Swinney: 'Our Dreams Are Always Greater Than Our Memories'

Dabo Swinney has always dreamed big. From his playing days, throughout his days coaching the sport he loves. Despite all of the success Swinney's Clemson football program has experienced to date, he still insists that the best is still yet to come.

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney has never been accused of lacking confidence. Swinney has readily admitted that he is a dreamer and a big one at that.

At times, there can be a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and far too often opposing fan bases seem to get the two confused when it comes to Swinney. It is possible to be extremely confident, without crossing over into arrogance. 

That confidence is something Swinney has never lacked. Not when he was hired by Clemson despite lacking much of a pedigree and not after hitting some bumps in the road early on in his tenure. 

"I said in 2010, after a six-win season, we're fixing to have the winningest decade in Clemson history," Swinney said. "I dream big. Actually, we're a little short. I dreamed a little bit bigger. We missed a couple, but we've had a great run. It's been an unbelievable decade." 

In a relatively short amount of time, Swinney has gone from being a young, inexperienced head coach, to one of the best head coaches in the sport. The Tigers are in the midst of the best run in program history.

However, what gets lost in all of that success on the field is the fact that success does not stop there. 

"What we've done on the field and off the field, it gets lost a lot of times what we've done academically," Swinney said. "We've been top ten 9 out of 11 years, 8 out of the last 9 years. Us, Duke and Northwestern. 

"So these are a bunch of graduates and great young men who have come through our program. We've stayed committed to the purpose of our program. And it's been a great decade."

As always though, with Swinney, the primary focus isn't on what has been accomplished, but rather what is yet to be accomplished. 

"We've got a windshield mentality in our program," Swinney said. "That's why we're consistent. It is always about what's next. Our dreams are always greater than our memories and that's just the way it is. So we're just getting started. The best is yet to come"