Dabo Swinney

Dabo Swinney married Kathleen Bassett in 1994 and the couple has three sons: Will, Drew and Clay.

Dabo Swinney was born in Birmingham, Alabama, on November 20, 1969 to Ervil Swinney and Carol. He got his nickname ‘Dabo’ from his 18-month-old older brother who tried to call him ‘The boy’, which sounded like ‘Da Bo’.

He went to the University of Alabama where he became a football player. He joined the Alabama Crimson Tide football program in 1989, as a walk-on wide receiver and went on to receive a scholarship. He was named Academic All-SEC and SEC Scholar Athlete Honor Roll member twice during his days at the University of Alabama.

He played for three seasons at Alabama and received his degree in commerce and business administration in 1993 and later earned a master's degree in business administration in 1995.

After completing his education, Dabo Swinney joined the Crimson Tide as one of their full-time coaches and was given the role to guide their wide receivers and tight ends. In 2001, he was released from his duties when the head coach Mike DuBose and his backroom staff members were sacked. Dabo spent the rest of the year receiving his contractual payments from the club.

He was offered a job by Rich Wingo, his former coach, in Birmingham-based AIG Baker Real Estate. He accepted the offer and worked for two years at the company.

Tommy Bowden, his former position coach at Alabama, offered him the role of an assistant coach at the Clemson University which he accepted. He later took over the role of Recruiting Coordinator from Rick Stockstill in 2003.

After Tommy Bowden resigned in 2008, after just six games into the season, Dabo Swinney was made an interim head coach at Clemson. The team was languishing at the #9 position when he was given the charge but did well to go 3-3 in their first six games.

Owing to his impeccable recruiting skills, Swinney was chosen over other potential candidates like Vic Koenning, the defensive coordinator of Clemson, and Brad Scott, the former head coach of South Carolina, for the role of the head coach.

Dabo Swinney is the recipient of several prestigious awards, such as Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year (2011), ACC Coach of the Year (2015), Home Depot Coach of the Year (2015), Walter Camp Coach of the Year (2015), George Munger Award (2015), and Paul "Bear" Bryant Award (2015).