Dabo Swinney is not considered to be a football genius like Nick Saban. Nor is he considered ruthless like Urban Meyer. And because he’s neither, Dabo Swinney is more like us than Saban or Meyer, and therefore a better example from which to learn.
How did Dabo Swinney, an unassuming, regular nice guy lead Clemson through the viciously competitive landscape of college football to its mountaintop? More importantly, what can we learn from him?
Keep improving
Swinney was not yet 40 years old when he became Clemson’s permanent head coach. It was his first head coaching job. He had a lot to learn and that learning came on the job.
Swinney lost 16 games in his first three full seasons as Tigers coach. He’s lost a total of nine in the five years since.
Dabo Swinney kept getting better. He kept learning. He kept evolving and maturing.
RELATED: Nick Saban’s continually evolution keeps him at the top of the sport
Surround yourself with top lieutenants
Dabo Swinney is the 12th-highest paid coach in college football. His defensive coordinator is the second-highest paid at his position. Combining the salaries of his co-offensive coordinators places them sixth.
Swinney famously – and for good reason – accepts a smaller salary in order for his school to afford top coordinators, thereby surrounding himself with the best minds in the field.
With the brightest minds available to him, he doesn’t micromanage his coaches. He’s not a meddler. He sets expectations and then lets his lieutenants do their jobs.
Swinney is not a genius himself, his genius comes from recognizing this and assembling the strongest brain trust around him that he can.
Surround yourself with the best worker bees
The one area where Swinney is recognized as elite is as a recruiter. Swinney knows that his team’s success, ultimately, comes from having great players. He spends a great deal of time and effort daily assuring his roster is the best it can be.
Clemson’s recruiting has gone into overdrive under Swinney.
No ego
Swinney’s salary tells you all you need to know about his ego.
Very few effective leaders – only the unique geniuses, Steve Jobs, George Patton, etc. – are primarily concerned with receiving credit. The problem with genius is you can’t replicate it. Most of us are not geniuses. I’m not. I’m guessing you’re not. Geniuses are some of the worst people from which to try and learn anything.
Not having an ego does not mean not having confidence or not having swagger. It means putting your team and your people and their success ahead of your self-interest.
Legendary two-time Super Bowl winning coach Tom Coughlin said recently, “Leadership today is about serving other people.”
Culture
Swinney hires great assistants, recruits great players and then gets out of the way. What he does do is set his organization’s culture. While he is quick to deflect credit onto others, there’s no question who’s in charge or whose program it is.
Swinney sets the tone. He casts the vision.
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