November 10. William “Dabo” Swinney. Since 2009, Dabo has coached Clemson University’s Fighting Tigers, the same school John Heisman coached in 1900. And Dabo is the first coach in program history to lead Clemson to multiple national championships.
In 2018, the Tigers became the first major college football team since the Penn Quakers in 1897 to finish a season 15–0.
Twice, Dabo has been ACC Coach of the Year. He won the Woody Hayes Award—national coach of the year, and a week later won the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award. Dabo is the first three-time winner in that award’s history. Today’s story is a look at how he got started.
Don’t ignore the little things; you never know when they may play a big role.
Dabo was a college kid with a big dream—he wanted to play college football for Alabama.
Only two guys made it through try-outs, and Dabo was one of them. His dream was about to arrive.
When pre-season camp started, Dabo was all in. But when he went to get his class schedule, his Pell Grant and student loans were late and unavailable.
He wouldn’t be allowed to enroll or to play football unless he paid $550 by the next day. Worse, he already owed his landlord $400 in back rent.
Dabo felt devastated, and with no money, he turned to his mother for help. She applied for a loan but was rejected. Since his family couldn’t help, Dabo turned to the only one left who could: he turned to God.
He got on his knees and prayed for God to help him. But deep down inside, he expected things wouldn’t change, and he came up with a plan that seemed like his only choice.
He would have to go back home and work to save enough money for tuition for the winter semester. Once he had enough, he could come back. But his chance to play football could be gone. If he couldn’t go through camp, his spot on the team might be taken.
Wondering how things were going to be fixed, he walked back to his apartment, and when he got in, he checked the mail. In the stack were plenty of pizza coupons and—hidden between them—an unusual envelope from Discover. Dabo opened it.
Two blank checks.
Was it a scam? He would call the company to find out.
On the phone, a woman explained that the checks were connected to a credit card he had been given through a student program.
But Dabo hadn’t gotten a credit card. After checking, the woman told him that the card had been mailed to the wrong address and sent back to Discover, but he didn’t have to worry; it wasn’t used at all and had all the credit still intact.
“What’s my credit limit?” he asked her.
“A thousand dollars.”
Dabo felt numb for a second. That was $550 tuition plus $400 rent.
In tears, Dabo called his mother and told her what God had done. Dabo thanked God for providing the money.
He dashed to Coleman Coliseum to pay his tuition and used the other check to pay his rent. After a few weeks, his grant and loan came through, and he quickly paid off the credit-card debt and budgeted his money, so he would never be short on cash again.
In the end, Dabo went on to play football, which eventually led to a career in coaching. He made a positive difference not only in his players’ lives, but in the lives of his fans and followers too.
“That was a specific prayer answered,” Dabo said. He realized that the routine tasks we do daily—the habits we form—are important too. God can use them all.
“You, LORD, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light” (Psalm 18:28 NIV).
Think about some little things in your life. How is God using them in a big way? Don’t ignore the little things; you never know when they may play a big role.
Schlabach, Mark. “Dabo Swinney overcame pain and poverty to be on the cusp of history.” ESPN. Posted January 6, 2016. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/14519758/dabo-swinney-overcame-pain-poverty-reach-new-heights-clemson.
Staples, Andy. “Two checks, one path altered: How a timely Discover card envelope forever changed Dabo Swinney’s life.” Sports Illustrated, January 5, 2016. https://www.si.com/college-football/2016/01/05/how-timely-discover-card-envelope-changed-clemson-coach-dabo-swinneys-path.
Story read by: Peter R Warren, https://www.peterwarrenministries.com/
Story written by: Shelli Mandeville, https://worthy.life/