ‘God, I just I want to coach, but I only want to coach if that’s your will for me,’” Swinney said. “I don’t want it to be my will. I want that to be your will for me. And if it is your will, then I pray that you will take me to a place where I can raise my kids. I was very specific. Lord, I pray that you will take me to be a part of a staff that has a head coach who loves you, who will allow me to be a good father and a good husband. And I was very specific about what I prayed for.

“I prayed—I literally prayed that for 18 months. But then I would wrap it up, and I’d say, ‘But if that’s not your will, Father God, if that’s not your will, I pray you’ll just help me fill that void with some other way and just help me to be great today,’” continued Swinney.

God listened to his prayer in 2003. That year, Clemson head coach Tommy Bowden hired Dabo Swinney as WRs coach. Interestingly, Bowden called Wingo first because Swinney was making so much money. However, that opportunity was more than anything for Swinney. Now, the coach is entering his 18th season with the Tigers as head coach.