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Alabama head coach Nick Saban is intense. He always has been, and always will be, and it’s too late for him to change now. And even though those close to him will say he’s mellowed, if only a little, it’s all relative.
Saban will lead the Crimson Tide into the College Football Playoff national championship game on Monday in Glendale, Ariz. He will be looking for his fifth national championship, fourth at Alabama, as the No. 2 Tide (13-1) take on the No. 1-ranked and undefeated Clemson Tigers (14-0).
His counterpart, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, is different. Oh, he started out as intense as anyone. But Swinney soon learned that he’s a better coach when he’s more relaxed.
Relaxed through proper preparation, that’s the key for Swinney.
Swinney is looking for his second national championship, and first as a head coach. Raised in Pelham, Ala., Swinney ironically won a national championship as a walk-on wide receiver on the Crimson Tide’s 1992 national championship team.
He started his coaching career at Alabama, first as a general assistant, and then as a wide receiver/tight ends coach. He’s been at Clemson since 2003 and head coach since 2008.
Clemson has won one national championship. The Tigers captured the title in 1981 after defeating Nebraska 22-15 in the Orange Bowl.
Swinney is hoping to add to that with a contrasting style to Saban’s.
“I’d describe him as a very laid back coach, down to earth, and someone you can talk to about whatever,” Clemson RB Wayne Gallman said. “Man, he’s a great leader. This whole season has just been led by him, and we follow everything he does. Whatever he does, we try to do to our best ability to expect the best not only from him but from ourselves.”
It wasn’t always that way. As late as 2011, Swinney took Clemson to that season’s Orange Bowl. He worked the team relentlessly and an exhausted Tigers team was run out of the stadium 70-33 by West Virginia.
But he learned from his mistakes quickly.
“He actually tells us that he’s learned from the past and he knows that we need more rest, more time to relax,” Gallman said. “I think he’s learned a lot from his experiences, and that’s always a good thing.”
He’s come a long way since being named interim head coach at Clemson. Overwhelmed the first few days, Swinney said the moment of clarity came to him when he first pulled up in former head coach Tommy Bowdin’s parking spot and saw the No. 88 in the spot. He said he knew from that moment on that he belonged. The number 88 was his jersey number at Alabama.
“I called my wife when I got in that morning to let her know that, and I really didn’t have any doubt,” Swinney said.
Going from a walk-on to earning a scholarship to winning a national championship has taught Swinney to go for what you want and work to earn it.
“Nobody gives you anything,” Swinney said. “That’s kind of what I try to teach, that you’re not entitled to anything. If you want something, go get it. But your actions have to align with what you want. There’s no shortcut, you’ve just got to go to work and then you’ve got to be good at whatever it is that you’re doing. If you’re the last GA on the ladder there, man, be the best last GA in college football. Just bloom where you’re planted.”
Swinney first began to bloom at Alabama both as a player and as a graduate assistant. “I’d probably still be at Alabama, to be honest with you,” Swinney said. “I loved my job there. They finally said, ‘You’ve got to go,’ and so I left.”
He got out of coaching for the next two years, but Clemson gave him a chance to get back in it and 5 ½ years later he was named the Tigers’ head coach.
Now he dances in front of the team after games, hosts pizza parties for tens of thousands of fans, and enjoys every moment of being the Clemson coach.
“It’s fun,” said Clemson QB Deshaun Watson of being around Swinney. “He’s a guy that you can always just let loose and be around. It’s not just about football, it’s about life and just having fun and celebrating the wins. That’s what it’s all about.
“This game, especially at this level, if you’re not having fun, it’s going to be hard to be successful. So that’s what he wants to bring to this culture and this program. Have fun with it, lighten up the mood, and not make it too serious.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, so why not have fun and enjoy the moment.”
Watson said that with the fun comes a sense of confidence and a trust in his abilities.
“You know, he has a lot of confidence, and that comes with preparation and just giving that time on the field on Saturdays and just really getting the feel of the game,” Watson said. “And that’s what he’s been doing so far. He’s been doing a great job and he’s going to continue to do a good job.”
Glenn Sattell is an award-winning freelance writer for Saturday Down South.
