Dabo Swinney raves about opportunity to coach against Bill Belichick

Dabo Swinney has been coaching for over 30 years, but, on Saturday, he’ll get to do something he never has before: Coach against Bill Belichick. On Tuesday, the Clemson head coach opened up on the exciting opportunity.

“Yeah, I mean, are you kidding me? That’s amazing,” Swinney said. “I never in my lifetime thought I would get an opportunity to coach against Coach Belichick. How cool is that? You don’t get lucky and have, how many rings has he got, seven or eight? This guy’s got eight rings.

“He’s arguably the greatest ever, certainly at the pro level. But yeah, it’s a cool thing. I mean, I wish we were 4-0. I’d feel a little better about it.”

With his battles against Nick Saban and Alabama in the 2010s, Swinney is a legend himself. However, even the most veteran coaches can’t help but admire Belichick’s success.

The North Carolina head coach accepted an offer to lead the Tar Heels this season after coaching in the NFL for just shy of 50 years. Belichick won six Super Bowls as the New England Patriots’ head coach and was an assistant coach on two other Super Bowl-winning teams.

Thus far, Belichick hasn’t had the same success at the college level that he enjoyed in the NFL. However, that was to be expected in his first season at UNC. Swinney revealed he also talked to Belichick at ACC Media Days.

“I thought it was an unbelievable opportunity for me because I’d only been around him maybe two other times,” Swinney said. “One was at Alabama as an assistant. He came in for a Pro Day or something, and then he came here one of the years when I was the head coach, so I got a chance to kind of meet him and visit with him there.

“He was just like I thought he was be in that moment, but it was more of a professional moment. But to have two or three days together in a very intimate setting where it was really just nobody else, I thought that was great.”

Despite Dabo Swinney’s admiration for Belichick, he won’t hesitate to take down the Tar Heels on Saturday. After all, Clemson can’t afford another loss. The Tigers are 1-3 this season and can’t lose again during the regular season if they want a chance to reach the College Football Playoff.

On Saturday, Clemson and North Carolina will clash at noon ET. The game will air live on ESPN.