Everybody wants to be like the Dallas Cowboys, even the National Champions of college football. Clemson Head Coach Dabo Swinney said so on Monday night in Dallas – Deshaun Watson and Co. were in town for the Davey O’Brien Award Ceremony – as he compared the Tigers to the Cowboys and their iconic nickname, America’s Team.
"I feel like Coach Jason Garrett & I are sort of kindred spirits, 'cause I mean I feel like right now, we're America's Team" – Coach Swinney pic.twitter.com/XV6P3ZMnxs
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) February 21, 2017
Dabo Swinney was a collegiate wide receiver at Alabama, and we all know Jason Garrett’s history as a quarterback at Princeton and in the NFL including a majority of his time spent on the team he now coaches, so perhaps a football connection was destined between the former pass-catcher and gunslinger. Either way it is really great to see the reigning National Champion Head Coach liken his team to the one that Jason Garrett coaches, who aren’t so bad either.
Clemson and the Cowboys have another common denominator besides Monday night, elite quarterbacks that both wear the number four. Rookie of the Year Dak Prescott stole the NFL show in 2016 while Deshaun Watson – who spoke about his relationship with Dak – did the same in the world of college football.
The idea of Clemson being the America’s Team of college football does make some sense when you consider all of this. They have the star quarterback and they took down the big, bad wolf in the National Championship – Alabama. This was a game, a win, that went down to the wire and took everything the Tigers had… accomplishing it all just a year after losing in the same game to the very same team.
DW4 in Forth Worth @daveyobrien. #Clemson pic.twitter.com/1VnHfaiV0e
— Clemson Football (@ClemsonFB) February 21, 2017
Coach Garrett is a big believer in surrounding yourself with people who have success in all aspects of life, not just sports. We’ve seen him and some of his players take offseason trips to Durham, North Carolina in order to spend time with another coach who’s dominated the college landscape – Mike Krzyzewski.
Dabo Swinney is a lot like Coach Garrett in this regard as he has remained incredibly humble through all of Clemson’s success, making it all about the players. The two aren’t exactly twins, but they obviously share some similar lines of thinking when it comes to coaching football which is why Dabo’s comparison of Clemson to the Cowboys in the America’s Team regard is something that makes you rub your chin.
Perhaps Jason Garrett and Dabo Swinney will now be best friends and share notes on all things football related. Whether they are bros for life, occasional acquaintances, or simply admirer’s of each other’s work it’s a great thing to see the Head Coach of the Dallas Cowboys spoken so highly of by the National Champions.
