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Dabo and Dollar Bill are mostly a match.
When the two coaches chat at midfield before the Clemson-Carolina game Saturday, they bring personal stories that are similar in some ways and miles apart in others.
Neither had a productive playing career – Belichick was decent in football but better in lacrosse at Wesleyan and Swinney as a walk-on at Alabama where he made All-SEC academic three times and went on to get an M.B.A. in Tuscaloosa.
Belichick jumped into the NFL, where they have some continuing education but not much since the players are already well-paid pros. Swinney has been an equally successful coach but says championships are his fourth priority behind teaching kids more than football, citing that 98 percent of them are not NFL-bound.
“Our purpose is graduation, number one,” Dabo said in a New Yorker article that was mostly about Belichick. “Number two is equip ’em, as men, through the game. Number three is to make sure they have a great college experience, Lastly, it is to win championships.”
Whatever is the state of academics and athletics in Carolina football, the Hoodie hides from most questions about it and any answer is short.
Swinney has won 9 ACC titles along with two national championships. Belichick has won eight Super Bowls as a coordinator and a head coach, which made him a hot hire for UNC even though he bombed out in his last few years with the Patriots.
Paul Finebaum, the SEC opinion-spewer, was right when he said Tar Heel football was “NOT going to be must-see TV” in the Belichick era, confirmed after the Labor Day blowout by TCU.
“The end of his NFL career was a disaster,” Finebaum went on. “He didn’t win a playoff game his last five years. He had losing records in three of his last five. He should have been fired earlier than he was.”
Based on its pedigree and thirst to start winning, Clemson has been installed as a 13.5-point favorite, and the personnel is so uneven the Tar Heels will try to control the clock and keep the ball but have no realistic chance to win. The game was circled when the schedule came out but now the eye test makes it more of an “X”.
The statistics say Carolina has a chance to at least keep it close; its scoring average is 15th in the ACC at 21 points per game. Clemson is dead last with just under 20 per game. They are exactly the same in defense, each allowing 22.8 points per game.
Both teams need a breakout win badly and both have had two weeks to prepare. Dabo stayed in Death Valley while Belichick jetted to see a high school game and visit Nantucket with his girlfriend.
They are also $10 million coaches with losing records against power 4 opponents.
Swinney, 55 in his 18th season at Clemson, is taking the blame for their 1-3 start. Belichick, 73, is mostly mum about being 2-2.
Featured image via Associated Press/Jacob Kupferman
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
